[muir_redwoods]

I need to look into a hand operated water pump for my well. should the SHTF and I loose fuel for my generator, my well wont do me much good. I have six acres with several natural springs but they don’t produce a lot of water. Any advice?

[Kartographer]

What about building a cistern to store water from your springs?

[yarddog]

If you have a well you don’t need anything but a tickle, rope and bucket. I can’t imagine a natural spring not producing enough water.

When we had a spring at the farm I lived on for the first few years of my life, it produced more water than we would ever use. I was told we used the spring until Daddy dug a well.

[tiki]

You can always use a bucket and a rope, given a few days I’m sure you’d come up with an ingenious way of doing it, like several vessels that rotate up.

[immadashell]

http://ladyapprentice.com/2011/04/how_to_make_a_pvc_water_hand_pump_to_use_when_you_have_no_power

[immadashell]

In addition, at the website listed above there are simpler pump solutions listed in the right hand column under “categories.”

[driftdiver]

There are some ideas on youtube. Bicycle powered pumps, simple pvc pipes to haul small amounts of water out. Solar setups for providing battery power. A lot depends on how much water you need and how deep you have to go to get water.

[Soul of the South]

Can you dig out a pond for the streams to feed? I have a 10 acre spring fed lake behind my house. Should be easy to dip out water by the bucket.

[familyop]

"I need to look into a hand operated water pump for my well. should the SHTF and I loose fuel for my generator, my well wont do me much good. I have six acres with several natural springs but they don’t produce a lot of water. Any advice?"

You could mount a PV solar power plant on it. Try the following sets of keywords.

Solar powered well pump.

solar slow pump

Grunfos makes the best pumps for those, although the cheaper DC pumps will work. Grunfos also makes a 3" model for those who might otherwise get a standard pump stuck in a four-inch casing.

You need: an array of PV modules (small, if you get enough sun), a cistern to store water instead of using batteries, a float switch, a controller made for solar well pumps (low cost, last I looked), a pump, cables, switches, etc. I've seen controllers that are dual use for solar-generator and solar-wind. If such a power plant is also connected to grid power, you might need a transfer switch. And of course, NEC code for the appropriate year in your area, permit, inspection, etc.

Or yes, you could install and use a hand pump. But if you do that, hopefully, your well isn't a deep one (whole lotta hand pumpin' needed for deep wells). And I haven't seen any low cost hand pumps.

You might also consider a diesel or propane generator. Diesel fuel last longer than gasoline but can gel withinin four year, give or take. Propane is virtually forever, if you periodically check fittings, etc., so it stores really well. For a generator hookup to a well pump, you need an outdoor switch capable of the current on the system, and an "inlet" (and maybe a transfer switch if also hooked up to the power grid). And of course, the NEC (National Electrical Code) for the appropriate year for your jurisdiction. And a strong post for the switch and inlet.

You could build a wood-fired boiler conforming to ASME code, steam engine and a larger axial-flux alternator, if you have some steel fab skills, machining skills and don't mind reading and tinkering much. The boiler, engine and alternator would need to be capable of handling the start-up current demanded by your well pump. No small project. Such a power plant would be terribly inefficient, but it would be really cool. ;-) Or you could buy all of the components already built for a small fortune. Let me know, if you're crazy, sincere and experienced enough to build/assemble such a system, and I'll PM you a couple of links.

Lowtechs

[SgtHooper]

Although I have not worked out the details, my solution for the well is a couple golf cart batteries being charged by a couple solar panels, the batteries kick in when power goes down and will drive the well pump. The usage should be manually controlled under battery operation.

[going hot]

http://www.simplepump.com/

Check it out, nice product, hand or battery power. With a single wire alternator on a pole with a fan blade attached, the possibilities are endless.

[William Tell]

http://www.simplepump.com

It’s very comforting to know that we can pump water
without electricity.

Our preps look pretty good except for the “ideal weight” issue. I think I’ve drifter over the limit.

[bgill]

You can rig a small container to a string to lower down to the water inside the well opening. Maybe time consuming if you need a large amount of water but it works.