# how to convert water well to hand pump



## Clarice

We have community water at our home. We also have a well with an electric pump. Does anyone have any idea what it would take to convert to a hand pump? The well is approx. 125'. I have an old pitcher pump that needs new leathers(?) or so I've been told. We would like to do as much of the work ourselves to save $$. I have called to local well man, but he is much too busy to return my call. Any ideas out there?


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## NaeKid

You tell us that the well is 125' deep but without knowing where the water-level is, it is kind of difficult to tell you if a hand-pump will do the trick. If the water-level is 7-meters (21') below ground then a basic "cheap" hand-pump will do amazing. If it is much deeper than that, then special hand-pumps designed for deep-well use will be required.

I found a supplier of hand-pumps for you, their webpage is: Bison Hand Water Pumps

If you click on their pricing page, they have pumps for shallow wells and for deep wells and you will be able to decide from their information listed which one would be the better choice for your well and should be able to compare their options with the one that you have to see if yours will be able to be "tuned" to work with your well.


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## ZoomZoom

I like the question Clarice asked as I could see a use for the same thing.

Gulp... At $1500, I think I'll do it the manual way. My idea is to take a 3' long (or so) piece of 3-4" schedule 40 and put a cap on the bottom and then put weights in. On the top, drill for a rope connection. Lower it down the well and have it submerse into the water and fill. Pull it back up and dump into a larger container.


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## VUnder

You can make that hand pump for the deep well easily and cheap. It will basically be like the pumps used to lift crude oil out of the wells. I can explain it in detail if interested. Shouldn't be more than a hundred.


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## Kevin108

Is there any trick to keeping the leather gaskets from drying out?


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## The_Blob

Kevin108 said:


> Is there any trick to keeping the leather gaskets from drying out?


:dunno: use it frequently?


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## VUnder

This design only has one leather gasket. It would be better if you stacked maybe three together. Soak them good in vegetable oil to keep them pliable. Wells just seem to take a little maintenance anyways. But, with the hand pump, you can drill a small well instead of a large one. Even with a 6" well you still can make you a bucket out of a 4" pipe with a check valve in the bottom. One guy here just had a large ball bearing over a hole in the bottom of his "bucket" and used it that way. But, a hand pump would be a lot nicer.


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## Sourdough

bczoom said:


> I like the question Clarice asked as I could see a use for the same thing.
> 
> Gulp... At $1500, I think I'll do it the manual way. My idea is to take a 3' long (or so) piece of 3-4" schedule 40 and put a cap on the bottom and then put weights in. On the top, drill for a rope connection. Lower it down the well and have it submerse into the water and fill. Pull it back up and dump into a larger container.


If you have a "Pit-less" addapter in the casing, your not likely to get past it to the water level.


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## Kevin108

VUnder said:


> This design only has one leather gasket. It would be better if you stacked maybe three together. Soak them good in vegetable oil to keep them pliable. Wells just seem to take a little maintenance anyways. But, with the hand pump, you can drill a small well instead of a large one. Even with a 6" well you still can make you a bucket out of a 4" pipe with a check valve in the bottom. One guy here just had a large ball bearing over a hole in the bottom of his "bucket" and used it that way. But, a hand pump would be a lot nicer.


I have had two standard pitcher pumps. I broke the first one changing the gasket.  They use a leather gasket around the piston as well as an cap at the top of the pipe and both tend to dry out, shrink up and not do their job. I guess the Bison pumps are a better design but the price is just way too high. My little well out back is something like 70' deep but I haven't measured the water level lately. Typically it's only a few feet from the surface. I'm going to try the vegetable oil trick. I keep the Fry Daddy in the garage so I think I'll just clean the leather off and toss them in there.


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## VUnder

If you want to make that hand pump, it goes inside a 2" pipe, which will be your "pump barrel" and it moves water when you move the handle. Don't forget what you are doing and "batter" those leathers before you put in the fry daddy.


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## steven857

Hand water pump restoral is not difficult, and it is actually fairly easy to locate old well pumps and put them back into service or move the to a new location to use at your well. If you are interested let me know and I can guide you thru the process, I have been restoring antique well pumps for 30 plus years.


