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I've been thinking that if I had a prolonged power outage, such as with that big earthquake we're due for, it would be nice to have a manual pump for my well. I have a couple questions though:

1) How well do wells survive earthquakes? Mine is a steel pipe with a 6" or 8" inner diameter -- I don't know how deep it goes but the pump is only about 20' feet down (I live in the wet part of WA).

2) Assuming the well would survive a quake, any suggestions for a decent pump? I'd like something pretty easy to store and without extensive set-up requirements -- something like a hand operated bilge pump that can draw from 20' or so.
 
I suggest you contact one of the Farm Supply companies and have one Professionally installed in your Well House and use it from time to time. There's no way to tell what will happen to the Well during a major quake.:)
 
OP:
Be aware that *some* home well pumps run on 220 while others are 110....and your generator needs to match.....a hand pump back-up is a good idea IMHO. Please post information about what you find.
 
Something to consider.

A hand operated well pump should sit at the bottom of the well with a long rod used to activate the pump in the bottom of the well. It can push water up hundreds of feet.
But you cant create a vacuum at the top of a well to lift water fore more than 33.9 ft. Closer to 22.5 ft real world.

Now priming with a foot valve is a bit different. But loose the foot valve for any reason and you cant prime the pump.


Firefighter Math
 
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Some years back there was a company that manufactured a hand pump called the "Simple Pump". They ran around $1500. I don't know if they're still in business, but I checked it out at the time and it seemed like a good alternative.
 
It'd be a decent idea to have a hand pump for any number of short or long term SHTF's.

As above, no idea on what would happen to a well in an earthquake. Maybe where you are the earth will liquify, maybe it will shift, maybe nothing at all at your specific location. Regional power would be out, if it were the "big one", more than likely.

If your still living there when the quake hits, and your well is still running (hand pump/gen set), boil or treat any water used for potable, until time allows for testing it. I'd imagine anyways.

No idea on what to get, following on that.
 
About 25 years ago on the solar homestead we had a backhoe dig our water well. The well was 16 feet deep. The water depth inside the 18 foot long 10" plastic pipe varied from about 8 feet in the summer and about 12 feet in the winter. Yep. The level was backwards from the rainfall season. Two feet stuck out of the ground.

We use a Mexican made pitcher pump. Hand driven. A crank you lifted up and down. Also we drilled a very small 1/32 inch hole in the pump body. Let the water run out of the pump body so the thing would not free up solid and bust. We learned the hard way about leaving the pump full of water. Priming was needed. Easy.

This was the manual back up pump. We also had another 8 feet of suction hose down in the water. About 4 feet above the high water level was a 12VDC, (later 24VDC) pump. About 8 gpm. Worked great with the old M33 Solar Panels and the surplus but excellent rebuilt 240 ah Nickel Cadmium batts. Both worked great.

The hand pump worked fine. One just held a gallon plastic jug under the outlet which poured water out when you hand pumped the handle. About 16 pumps per gallon. Funny how memory serves sometimes. We kept everything cheap and KISS back then. If you have a shallow ground water water well, these pumps work.

Every year we had the water checked. Cost a bunch. Perfect soft water. One of the things one MUST address with a shallow water level dug well nowadays. Today such a red painted iron hand pumped pitcher pump goes for about $60 bucks at the Grange? Easy to use. Be sure to drill that de prime hole. Freezing is expensive.

Edit: Yikes! $70 to $80 bucks today.
 
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I've been thinking that if I had a prolonged power outage, such as with that big earthquake we're due for, it would be nice to have a manual pump for my well. I have a couple questions though:

1) How well do wells survive earthquakes? Mine is a steel pipe with a 6" or 8" inner diameter -- I don't know how deep it goes but the pump is only about 20' feet down (I live in the wet part of WA).

2) Assuming the well would survive a quake, any suggestions for a decent pump? I'd like something pretty easy to store and without extensive set-up requirements -- something like a hand operated bilge pump that can draw from 20' or so.

Don't worry you well receive plenty of water
 
This kind of pump is available online and in farm supply stores. They're $70 to $80 each.

I have two. One is kept as a spare. Planning to pick up some more seals and PVC pipe to have in reserve.

As long as the quake doesnt destroy the well, or shift the groundwater away, you should be okay with a setup like this.

I had the pipe, the cutoff valve, and pump installed by Aqua Pro Pump Service. Cost about $200 for the installation.

719A3340-CA00-49BC-9646-7EE33C99B940.jpeg
 
3 KW continuous diesel generator, single and 3 phase, all voltages available, brushless so makes clean electricity that won't damage electronic gear. Runs 4 hrs on a gallon of fuel and can be hand started. Will produce 7kw on a surge. C662FDCE-8A47-494F-96A8-E5391299B2FD.jpeg 6D77D414-5622-4E1C-95F6-90EC4AEE2C11.jpeg 5346618A-6BDE-410E-9F83-33F503827E02.jpeg
 
Now THAT is a perfectly sized very sweet gen set. Thank you. Wanna bet also EMP resistant?

Can you run stuff other than #2 Diesel? Like #1 Diesel, maybe a mix of gasoline and vege oil? How about a mix of Jet A and lube oil? Just curious.

Our old VW Rabbit Diesel had stuff in the owners manual about alternate fuels. Cool.
 
This kind of pump is available online and in farm supply stores. They're $70 to $80 each.

I have two. One is kept as a spare. Planning to pick up some more seals and PVC pipe to have in reserve.

As long as the quake doesnt destroy the well, or shift the groundwater away, you should be okay with a setup like this.

I had the pipe, the cutoff valve, and pump installed by Aqua Pro Pump Service. Cost about $200 for the installation.

View attachment 430250


Is there an easy way to keep it from freezing in winter?
 
I've got the old hand pump Grandpa had sticking in the earth in his NorDakota settlement 100+ years ago. Will post a photo tomorrow.
It's wore out & been froze/cracked somewhere along the line.
 
I do remember reading a book about a guy who attempted to live off the land in Ohio with no electricity and all he had was an outdoor well with the old turn of the century hand pump. The first winter the pump would freeze up and he had to pour boiling water down inside it to thaw out the priming reservoir valve.
The second year he realized that all he needed to do is take a piece of bailing wire and lift the primer valve and drain the standing water.
Then, all he needed to do is pour a couple of cups of water down into the pump reservoir to get it to work.
 

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