# Off Grid Well Pump



## BigHenTinyBrain (Apr 4, 2013)

The only thing that makes me crazy when our power is out is the well pump. I hate to run the generator just for the water, but haven't come up with an alternative way to get water from down in the well to up in the house without the grid. Any suggestions? We're in Maine, so I worry about cisterns freezing and solar is not always reliable. We're pretty windy, but I haven't seen livestock windmills in the north, so I don't know if they will work in freezing places.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

i live in Maine, we use solar power. The limit to solar power is how much battery bank you have. You can always add more batteries. If 12 batteries can not store enough power to get you through a snow storm then try 24 batteries, and so on.

I do not have a generator to fall back on.


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## BigHenTinyBrain (Apr 4, 2013)

I'd love to find an alternative to solar with a battery bank, because it would be ONLY for the well pump... the rest of the house works pretty well with or without power.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

I know a lot of Mainers, who run two generators.

A BIG generator that can power EVERYTHING. but that consumes a lot of fuel. and a tiny generator that can only power a couple of things [laptops and lighting] and which will consume only a small bit of fuel per hour.


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## BigHenTinyBrain (Apr 4, 2013)

Yeah, we might go that route. We've got a whole house generator, but really all we need to use it for is the water and the fridge. It's been out of commission for a couple of seasons, and if I can come up with an alternative for the well pump then I can justify not getting it repaired at all. I've never liked having a whole lot of generator running for just a single need.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

You could add a 2 6v golf cart battery’s with a 12v RV pump and holding tank. 
Pump water into the tank from the well , and keep a battery charger on the battery so it stays full
if you louse power just turn on the tank water valve turn off the well valve . 
The 12 v pump will pressurized the house and work like there is power . 
The tank can go in your celler.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

When I bought my farm, the area had only gotten electricity 20 years earlier and they had given up farming almost that long. The well pump was in the basement. The pipe from the pump to the well had a hand pump and a check valve. So, when the power was out, I could hand pump in the basement. Outside, a tall hand pump was placed over the well. There is enough room in the well for the pipe that went to the house electric pump and the outside hand pump, with the pump cylinder below the water. The pipe had a hole drilled just above the cylinder, so no water stayed in the pipe to freeze. So, without power, I had two hand pumps to get water. A neighbor took a 12 inch driveway culvert, placed it in a deep hole and backfilled with gravel. He bought a 12 volt sump pump, 12 volt battery and a solar charging panel. Flip a switch and the sump pump runs water out the pipe. Drill a hole in the pipe way down low so the water can drain and not freeze. Cover the top with styrofoam or a straw bale.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

haypoint said:


> When I bought my farm, ...


Good story. No complaint.  

In Maine the frost line according to building inspectors is 4 feet [if using Styrofoam one inch of foam counts as one foot of earth]. To stay thawed you need 4 feet worth of earth over the pipe.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I like Wellbuilt's solution but I would add a couple hundred watts of solar panels and a charge controller to keep the batteries charged up. If the power is out for more than a day or two the solar will recharge the batteries. Otherwise the batteries will run down and you are right back where you started .


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

Nimrod said:


> I like Wellbuilt's solution but I would add a couple hundred watts of solar panels and a charge controller to keep the batteries charged up. If the power is out for more than a day or two the solar will recharge the batteries. Otherwise the batteries will run down and you are right back where you started .


 Those pumps can pump a lot of water I’m thinking they use 100watts @ 4.5G a min, so if the battery’s are in good shape it will pump 10 hours so a 275 gallon tote will be empty .
The big totes can be disassembled pushed thru a door way and reassembled .
But you can allways fill the tank with the generator and charge the battery .
But sure a couple solar panels wood be good 👍 .


ET1 SS said:


> Good story. No complaint.
> 
> In Maine the frost line according to building inspectors is 4 feet [if using Styrofoam one inch of foam counts as one foot of earth]. To stay thawed you need 4 feet worth of earth over the pipe.


 my place is on solid rock my pitless adapter is 30” and 16’ away at the house my well line is 
16” below grade I used 1” pex line with 11/4 pipe insulation and put a 4” pipe over it . 
I layed 2” poly styrene over it 36” wide and buried it . 
It’s cold at my place , it was below0 for weeks at a time and my water never froze 👍


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

BigHenTinyBrain said:


> I'd love to find an alternative to solar with a battery bank, because it would be ONLY for the well pump... the rest of the house works pretty well with or without power.


I have the same concerns. My well is 150 ft from the house, and we get cold in the winter and average only ~ 4hrs of sun each day (44*N) ....I didn't want to have to provide heat to keep batteries from freezing...I contacted a solar equipment provider who worked out a solution-- am AC/DC pump that works on very low voltage/amperage and a very large capacity pressure tank with two 6ft solar panels.....Installation of it will be this year's project.

It's a little more expensive with the large tank and all, but I figured over the course of 20 yrs it'll only cost ~$500 more than grid power in return for the security


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## bandjay04 (11 mo ago)

Not a specialist on pumps, but rather the first thing I would do is investigate whether there is any shallow water you can draw for agriculture. Often towns or countries have databases that record wells, giving data such as depth to water, depth to obstruction, and maybe coordinates. Was there a discussion with the well driller in regards to shallow springs nearby? Shallow burrowed or driven wells are regularly reasonable for agricultural use.

The point in our unconfined shallow spring is at 25 feet in the sand, so siphoning is simple. For an off-grid deep well, the traditional solution would be a windmill.


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## wdcutrsdaughter (Dec 9, 2012)

Could you put a hand pump on the well?


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## bpmahagan (Mar 19, 2021)

How deep is your well? We have one of these for a 70' well. We use it for irrigation and poultry but don't see why it wouldn't carry your house through a power outage. If your well isn't too deep.









RPS Solar Pumps


RPS Solar Pumps is America’s #1 Most Trusted Solar Water Pump - serving livestock, irrigation, off grid living and more.




www.rpssolarpumps.com


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

You may look into these and they have a low power motor attachment to it as well.









Simple Pump Deep Well Hand Pump


The best Deep Well Hand Pump fits in almost all deep wells (up to 325 feet) either alone (2-inch well) or next to the submersible in 4-inch and larger wells.




simplepump.com


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

damoc said:


> You may look into these and they have a low power motor attachment to it as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


For that price, you can afford to have The Culligan Man custom deliver your water in convenient bottles and still have enough left over to hire a French Maid to serve it to you.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

doc- said:


> For that price, you can afford to have The Culligan Man custom deliver your water in convenient bottles and still have enough left over to hire a French Maid to serve it to you.


Your post sounds a little sarcastic and while i appreciate a bit of sarcastic humor you need to appreciate how important water is and this pump while it seems expensive can. 1 be set up by anyone by hand without special well rigs. It can pump into pressure tank so you can keep using your household plumbing.it can fit beside existing submersible pumps.It can function by hand or small alternate power source. I think this fits perfectly with what the OP was asking and I thought the cost was very reasonable considering all that.Also I have helped to install one of these and seen it used for years with no problems.


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

I too understand the basic necessity of a reliable source of water-- but I put in pump, solar panels and all the necessary paraphenalia for $2000 to ensure my supply...The price they quote is exhorbitant for just a few hunderd feet of pipe and a simple mechanical pump.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

I use a Grundfos SQF solar pump , It pumps 6 gallons a min from 700 feet 
it runs off a wall outlet 700watts . 
If the power go’s down it can pump water with a couple solar panels .
My pump runs off my inverter and I have extra panels on my system but really it dosent use much power .


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