DIY Manual Deep Well Water Pump

Wondering how to make a hand pump water well? Make a homemade PVC manual deep well water pump, that pumps water as deep as 60 feet, in case you're experiencing any power outages.

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by AdobeStock/Lingkon Serao

Wondering how to make a hand pump water well? Make a homemade PVC manual deep well water pump, that pumps water as deep as 60 feet, in case you’re experiencing any power outages.

After several power outages left us wanting for water, I decided it was time to install a hand pump on our 45-foot-deep well. Turns out that was easier said than done. I wanted something I could install alongside our submersible electric pump, but I didn’t want to spend a fortune. Lightweight manual pitcher pumps sell for around $50, but unfortunately these only work to a depth of about 25 feet — some 20 feet short of what we needed. Mid- to deep-well jack pumps will draw water from depths as low as 300 feet, but they’ll also leave an $800-plus hole in your wallet.

Out of frustration, I hit the drawing board, determined to devise a solution. The result is an invention I’ve dubbed the “Holopump,” a PVC manual well pump capable of efficiently drawing water from as deep as 60 feet. All of the parts are available from, or can be ordered through, most any hardware store . . . at a cost of only about $120 for the whole shebang.

How the PVC Manual Well Pump Works

The design is amazingly simple: An inner pumping rod, fitted at the end with a coupler and cap, is slipped into an outer water pipe. With each downstroke of the pumping rod, water equal to the volume of the rod rises into the pipe; this is what’s known as positive displacement, and it happens regardless of the force or speed of the downward stroke. It’s best, in fact, to keep the downstroke slow and deliberate. It’s on the upstroke that you need to pick up the pace: This stroke needs to be quick enough so that fresh water enters the pipe before what’s already gone up drains around the coupler and end cap. That way, pushing down or pulling up, you’re drawing water. A simple foot valve at the end of the water pipe prevents water from draining back into the well.

  • Updated on Aug 2, 2023
  • Originally Published on Jun 1, 2000
Tagged with: deep well hand pump, well water
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