Client Story: Got Drinking Water from a Well Water Pump
MY NEW WELL WATER PUMP PROJECT
That is one thing that concerns me greatly. Water is the key to survival…without it, we wouldn’t live very long. For the past few years, we have been prepping for an uncertain future and one of the last items on our list was a new well for our small RV park in middle Georgia.
We wanted a well that would continue to provide good drinking water, even if the power grid were to go down, and even if we couldn’t get gasoline for our generator. We knew of some friends who had Bison hand pumps added to their existing wells for back-up and we were considering doing the same thing.
Then a few months back, I stumbled up a company making a hand pump that could be converted to be run by a 12-volt motor called THE SIMPLE PUMP. These pumps will work in most existing 4 to 8 inch wells and will pump down to 325 feet deep.
The pump is constructed out of billet steel with a detachable pump handle to where an optional 12-volt motor could be installed. The draw pipe has threaded connections, not the glued type like we were seeing on some of the other pumps on the market. I know that PVC glue is supposed to hold forever, but the thought of it possibly coming apart and dropping down in my well didn’t sit well with me. The internal pump rod is made of fiberglass with stainless threaded connections making assembly a breeze. The upper pump housing even has a freeze-proof feature making it ideal for extremely cold weather. This pump can also pressurize your main water tank, just as your electric drop pump does, providing enough water pressure for a quick shower.
First I contacted my well guy and told him of what I’d like to do and he was eager to come to see this, for he had several customers that had asked about something like this, but he had no experience with them. We decided on going with a 4 1/2 PVC casing with a 1.5 hp pump and a 120-gallon tank. I called the folks at The Simple Pump Company and ordered a 4 1/2 cap so it could be installed at the same time as the well was being dug.
We hit water at 60 feet, dug the well 240 feet, and placed the electric pump at 120 feet. Also when we wired the pump, we used male/female plugs so that we could easily plug the well pump into our generator.
Now that we know the depth of the well, water level and submersible electric pump, it’s time to order The Simple Pump. We decided to drop the pick-up at 100 feet so we ordered enough material to do this. [keep in mind, when ordering it’s best to know how much drop-pipe you need to get all this in one shipment to save $$$ on freight!] This is an easy, do it yourself with no help project and I had it up and running in less than two hours. Some Teflon tape, two pair of vice grips and a couple of channel lock pliers is all the tools needed for this project. The biggest thing is having a good clean area to work in to keep all the part clean of dirt and debris. I worked off the back of my pick-up truck and used a ladder to help ease the installation of the drop pipes and drop rods. This kit comes with a well made safety clip which is critical in the assembly process. [you damn sure don’t want to drop this puppy down in the well!]
The directions state that you may have to initially pump 100 strokes to build up the prime, but I only had about 25 strokes before I got water. Once primed, a mere few strokes delivered water! Once I get my pump house built and dried in, I plan to install the 12 volt electric motor.
Dublin, Georgia, 31021
