Client Story: Home Made Water Pump Rig

Easily Install the Simple Pump

You don’t need to do anything like the following to install your water pump: the story is offered simply for your interest. The Simple Pump Safety Tool, the T-handle assist tool, and an extra pair of hands (if needed) of a friend will enable you to install the Simple Pump yourself if you are so inclined.

About two-thirds of our clients install their Simple Pump water pump themselves. The other third use professional installers.

DIY Water Pump Rig

I did it all by myself, and I’m 67 years old — with the help of a few homemade “third hand” kinds of simple tooling and extra safety locks to prevent dropping the pipe in the well inadvertently (sort of an expansion of the “safety tool” idea). Seemed to me to be almost a necessity when working alone.

I rigged a little blind-end screw-on tool so I could lower the drop pipe with the sucker rod already inside it and wouldn’t have to fool with bending the rod over to slide a pipe over it — it was pretty easy.

The second picture shows the sucker rod just after mating it with the downhole rod — the drop pipe is being supported by a clamp on the 2×12 across my 4×4 posts until I get the sucker rod connected.

Then I release the clamp and lower the drop pipe for threading into the lower drop pipe. The little tool that “blind-ends” the drop pipe so the sucker rod can’t fall out has been removed and set on the well cap beside the drop pipe in this picture — it just screws on and off the end of the drop pipe.

Also made a short tool to grip the upper end of the pipe so it wouldn’t pinch my hand when the collar got to the safety tool — and I had two feet of pipe grip above the collar. Plus, with that tool screwed on, the pipe could not fall through the well cap, even if you pulled out the safety tool — I purposely made the hand grip tool oversize.

Also made another safety tool for use on the overhead 2×12 so I could “stage” the drop pipe down. Slower, but absolutely no chance of dropping the pipe down the well. There is always a tool blocking it from falling all the way down. I hooked elastic cord to a “wire bail” I put on the safety tools, once they were in place and loaded with pipe weight.

Then when I got ready to lower, all I had to do was lift up slightly and the safety tool was jerked out by the elastic cord — I always had both hands on the pipe when lowering. Then it would hit the lower safety tool (inserted after the lower collar went in the hole and the upper drop pipe collar had hit the upper safety tool and was securely held) and I could let go.

Most people would think the extra steps were a PITA, but it meant I could not possibly drop the pipe string in the well — and I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Little simple tooling assists like that for an old man working alone. All this was made out of simple hardware store stuff — mostly PVC pipe fittings.

I also wrote up an expanded “step-by-step” procedure so I wouldn’t overlook anything. (I’m a retired mechanical engineer — thus all the extra BS)

Pump worked, however, I would not recommend me as your installer. I’m slow as hell.

P.S. My well is about 100 ft. deep.