water pump

[MissouriFree]

I am going to have a well drilled pretty soon and want to have a hand pump that goes in with it for when power goes out as it often does my area.

Have any of you kind folks used a Bison hand water pump ?

http://www.bisonpumps.com/index.htm

As you can see they are pretty pricey but I am not planning on any back up generator and we don't have a stream on the land so I need something. Our well is probably be going to several hundred feet. When I was a kid on the farm ( long long ago) all our water came of the roof and went in the cistern. Then we had an old hand crank cistern. Anyway not sure if I want to wait for it to rain or even to drink rain water anymore.

If not this one are there others out there ?

thanks much

[DavidOH]

I have no experience with them.

Maybe someone will post that does.

They look similar to the ones offered here:
http://www.lehmans.com/index.jsp

[bookwormom]

we have a well, over 180 feet deep. I was led to believe that at that depth you can forget hand pumps. we also have a cistern, but I would not want to drink that water, but it is great for laundry and bathing. If there is a handpump that works for deeper wells I sure would be interested. My friend had a handpump, but that well was pretty shallow, like 30 feet or so.

[alwaysacowboy]

Typical hand pumps or electric pumps that rely on suction to lift the water have a maximum lift of something less than 30'.
If you're handy and want to spend some time on the internet, look up "rope pump"
From Wikipedia;
"A rope pump is a kind of pump used in developing areas to raise water from wells. Rope pumps consist of a PVC pipe, and a rope with washers attached to it. The water is held in between the washers in the pipe, and is pulled to the surface. Rope pumps are very simple, and can be easily repaired.
The rope and washer pump is made from a nylon rope, old car tire and class C pipe or stronger."

They can also be powered by a bicycle by having the rope go around the rear rim.
Art

[johnjmw]

A number of years ago Mother Earth News had plans in their Mag for a home made PVC had pump. It had a T handle instead of a lever. I built one on my property. It works good of you don't have power but the lever type is easier. For the cost of PVC it is a good deal and very easy to put together. It's good for almost any depth though best if for less than 50' or 75'. I'll try to post a picture on here as soon as I can.
My only problem was not waiting long enough, with the cold weather I was having when I put it together, before trying to install it. One or two joints popped while trying to lift it up to drop it into the well.
It only takes a few min to fill a five gallon bucket.
John

[musicman]

I'm looking forward to the pictures :)

[johnjmw]

Sorry not much detail in the pict but it is what I have on hand and could find quickly.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/hiei123456789/Down%20on%20the%20farm/MVC-030a.jpg
John