Hand Pumps for Wells: Backup Water Without Power

Who needs one

A hand pump makes sense if:

• You lose power for days at a time, in ice storms, hurricanes or wildfire shutoffs.
• You don't want to rely on a generator, or want something that works when the fuel runs out.
• You keep livestock or a garden that can't go without water.
• The house is off-grid or a cabin with an existing well.

If outages are short and rare, a generator wired to run the well pump through a transfer switch or interlock is often the simpler fix. See backup power for a well pump.

How a well hand pump works

Every hand pump is a piston in a cylinder with one-way valves. Pull the handle up and the piston lifts the water above it while drawing more in below. Push down and a check valve holds that water in place while the piston resets. Bison's shallow well pump uses buna rubber cup seals on its piston, the same idea as the leather cups on old cast-iron pumps.

Where the cylinder sits decides how deep the pump can reach.

• Pitcher pumps (suction pumps) have the cylinder up top and suck water up the pipe. Suction runs out fast. Goulds puts the practical suction lift at sea level at 25 feet, and Bison says its pitcher pump must not exceed 25 feet of vertical lift from the water to the pump base.
• Deep well piston pumps put the cylinder down in the water and drive it with rods from the handle. They push water up rather than suck it, so they work far below the suction limit. Bison notes that very deep water levels make pumping harder, and it sizes the cylinder to the depth.

Types compared

For homes with a drilled well, the stainless drop-in type is the one to look at. A pitcher pump can't reach most drilled wells, and an antique pump usually needs its own well.

Feeding the pressure tank

A hand pump on its own fills buckets. Bison sells a pressurizing kit that connects the hand pump's outlet to the drain valve on your pressure tank, so you can pump pressurized water into the house plumbing during an outage. That means flushing toilets and running a faucet like normal, as long as someone keeps pumping.

How much effort that takes depends on depth. Bison's shallow pitcher pump puts out about 19 ounces per full stroke, roughly seven strokes per gallon. Deeper water puts more weight on every stroke, which is why deep well pumps come with a choice of cylinder sizes.

What it costs

Forbes calls hand pumps the least expensive pump type but notes they're physically tiring to use. A pitcher pump sits at the bottom of those ranges. A stainless deep well kit with drop pipe and professional installation sits near the top. Depth matters most, because every extra length of pipe and rod adds cost.

What to skip

• Decorative pumps. Plenty of "well pumps" sold for gardens are yard ornaments with no working cylinder.
• A pitcher pump on a deep drilled well. It physically cannot lift water from more than about 25 feet.
• Cutting the well cap to fit a pipe. The wellhead has to stay sealed. A proper kit comes with, or requires, a cap made for two drop pipes.
• Cheap plated steel rods. Rods and pipe sit in water for years. Bison builds its down-the-well parts in stainless steel, and that's the standard to hold other kits to.

Install notes

On a drilled well, the hand pump's drop pipe and rods go down the casing beside the submersible's pipe and wire. Whether there's room depends on the casing diameter and how the existing pump is hung, so have a contractor check before you buy. Expect:

• A new well cap or adapter to pass both systems through and keep the seal.
• The hand pump cylinder set below the lowest water level, including drawdown when the electric pump runs.
• Disinfecting the well afterward, since the well was open. Our shock chlorination guide covers how.
• A water test once the chlorine is flushed. See well water testing.

Check with your local health or building department, since some counties require a licensed contractor for any work inside the well casing.