Installing A Hand Pump Water Well

[KevsFarm]

I posted a simular question on the sister site Easy Garden, then i figured maybe this is the place to ask these questions...
I want to install a hand pump for water for when there are power outages and a possible longer term emergency. Since it can cost thousands of $ to drive a new well, i'm looking to do this in a very frugal manor.They sell hand pumps that can be put down the same casing as ones existing electric run well.This option isn't chep either, like $1500 and better by the time you get done.
The most cost effective seems to be driving your own well point by hand which is hard work. Plus if you run into a rock, you have to pull everything up and start over.Other factors include how deep you have to drive the well point until you hit water and if you run into hard clay its even tougher.
I was looking for someone who has driven there own well who might care to share their experience/knowledge.I'm also looking for some buisness/internet link that sells a complete hand pump well kit, if such a thing exist..Everything i've seen online so far seems to be a "ala carte" affair which can be confusing. It would be nice if some company just sold a kit with everything you need to get the job done..
I've wanted to do this for yrs, but just can't afford to have a pro well driller do the job for me. Water equals life, all life needs water .With a hand pump you can get the water for your needs, even if there no gas to run a generator or if theres a general blackout/emergency going on...

 

[big brown horse]

Yup, me too.

 

[TanksHill]

Whenever I think of anything non electric I go to Lehman's. Not always the cheapest but a good point of reference and a place to start.

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Water___Water_Pumps?Args=&view_all=&sort_by=

gina

 

[valmom]

http://www.bisonpumps.com/

I have had this site bookmarked for years- I figure if they are made in Maine, they should work in VT. Our barn well has a high static level- I could probably get away with a shallow well pump just because of that. Of course, since I am a procrastinator it has been on my to do list for 7 years now...

Some day I will get organized. We just last fall got the house well actually fixed after 7 years of problems. So, I am so happy to just have reliable water that doesn't run out!

 

[PunkinPeep]

This isn't a kit, but it's step-by-step directions i've had bookmarked for a while because i really want my husband to do the same thing. It seems like such an easy fix, and i already know that our water table isn't very far down.

Hope it helps.

http://www.fdungan.com/well.htm

 

[kcsunshine]

Be very careful not to tap the first water source you come to. That's just surface water and is run-off from barns, animal lots, etc. Not safe. You have to get past the first layer of bed rock. (My dad was a well driller for many years when I was young. And that was before the well machines had a drill to use. He had to pound his way through.)

 

[DuppyDo]

No bedrock here KC, we only have sand and clay. There are some rocks here and there at all depths,but no solid bedrock.
Pumkin peep i saw that webpage, thanks, but thats the al carte site i mentioned in my original post which is kinda confusing. Thats why i was looking for a hand pump kit.There might not even be such a thing s a complete packaged kit. Lehmanns doesn;t have them either, but they have alot of hand pumps ready for your well.Thanks everyone, still searching.....KevsFarm

 

[Mackay]

I wonder how deep you are likely to need to go where you live.

My dad dug a well in our back yard in upstate NY. It was less than 25 feet and the water was beautiful. He literally pounded it into the ground. We knew the ground water was good. No dumping really for at least 40 miles.

Do you have a well already with an electric pump?

check these out. http://www.bisonpumps.com/

 

[DuppyDo]

Well, this is pretty odd...! I use to be a member here in 2008. I was off the internet for about a yr or so, and use to go by the handle... Duppydo...
I recently got back online and my new handle here "was" KevsFarm...! Now i see all of a sudden that SSF is going by my old handle Duppydo...lol...I don't know what the heck is going on..! So, just so you all know, Duppydo is KevsFarm..,.lol
Mackey, i think my water table is about forty ft. My neighbors had there water tested last yr and it was pretty good. Don't recall the exact numbers, but they are pretty well versed on the subject. So i was glad to hear that.

 

[DuppyDo]

Forgot to mention , yes i read about the Bison and Smart pump. Yes, i do have an existing electric pump/well. Both those can be put down ones existing electric well, but there to pricy for me.I wanted to do my own well like your father did Mackey, hand driven, its hard work.Money is an issue( what else is new...lol), thats why i was hoping to find a reasonable hand pump/well kit for the DIY'er....Kevin