# Well Water Solution wanted



## WolfWalksSoftly (Aug 13, 2004)

I am looking for an alternate method of drawing water from my well if and when the electric goes down. My well is 225 Ft. which I think eliminates any type of solar power. Is this correct? Anyone have any idea's?
Thanks.


----------



## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

225 ft can be done with solar but it is expensive. 

If you are only looking for backup then I would suggest a generator.


----------



## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

I would second white wolf's generator suggestion. You'll be happy to have a generator for other things in addition to the well.

However, there are solar systems designed to opperate at depths of up to 500-600 feet.
Check out this site.
http://www.solarwellpumps.com/solar.htm
They have systems that can pump water from 500-600 feet. For you, with a depth of 240 feet, there are options ranging from 2700-3600$ that will pump about 500 gallons/day. Larger quantities of water cost progressively more.
Michael


----------



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

If worse comes to worse, and you cannot get gasoline for your generator, I'd suggest purchasing a well bailer. Normally, these are used by environmental companies to sample monitoring wells. They come in a variety of lengths, diameters, and materials and can be very inexpensive. 

Simply tie a cord to the end of the tube, drop it down the well casing and obtain your water. In the bottom of the tube is a check valve that allows the water in, but not out.


----------



## WolfWalksSoftly (Aug 13, 2004)

Thanks everyone. I was thinking of maybe an above ground tank, say 200 to 250 gallons and pump from that into the house if need be. Not sure about how the quality of the water would be though.


----------



## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

i recently went of grid and untill i get my 12/240 inverter i am using a small
backup gennie to pump from my well into a 2500 gallon storage tank
which then feeds back into the house lines with a small 12v motorhome pump
to provide the pressure.

think i am just going to change to a small 110 volt pressure pump for the house lines as my water useage is just working the little 12v pump to death.

my well is at about 300 feet.

overall things are working out realy well and i can pump an awfull lot
of water on a gallon of gas


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

WolfWalksSoftly said:


> I am looking for an alternate method of drawing water from my well if and when the electric goes down. My well is 225 Ft. which I think eliminates any type of solar power. Is this correct? Anyone have any idea's?
> Thanks.


Yes, it can be done with solar power, and it can be done inexpensively. You're just below the wire at 225 feet, so it will work for you. Check out this pump. It's rated conservatively at 230 feet, operates on 12 volts, and costs under $250.

http://www.nemosolar.com/dcsubmersiblepumps/

You'll only be using that pump to surface the water, not to pressurize it for residential use. I do what damoc does by using an RV pump to maintain pressure and flow to the house. I would recommend the Shurflo 2.8 GPM RV pump for your pressure system, unless you require unusually high water flow for some reason. The Shurflo pump is an all-in-one unit that automatically comes on to maintain 40 psi on the water system. This particular pump operates on 12 volts, but they make other models that run on higher voltages. The 2.8 GPM model is typically priced at eBay for under $50, plus $15 shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Shur...r-Pump-2088-422-144-444_W0QQitemZ280272935993

I get a pretty good shower out of it.

I use a 275 gallon IBC tote tank for water storage. I built an insulated shed for it that's attached to the cabin, then cut an opening in the shared wall to allow heat into the shed. That effectively moves the water tank inside the house, which eliminates the freezing pipe problem.


----------



## WolfWalksSoftly (Aug 13, 2004)

Nevada, thanks for taking the time, that is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!.


----------



## ThreeRivers (Nov 26, 2008)

Cabin Fever said:


> If worse comes to worse, and you cannot get gasoline for your generator, I'd suggest purchasing a well bailer. Normally, these are used by environmental companies to sample monitoring wells. They come in a variety of lengths, diameters, and materials and can be very inexpensive.
> 
> Simply tie a cord to the end of the tube, drop it down the well casing and obtain your water. In the bottom of the tube is a check valve that allows the water in, but not out.


Yes those work very well.


----------



## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

a pump jack and a gas motor, you can still use your submersible under the pipe, pump into a storage tank, or a wind mill if you have enough wind, use a stuffing box to seal the top of the well and your in business, and can pump with a sucker rod, (hand pump, pump jack or windmill) 

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1068391#post1068391

or one can if the casing is large enough put in an aditional pipe and set up a hand pump separately,


----------



## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

We just bought a small inexpensive hand pump from Lowe's. It cost about $39.00...or it may have been $49.00. It is small but it works. We set it on top of our cement water tank, the top of the tank is above ground so we just drilled a hole in the cement tank, used white PVC pipe and hooked the little hand pump to it. We set the hand pump up on two pieces of wood so that it sets high enough that we can set a bucket under it. Then, we just pump water into the bucket.

Since our tank sets near the front of our house, if the power is out, we still have 1200 gallons of water.....after that we could have to use the rain barrels (about 2000 gallons)....but that is enough to last a while.


----------