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## bizkit

It would be easier and more cost efficient.to build a Bailer bucket then would be no need to worry about freezing or breaking part all you need is some pipe and a foot valve spend about 40 bucks and get years of service


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## steven857

Bailer bucket is easier and would save you some dollars but you will be in for some serious work when you try to get 50-100 gallons of water for the Garden. As for freezing a properly installed well will not freeze, short of an ice age returning. To get a fair amount of water restoring a hand pump is a good option. Cost would will run you around 350 dollars for a 65 foot deep well and give you about 3-7 gallons per minute depending on who is pumping and depth of your well. For instance my well is 60 feet deep and we pump an average of 5 gallons per minute, and the cost to restore it was 320 dollars. Your daily water needs should be your guide as to whether you want a bucket or to restore the pump.


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## Emerald

I have two wells drilled on my property and one is in a pit with a huge "tank" system.. it will still work but is not pretty much been banned to even fix these so my mother had to drill again before we could buy this home.(bought my childhood home) 
Talked to a good friend/neighbor who is a well driller and he said that yes I can cut off the pipe to the tank/pump and weld on a pipe to bring it to the surface and the hand pump system I want is a very good one and easy to install by us. Bison deep well pumps. 
many folks kind think it is silly to add a hand pump to my other well.. until we lose power. then they all kinda reversed their views. I don't talk prepper to them just the fact that we have chickens and animals and that is a lot of water hauling from the river for them for drinking. I have almost talked another neighbor into buying one too. some of the Bison pumps can be added to wells with electric pumps goes right along side of the pump.


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## Well_Driller

One thing that most people probably don't realize with using a bailer bucket you first have to pull the electric pump out. That will stir the well up. Second well casings do get scale buildup on them and when you start dropping that thing down the well it will knock all that off and stir up the well. It will take quite a few times of running that up and down the well to clean it up. I've cleaned a lot of old wells. The bailer on the drilling rig is basically the same type of bailer but just a larger and longer version of it. When we first run that thing down an old well it really churns up all the sediment that has settled over the years and is normally not disturbed by the electric pump...... It sometimes takes quite a few trips in an out to clean them up with one that is 20' long, I could't imagine doing it by hand.


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## Offgridgiles117

I made a piston pump out of pvc.

1-1/4" for the main pipe
1" for the piston
1/2" for the pump rod.

Cost about $100


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## Offgridgiles117

I should add, my static was 52' I built the pump to 90' depth.


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## Kenny78

steven857 said:


> Hand water pump restoral is not difficult, and it is actually fairly easy to locate old well pumps.


HAHAHAHA try being in NE Oklahoma and locating anything resembling a restorable pump! I had to find a guy who has a collection way up north to buy a couple in restorable condition. He fortunately also sells rebuilt cylinders for a real good price. It would be easier to get the nation out of debt than to find pump heads within long distance driving.


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## Chemechie

steven857 said:


> Hand water pump restoral is not difficult, and it is actually fairly easy to locate old well pumps and put them back into service or move the to a new location to use at your well. If you are interested let me know and I can guide you thru the process, I have been restoring antique well pumps for 30 plus years.


My place is on county water now; the old well head was covered over when the switch was made 10 years ago - any suggestions on an easy way to find the old well head? Is it even worth looking?


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## dahur

Offgridgiles117 said:


> I made a piston pump out of pvc.
> 
> 1-1/4" for the main pipe
> 1" for the piston
> 1/2" for the pump rod.
> 
> Cost about $100


Can you provide details of your pump cylinder...?


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## LargoMike

I like the idea of a hand pump for a back up if the power went out. I think that after a hand pump, I would then upgrade to solar power during the day and the hand pump-GI showers @ night.


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## talob

dahur said:


> Can you provide details of your pump cylinder...?


I would allso be intrested in details, diagrams?


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## LincTex

Chemechie said:


> the old well head was covered over when the switch was made 10 years ago - any suggestions on an easy way to find the old well head?


Ask a neighbor to get you close. Someone has to remember seeing it!
Also, there may be records at the courthouse showing the location.
Ask local well drillers if they remember servicing the well at that place.


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## hiwall

Chemechie said:


> My place is on county water now; the old well head was covered over when the switch was made 10 years ago - any suggestions on an easy way to find the old well head? Is it even worth looking?


Often they are filled with cement.


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