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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / Build cabin around a hand operated water pump?
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COTTONPICKER
# Posted: 13 Jan 2012 14:33
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Think how nice it would be to have a cabin with a hand operated water pump in the itchen area!

I have never seen this mentioned before.

My idea would be to drive the pump pipe into the ground to a depth required to obtain water, attach the pump & make sure it is producing sufficient water.

Build the cabin around the pump so it will be situated in the kitchen area.

Install a sink to one side of the pump & plumb the drain water outside to a gravel soak away pit.

It would be SOOO convenient.

Anyone see any reason why not or has anyone tried it yet?

I would certainly appreciate any responses.

Thanks folks.

Cotton Picker

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 13 Jan 2012 15:02 - Edited by: MtnDon
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It depends a lot on the well. This would be difficult to do where we are located because of depth of water. I know someone with a hand pumped well that is 170 feet deep. The down pipe will have to be pulled at sometime to perform maintenance of the pump mechanism or foot valve that is down at the bottom. That pipe is glued together 20 foot sections. Not only is it long, it is heavy.

If the well was shallow enough to not require a foot valve then I could see it working. Placement of the cabin would be critical to having the pump itself located right where you want it. Just take careful measurements

exsailor
Member
# Posted: 13 Jan 2012 15:26
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I have considered the same thing. I agree it would be immensely handy. MtnDon does have some valid points. to start I would find a water witch or dowser. I have heard of some being able to tell the depth water is at. I guess the bottom line is to find water then dig the well, either with sand points or some of the hand drills I have seen used on Utube, providinng it is a shallow well. You would have to be prepared to build your cabin on the spot water was found, unless you were lucky enough to find water at your cabin site.

Just
Member
# Posted: 13 Jan 2012 15:54
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My dad was raised in a home on our family farm with a hand pump in the kitchen . I used to play in the old house as a kid , even then after no one had lived there in years the pump would still pump water .the water on that farm is 60 ft.deep but the water leval is only 10 ft. down.It had a pitcher pump and a 1in. iron pipe . not sure were the well was I just remember my dad saying he plugged the well when he tore down the house . so it can be done

Martian
Member
# Posted: 13 Jan 2012 16:52
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If you do build around the well, frame in a removable roof and ceiling section for pulling the pipe/pump. Build it strong enough to take the load of the pipe and you'll be able to pull the pump with a couple of come-alongs when its time to work on it.

Tom

SE Ohio
Member
# Posted: 14 Jan 2012 19:24 - Edited by: SE Ohio
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My g grandmother had a pitcher pump at her kitchen sink, but for some reason we were always tasked to pump water from the outside pump (for her peace of mind? There were only 5 of us kids visiting at any time!)

You might also consider having the pitcher pump draw from a cistern that collects rainwater. If it is an "occasional" use cabin, some place a ~5 gallon flexible container of "city" water under the sink with a tube going to the pitcher pump. The water drains back down to the container, so you don't have to winterize this setup.
pitcher_pump_sink_se.bmpAttached file: Cabin sink with pitcher pump n vessel
 


Jeremy165
Member
# Posted: 22 Jan 2012 14:06 - Edited by: Jeremy165
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Fantastic. I was planning on putting my 5 gallon blue water jug on a sturdy shelf above the sink and using that tiny faucet. The pitcher pump is a great idea. I am going to do almost the same setup you have SE Ohio. Thanks.

maine_island
Member
# Posted: 22 Jan 2012 16:12
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when i bought my house on a maine island, it had an outside drilled well, but the water needed complex and expensive filtering to be potable. so, about 10 feet away, i had a much deeper well drilled to better water. it had a sleeve near the surface to reject the bad surface water apparently collected by the original well.

in both wells i could see the water level about 4 feet down.

rather than cap the old well, i ran a plastic pipe to it from a small marine type bailing pump under the bathroom sink. the outlet of the pump is attached to about 3 feet of hose. i don't drink that water, but when power fails (and so my electric pump doesn't supply water) i use that bad water to flush the toilet. i fill a bucket, then dump it in the toilet.

the supply pipe for the bailing pump goes horizontal about 25 feet (always slightly downhill), and down about 8 feet to get to the water level in the old well. so that supply pipe is NOT directly below the bathroom sink. rather, it is partly under the house and partly outside. that pipe is NOT protected against freezing. but there is a bleed valve near the bailing pump inside, to let water run back into the well so it does not freeze in the outside pipe.

this works fine, and is a lifesaver during winter storms. of course i do keep a five-gallon jug of clean potable water in the house for cooking and cleaning in such emergencies, but that would be quickly gone if i had to use it for flushing too.

