Promised Land Homestead

Emergency Water Supply

It has often worried me that in the advent of an extended power outage we would be totally without water.  We could make due in other areas.  We could cook over a fire in our cast iron cookware or cook on the propane grill.  We could build a fire in the fireplace for warmth or sit outside in the shade in summer to stay cool.  But we have literally no way to get water.  We are not near any above ground water sources and we have no windmill on our property.  We might do fine with bottled water, but the animals drink a lot.  One cow can drink about a bathtub full of water everyday.  Not to mention the fact that bottled water could become scarce in an extended power outage.  The situation could become serious quickly.

To combat this, I have considered two possible solutions.  One would be to have an electrician rig our well pump to run off of generator power.  We have a 6000 watt generator that has more than powerful enough to run it.  It's just that we currently have no way to connect it to the generator.  I called an electrician out before Christmas for an estimate, but have not heard back from him yet.  The second option would be to install a hand pump.  Bison pumps has a deep well model that can pull water up from 200 feet.  I'm fairly certain our well sits at about 75 feet.  The best part is that it can use the same well shaft as your electric pump, so we could install it in our pumphouse beside our existing pump.  It's also easily installable by the purchaser as long as they have a person to help them feed the sucker rods down into the well.

The hand pump would probably run us about $1500, but it would be a permanent solution.  They require little mantainance, and from everything I can tell they are fairly easy to service or repair.  I'll have to wait on the electrician's estimate to make my final decision.  I may end up doing both.  We'll just have to see.

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11:27 AM, Thursday, January 1, 2009 .. Posted by morningsunshine

extended.... our power goes out and we are out of water until it comes back on. it is my biggest concern for long-term survival here. I want a solar or wind turbine on the pump house. I cannot thin that the well pump uses THAT much electricity. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that a small amount of power could give us what we need.

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3:30 PM, Thursday, January 1, 2009 .. Posted by dsw3131

I've heard you can get solar well pumps or rig your pump to run on solar power in an emergency. You should look into that.

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8:23 PM, Thursday, January 1, 2009 .. Posted by fultoncountymommie

When we moved to our property we had an well. Unfortunately, it was not enough for a large family. We drilled a new well and had that hooked to the house. As for the old well we were supposed to fill it in. Instead, my husband found an old pump from the 30's on our property. We was able to get it cleaned up and a new cylinder made for it. Now we use that well when the power goes out. It is very similar to the bison pumps. That style is made to last a lifetime. If you ask me, it is well worth the money unless you can found an old one and are not pumping too deep (40 foot)

water

1:14 PM, Thursday, January 22, 2009 .. Posted by jrkjd

This has also been a problem for us. Right now we have a windmill but it is not working. This is one of our next purchases...have the windmill repaired. We have also looked into alternative sources for both the wells and house. We have found some very promising solutions. I'll let you know if anything comes of our research.
Regina