I was looking for different ideas to be able to keep our water coming from the well in the event of power outage and found this How To Build Your Own Hand Pump
excerpt…’This hand pump was designed, built and graciously donated by Keith Hendricks who lives in northwestern Ohio. Keith has distributed thousands of copies to folks attending survival expos because he believes we are all in for rocky times and that personal preparedness is our best defense. In an effort to make a contribution, he has made his easy-to-assemble pump available to all who wish it….’
The link to the parts list and assembly instructions is at the bottom of the page.
The design is free of copyright and the designer claims it is cheap and easy to build. I’m not the ‘handy’ with gadgets one in the family, but I’m pretty excited and I think my hubby will be too (he’s the handy one:-)
Anyway, I hope others find this useful.
Thanks mama! I hope your dh is handy - it looks too complicated for me to tackle! Let us know how the assembly goes and if he has any helpful hints. I am very concerned about waters as well, not only for us but all our neighbors who also have wells.
LauraB, he is really handy! I haven’t shown him yet as he’s still at work but I couldn’t wait to post. If he does build it we’ll be happy to let you know how well it works and what the ‘tricky’ parts might be in assembly.
Important. Tie the loose end of the rope to something that cannot go down the well. :-)))))
Also to clarify - the 3-foot pipe-bucket is simply a redesigned ordinary bucket, which would not fit into a 6-inch wide well casing.
Also, some people might need to figure out how to get around the obstruction of their well house, when removing the well pipe.
Oh dear. I just wrote a long post, and it seems to have disappeared! We will rewrite later.
A post about a re-designed well bucket was supposed to appear above my post at 21:57, which is what it was referring to.
MaMa’s post linked to a design good for a 50 foot (75 max) well. (Thanks MaMa).
If you have a 6-inch or larger well casing, this may work for you.
However, to use the “gizmo” described below during an extended power outage, you will have to first remove the internal piping, wiring, and pump from the well casing. This probably will contain 20-foot lengths of pipe screwed together to reach the bottom of your well. The piping is heavy and must not be allowed to fall or slip back down into the well casing while being pulled. Therefore, make sure enough manpower is available to do the job, or call your well driller to have it removed. The money is worth it. When the power comes back on permanently, he can re-install it.
Obtain a 3-foot piece of 3-inch PVC pipe, 3-inch PVC cap for it, a 3/4 inch male pipe adaptor, and a 3/4 inch swing check valve.
Drill the middle of the 3-inch PVC cap to accept the 3/4-inch male pipe adaptor, and glue the male pipe adaptor on the inside of the cap. Screw on the 3/4-inch check valve with flow intended to go away from the cap, and into the 3-inch PVC pipe that you will glue onto the cap. Once it is glued, you will have a 3 foot x 3 inch bucket, with a check valve in the bottom.
About two inches from the open end of the pipe, drill holes to accept a steel wire bale. 10-gauge wire fence works great. Attach a polypropylene rope securely to the wire bail with enough length to reach the water level in your well. Important - tie the loose end of the rope to something that cannot go down the well !!
To use - lower the PVC pipe-bucket down the well, when it reaches the water, its weight will push it into the water and open the check valve. The water will flow into the pipe. Pull up and empty. Repeat as necessary :-))) This device can be used with a pulley arrangement, if you are handy.
Maintain sanitary conditions around, over, and in the well as necessary.