Allotments 4 All

Hi all,

I have just dug a well which is eight feet deep, giving me about five feet of water...

Question;

Instead of messing about with a bucket to get the water out, does anyone know any links to a site that sells some sort of manually operated pump..?

It has to be manual as theres no electric there, I would prefer not to pay top dollar if I can avoid it, but if no alternative then I will of course... Also I would prefer something that I could easily take to and from the plot instead of something I would need to leave there...

Any advice on where to shop and ideas and options all gratefully received...


Regards,


wraith

I don't know the answer to your question, but I just wanted to congratulate you on digging such a deep hole- how long did it take?

In our site we have several wells..and chaps that use those, use petrol pumps...you can get those from many companies that sell tools and machinery
But as you well is only (... ::) well done)..8ft...you should get away with those hand pumpped ones...untill I have rummaged through my sources I cannot remember one..but in mean while I would try by giving a call to Garden Systems..they are company who deal maily with irrigation and watering problems...who knows, if they don't sell..they may pass you on to those who does..but will you let us know if you do find supplier?..I'm sure you are not only one wanting one of those.. ;)..oh the number... ::)..0845 118 1253

Wraith,

Why not try the marine suppliers for a bilge hand pump which would do the job after you have set it up.

http://marinestore.co.uk/manual-pumps.html

snap...I was just about to say that.. ;)

I cannot say great minds think alike as mine has never been good ;D

..oh there must be something in there.."you can't draw water from the empty well"... ;D ;)...even with a pump... ;D

The general theory on how a rising head waterpump works (the sort you usually see at wells in film westerns and african villages) isnt hard, you could make one with not too much effort, after all, they made them with basic technology and tools for 300 years.



Personally, i could knock up something like this in a day or two..............


You could make a wooden piston (if you're stuck ill turn you one), use ping pong balls in cages for the valves, plastic gutter pipe for the main bore.

I had picture of one of those in my head..that's why I didn't thought the marine ones straight away.. ;D

Wraith, can you post details of how you dug and lined it.  Pictures would be great too.

You could install a solar-powered sump pump to pump the water up into a cystern.  A 20W pump would lift a couple of thousand litres on a sunny day and cost maybe £25, the solar panel might cost you £120, and 1000l IBCs go for around £25 - ballpark figures.

Quote from: Unwashed on June 28, 2010, 14:33:09
Wraith, can you post details of how you dug and lined it.  Pictures would be great too.

You could install a solar-powered sump pump to pump the water up into a cystern.  A 20W pump would lift a couple of thousand litres on a sunny day and cost maybe £25, the solar panel might cost you £120, and 1000l IBCs go for around £25 - ballpark figures.

Basically, all I did was get two 250 litre water butts, I cut the top and the bottom off the bottom one and just the bottom of the top one... stood them on top of each other and used a lenth of pipe, held with a thick rag, heated with a blowtorch to melt the plastic so as to join the barrels together... then drilled a few holes in the side of the bottom barrel...

I then simply dug a hole as far as I could about 1.5 metre square with a spade till it was about 5 feet... by then I decided that it wasn't safe to be in there as the water table is only about 2 feet down and it was filling pretty quickly... to get the last three feet out was a bit of a struggle as all I could use was what I had with me which meant loosening the mud with a dutch hoe and then lifting it out useing a draw hoe like a crane to fill a bucket...!!!

then it was a case of popping the welded butt into place so the opening was about a foot below the level surface of the allotment... backfilling all around and dumping a bag of gravel in the bottom inside the barrel... this causes the water as it rises in the well to be filtered by the gravel an thus doesn't keep blocking up the rose on the watering can...

The last job was to build some shuttering from timber with a hinged door this was placed in so that it sits flush with the plot and that again was backfilled... looks tidy and is safe in case any 'erbert decides to explore whilst I'm not there....

I suppose from start to finish, including making and fitting the hinged shuttering, the job took about five hours to complete...

I only have to use the water for seeds and new seedlings till established as being only 2 feet from the water table, capilliary action causes the water to rise and keep things as wet as needed after that...

Considering I've only had the plot for a month and when I took it on it had never before been used as an allotment and was waist high in weed all over I've cleared it, levelled it and have some stuff now growing too, and what with the well I dont think I've done half bad to be fair...

I'm sorry that I cant put any pictures up as frankly I dont know how, unless someone wants to do a step by step idiots guide then I'll do some before, during and after pics for people to have a look at... I have a photbucket account so all I need is the ''how-to'' of getting them on the forum...

wraith

What about some kind of archimedes screw  They still use them in parts of Egypt.  Can you make one out of plastic bottles?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsAd7SlCpZ0

What about something like the old village pump.  There is one not far from me that worked until quite recently when someone vandalised it.

If a group of you got together to  pump water up a well, i guess thats what they call a 'pressure group'...........

Machine Mart seel functional hand-pumps that look like the old-fashioned ones...