Bevis
Member
# Posted: 22 Jan 2012 22:32
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We did this at our hunting camp, in the cook shed (summer kitchen). Works great too.

beachman
Member
# Posted: 14 Feb 2012 20:32
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Cottonpicker - You can do this and this is exactly what I will be doing this spring at our new place. I also agree with MtnDon in that it is good to have access to the well. We are fortunate to have a well dug in the 60's that supplies plenty of excellent water and is about 10-12ft deep. It is lined with 6in. clay tile and each spring I drop an ABS pipe 1 1/4in with a point on the end and a foot valve - then put the base floor on (3x4ft platform with hole for pipe) and the pump on top of this. Works great - but is outside. For the new place I have run a separate pipe down the well with its own foot valve and run the line underground (about 4-6inches-so will have to drain in fall) down and under the new camp and up through the floor to the sink.

If the water is within 25 ft, you can use the hand pump. Anything deeper and you probably need something more robust. I also have about 75ft. of 1" pipe and a guzzler hand pump that I will use in the same well to fill a storage tank in a loft over my bathroom for the shower, toilet and sink - ambitious and hope it works!

Good luck!

spicyacres
Member
# Posted: 15 Feb 2012 13:45
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I'd like to do this too.
One question though, is there any danger of the water table rising to the point where it could flood your cabin?

Just
Member
# Posted: 15 Feb 2012 14:35
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short answer is no . that being said make sure the well casing is vented outside the cabin .never build any building over a well because a well often release's methane gas!! boooom !!!

spicyacres
Member
# Posted: 15 Feb 2012 14:58
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I guess the next best thing is to build your cabin as close to your well as possible.

NhLiving
Member
# Posted: 18 Nov 2014 14:25
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Quoting: beachman
If the water is within 25 ft, you can use the hand pump. Anything deeper and you probably need something more robust. I also have about 75ft. of 1" pipe and a guzzler hand pump that I will use in the same well to fill a storage tank in a loft over my bathroom for the shower, toilet and sink - ambitious and hope it works!


This post of yours was quite some time ago. I am wondering how things worked out with your guzzler hand pump?

I am looking at the food grade pumps for transferring rain water from my collection tanks to other containers. Also wondering if it will have enough pressure to pump water through two separate filter cartridges.. one being 5 microns and the other possibly 1.

I would love to hear about your experiences with the Guzzler hand pump and maybe which model you purchased. Thanks

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 18 Nov 2014 21:23
Reply 


It would have to be a shallow well. The real deep wells require a pump rod and push the water up (these pumps are at the bottom of the well and is heavy when raising a long column of water, shallow wells can just pull the water up. The actual pump is at the top. If you well can be had at 20 feet or so, then its a good idea.

beachman
Member
# Posted: 19 Nov 2014 08:22
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NhLiving - The Guzzler pump is still sitting in the same box it came in up in our loft. I have cut a couple of holes for the pipe and hope to get it operational next spring. I was working on the solar set up and we have a Zodi shower to get us by in the meantime (too many projects and not enough time). You will have to wait for another six or more months to get a verdict from me - but I have seen them in use on YouTube and they seem to work as advertised.

The information with the Guzzler (the one that I purchased - model # 07090-10 I think) states you should have 1" pipe. Anything less, and it is a strain to pump, anything more and it is not as effective. This pump seems to be really effective and should do what you mention - although I have no actual experience to pass on at this time. It has a 1" OD so the pipe connects with a stainless steel clamp on both sides.

NhLiving
Member
# Posted: 20 Nov 2014 03:03
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Hey thanks for the info Beachman. Hopefully you can get around to the Pump project in the spring. I agree, there is never enough time for all these projects. And this forum gets me thinking about new ones every day haha. \

I will make the purchase soon and hopefully get that thing hooked up before its too cold!

don62
Member
# Posted: 22 Nov 2014 21:58
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The river cabin we bought 4 years ago had a pump in the kitchen next to the sink, at first I thought it was great, but after redoing the kitchen with new cabinets and counter it just took up more counter space than it was worth. I still have the pipe below the counter top and can put it back if I ever want...

Malamute
Member
# Posted: 24 Nov 2014 13:05
Reply 


If you're using the shallow pumps that don't require the rod down into the well to function, there isn't really a reason to have the well inside the cabin. You can have the well close, and run the pipe into the kitchen, it doesn't have to be a perfect straight shot to draw the water. A pitless adapter should work fine to keep it from freezing and go underground into the cabin.

In one cabin I did, I had a deep well, and I also had a 1000 gallon cistern under the cabin. I plumbed the cistern for a pitcher pump for backup/powerless times, but never installed the pitcher pump, as the cistern was set up for an RV pump to work with the solar setup, and never really needed the hand pump. I could run the generator for a few hours to fill the cistern, then use the solar to pressure up the cabin.

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