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Pump 4 survival

A

audiopile

Joined
Nov 2, 2007
Messages
653
Everybody is concerned with drinkable water for survival. I understand the following is very area specific - I could go over a ridge about 20 miles West of me and be in a quit different well situation. Recently was shocking my well (chlorine treatment) when it occurred to me that maybe I didn't need a generator to pump water out of that well. Turns out that in my area it's not uncommon to have a well depth of 160-200 feet - but the water column within the well is only 30 feet or so below the surface.
So -what I'm looking for is - a good ( very reliable) light and reasonably portable pump - hand or foot powered. The trick is to be able to pump a vertical distance of 50 feet or less. Would like a non immersion design because if we are forced to move around - wouldn't want to loose a irreplaceable piece of gear jammed in a well.
Portability of pump and hose is important - but will stipulate that this is probably not going to be a back packers solution. However - if it could be a single person pack frame load including hose - that might be worth schleping around.
Any body got any ideas - models/manufacturers ?
 
The tough apart this is that with a hand pump, pulling up water from 30' down is going to produce a lot of vacuum in the suction tubing. I'm not familiar with the Katadyn system, and not sure if you can pump 30' of head with it. More industrial ideas might include Lumax or Lincoln hand transfer pump, or a hand-cranked rotary transfer pump. Three things that will be very important will be a ball check valve, either in-line or integral to the pump to prevent backflow, suction tubing rated for vacuum (rigid, possibly reimnforced PVC or similar), and a pump that provides enough mechanical advantage to overcome 30' of head.
 
Any body got enough experience with well caps to give a general idea of what you would need in your kit to get most caps off without damaging them or the well tube ? Don't need anything more than a hex socket for mine - have no idea how common or standard this is?
 
Most are hexes. I know for environmental wells, the standards are typically 9/16" or 15/16". Not sure about production wells, but it would likely be the same.
 
If your pump is to "suck" water out of the well using vacuum like a hand or foot pump you can only lift water a height equal to the atmospheric pressure (14.7 psi or about 34 feet). This assumes perfect conditions, so as has been stated lifting water 30 feet would be very unlikely. You have to push water up to get it that high.
 
What's the well diameter ?
All you need is a piece of PVC with some added weight and a check valve on bottom. Drop it in with a cord and reel it in. Drill a hole crossways in the top of the " bucket" and put a thick bar through for the rope. The bar will provide enough weight to get the check valve to open when it hits the water surface.
Ya know. Drop it in fast/pull it out slow.:eek::D

Mine in fl was a 5 inch piece of PVC 30 inches long. Pretty respectable amount of water per pull.:cool:
 
Toucan Oasis said:
What's the well diameter ?
All you need is a piece of PVC with some added weight and a check valve on bottom. Drop it in with a cord and reel it in. Drill a hole crossways in the top of the " bucket" and put a thick bar through for the rope. The bar will provide enough weight to get the check valve to open when it hits the water surface.
Ya know. Drop it in fast/pull it out slow.:eek::D

Mine in fl was a 5 inch piece of PVC 30 inches long. Pretty respectable amount of water per pull.:cool:
Click to expand...

Good call! You can order pre-fab bailers here...

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/drilldown_pages/view_category.asp?cat=302
 
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