# Manual hand pump for deep well...



## Marthas_minis (Jan 28, 2014)

My submersible well pump went out last week on my 250+ foot well. We're still waiting on the new pump which should be in tomorrow and the well company will install it after jetting the well. We should have a true depth of the well after jetting, which is usually 100' deeper than the submersible pump around here. 

I asked the well company about installing a manual hand pump in addition to the submersible but said a) there wasn't enough room in the 4" well shaft & b) the well is too deep. 

It seems like I have seen some things about deep manual pumps over the last few years. 

-I think I remember seeing claims that a manual pump could be installed in a 4" well shaft. 
Is this possible? 

-Are there any out there that are a good quality and any of you or someone you know has had good results with? I know of the Flo-jak but I've had people advise they are made of cheap materials & would not hold up for long. 

It would basically be used as a worst case scenario pump or for back up when electric lines are down. We're at the end of a line & are often the last to be serviced depending on where the outage is. We are still looking at solar power for our well house but at this point, it's financially out of our reach. 

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
MM


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## bigjon (Oct 2, 2013)

why such a small casing?


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## Marthas_minis (Jan 28, 2014)

The guy who dug it is apparently an idiot? Honestly, I don't know. I thought it looked like a 6" but the new well man said it was 4". 

The well is less than 4 years old. The impellers had completely disintegrated & they had spliced the wires about every 100' going down the well shaft to the pump. This other company says 50% of their business is fixing that other man's bad wells.


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

There is no manual well pump for that depth. We used to have a deep well (about 300' into a 1000-yr aquifer) and we'd lose electricity all the time. I researched for years for a manual pump and never found one. The reason was always the same - the water is too heavy to raise it that far - which, BTW, may be why you have a 4" pipe.


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## Marthas_minis (Jan 28, 2014)

I think I found the thread that discusses deep well hand pumps. There are two. Bison & Simple Pump. Looking into them now but if anyone has any experience using either with deep well, please let me know!


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I used a shallow well pitcher pump designed for only up to 30 ft depth to about 60 ft by using a 2 inch to 3/4 inch adapter and designing a one way valve prime retention foot on the 3/4 inch pipe. It worked but only barely.

For something that deep with a 4 inch casing you would need something like this one designed to be installed along with a submersible pump in a 4 inch casing.

http://www.sunshineworks.com/deep-well-hand-pump.htm


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## KMA1 (Dec 9, 2006)

Checking out Bison Pump website (just Google Bison Pump), their 1.5 inch cylinder requires 31 pounds of pressure to pump water up 250 feet and their 2 inch cylinder requires 47 pounds of pressure. My guess is that you could get at least the 1.5 inch cylinder and maybe the 2 inch down your well with your submersible line. The cylinder which is at the bottom of the line from the pump handle is what actually does the pumping. But the cylinder would have to be placed above your submersible pump.

Look under resources at the pump cylinder chart page.


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## k9 (Feb 6, 2008)

There is not enough room in a 4" casing if you want both pumps in the same casing at the same time. Remember that not only are you lifting the weight of the column of water standing 250ft. but also you have to lift the sucker rod connecting the hand pump to the cylinder 250ft. below, that is a lot of steel. Windmills and pumpjacks were invented for this reason. Look up Hitzer on the net, they make Heller Aller pumps.


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## BigM (Mar 22, 2008)

http://www.simplepump.com/

Have you looked into this?


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Here ya go. Some specs on The Simple Pump that will answer your question.
http://www.simplepump.com/OUR-PUMPS/Well-Compatibility.html


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

To consider: Having all the components to make a very large "A" frame too pull out the existing pump stuff . . and then lower something like the Simple pump.
With that small casing I wouldn't want to put any faith in lowering a Simple pump with out it getting hung up some where . . .Not so if you have taken out the other parts......

A shame Mr. El cheapo only drove down the 4" casing.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

A generator to run your well pump would be cheaper and less trouble.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

A generator brings its own set of issues. A deep well pump can rewuire a lot of amps. In a grid down, only as goodvas power and parts availability.

Keep searching as there was a thread a few years ago from a person that built his own deep well pump. He gave directions and diagrams. Not sure if it was as deep as yours. Wish I could remember the poster....

Have you considered a cistern? Rain barrels? Shallow well?


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## Marthas_minis (Jan 28, 2014)

We have both water cistern due to water pressure and rain water collection for my plants. 
Turns out we may have to drill a new, deeper well anyway. Our well appears to be low on water. 

It amazes me people will do a half assed job with something just because it is less expensive at the time. I look at things long term, in general. I would rather pay for something done well and correctly even if it means waiting until I have the funds to do it. 

If we have to drill a new well: wider drill shaft & manual deep well pump are on my wish list. 

Why aren't windmills used anymore?


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

We put a Simple Pump down the casing, 6", beside our submersible a few years ago. Our well is 300', with a static water lever of 160'. The Simple pump is at about 190', and is easy to pump with a flow of about 3+ gpm, more if you want to work harder.

It should go into a 4" casing without difficulty. Your submersible downpipe would be about 1 1/4", and the Simple Pump foot assembly about 2". We don't have it, but there's a motorized accessory that is powered from either solar or wind.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Marthas_minis said:


> We have both water cistern due to water pressure and rain water collection for my plants.
> Turns out we may have to drill a new, deeper well anyway. Our well appears to be low on water.
> 
> It amazes me people will do a half assed job with something just because it is less expensive at the time. I look at things long term, in general. I would rather pay for something done well and correctly even if it means waiting until I have the funds to do it.
> ...


If you want windmill experience come on, I've got two that need pulled, two that need heads taken off and one that needs the whole rickety tower laid down and two more that needs wheels repaired. There is a reason solar pumps are popular.


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## dolfan (Aug 3, 2013)

I had to get a plumber here a few weeks ago and i asked about a manual pump. He said it could be $700.00 and higher,depends on how deep the well is


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## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

Look at Lehman's website. They had a deep well pump advertised on it.


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