# Hand pumps - shallow well pitcher pump



## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

Don't know what happened. I thought I posted this, but can't find it. If I dupe, please forgive.

I'm looking for recommendations on a pitcher-pump / shallow well hand pump.

I'm on a driven-point well, less than 25 feet down and have plenty of water. What I *want* to do is put a pitcher pump in the kitchen. I've got the right kind of pipe to go to it, and can put in more if needed. What I can't find are decent reviews on them.

I'm currently thinking of the Flotec FPHP25. It's cheap enough so that if it works out, I'll plumb both bathrooms to accept one, as well as put something outside on top of the well.

I've got a generator that easily runs the currently installed Goulds pump (which runs like a champ) but I don't want to depend on a supply of gasoline just to get water when the grid goes dark.

I can plumb whatever I get to wherever I need it and I plan to keep it capped off until and _if_ I need it.

Can someone recommend a pitcher pump ($200 or less) that won't buckle under the stress of a (potentially) sub-zero environment and a ham-handed New Hampshire hillbilly in a bad mood?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

Or maybe the Simmons 1160/PM500 No.2 Pitcher Pump???????


----------



## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Those that look like that Flotec FPHP25 are all about the same. They do certainly work and I have used many such pumps. You have a couple of choices on installation. Install the pump on the pipe and prime it each time want to use it(usually). Or put a check valve below the pump and it will stay primed but then be susceptible to freezing. Only way to use more than one pump like that on one well is to have a check valve under each pump. Each time you prime that pump you run the risk of contaminating the well if your priming water is contaminated.


----------



## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

hiwall said:


> Those that look like that Flotec FPHP25 are all about the same. They do certainly work and I have used many such pumps. You have a couple of choices on installation. Install the pump on the pipe and prime it each time want to use it(usually). Or put a check valve below the pump and it will stay primed but then be susceptible to freezing. Only way to use more than one pump like that on one well is to have a check valve under each pump. Each time you prime that pump you run the risk of contaminating the well if your priming water is contaminated.


Yup. Planning a check-valve under each one. Also, shut-off valves (almost like switches) to the normal house lines. (Gotta' stop the house from back-leaking into the suction...)

I've heard there's some difference in the quality of materials. I read about a few that have snapped in cold weather during use, and one that literally fell apart on it's own during a freeze. I'd kinda' like to stay away from those..... Chances are, I'll go with the Simmons, and buy a spare or two!

Thanks!


----------



## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

All of ours are over 100 year old so I don't know then brands but we've never had trouble with freeze.


----------



## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> All of ours are over 100 year old so I don't know then brands but we've never had trouble with freeze.


I don't know what it is, but I could swear the art of casting has gone backwards over time. I've heard of these things shattering during a nasty cold spell, but they were recent manufacture, and mostly from China. The good-ol' cast-iron stuff of 100 years ago, and made in the U.S., is still holding up!

If your pumps are 100 years old, they've lasted longer than anything I'm expecting to acquire!

I just need it to last longer than *I* do....


I'm now leaning towards the Simmons.....


----------



## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

I don't care what kind of pump you have- - if it is full of water and it freezes it will bust.


----------



## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

hiwall said:


> I don't care what kind of pump you have- - if it is full of water and it freezes it will bust.


Oh no..... I don't mean they broke because they were full of water...... things like the handle itself, the spouts and stuff have just cracked because of the ill-casting! They were just crap! That's what I'm trying to avoid....

Believe me when I tell you that the first thing a New Hampshire boy learns is what water does to stuff it's in when it freezes!!!!! Many an engine-block have been lost to just that oversight, even with freeze-plugs! (never happened to me, but it's something I've seen fairly regularly back in the days of "real" engines.)


----------



## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Check flea markets, yard sales and head south--many people are doing away with their hand pumps.


----------

