Rural Lifestyle

Life in Rural America

Tag: water well

Water Well Considerations For The Farm

Homesteading
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One of the big issues we are having to deal with is having a water well put in at the homestead. To have one professionally drilled is going to cost at least $5,000. That $5k number is a low ball estimate. If the driller has any issues then the price could easily go to $6,000 or $7,000.

Another option is to drill the well ourselves.

Then comes the question if we want a submersible pump, air pump, or some kind of lift pump that pulls the water to the surface.

Submersible pumps can be expensive, and they do not work without electricity.

Using air to pump water out of the well is cost effective, and it works without electricity. If you “had” to, a bicycle air pump could be used to push water out of the well, or even a 12 volt car/truck air pump. In a worse case situation use a 12 volt battery and a 12 volt air pump to pump water out of the well.

The typical water well that most people think of has lift limitations as in it can not lift water past a certain depth, and it does not work without electricity.

I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. My wife and I want to move in April 2013, but having a water well drilled could put us back another 5 – 6 months. So what do we do?

We improvise and overcome.

With help from www.drillyourownwell.com I think my wife and I are going to drill our own well to get us moved.

Bug Out Location Water Well Plans Part 1

Preparedness Articles
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Water well diagram for the Bug Out Location

How safe is the water source at your Bug Out Location? Currently, when we stay at the camp we have to either filter water from a nearby creek, or use water from a very old hand dug well. The old well is becoming less and less reliable, so its time to drive a new well.

There is a saying I like to use – without safe drinking water, life as we know it can not exist. A contaminated water source can wipe out a community in a matter of days, and that is just the way it is.

Water well diagram for the Bug Out Location

Here are the current plans

Use post hole digger to dig a hole around 3 feet deep.

Insert around an 8 inch PVC sleeve into the hole, sleeve will be around 4 feet long. This gives us around 1 foot above ground.

Take a 4 inch piece of PVC pipe, notch the end so that the pipe has “teeth”.

Build a cap with 2 water inlets.

Attach water hoses to water source and to cap.

Take a 2×4, drill some holes so that a U-bolt will fit though the board.

Back truck up to well site and drop tailgate.

Drinking Water in an Urban SHTF Survival Situation

Preparedness Articles, Urban Survival
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water well for SHTF survival

If the water went off tonight, what kind of plans do you have in place? As with everything else in my survival plans, water is broken down into 3 phases – short term, medium term, and long term solution.

Short Term – this is your bottled water. Most people have a couple of cases of bottled water laying around somewhere. On a trip to the grocery store most people might grab a case or two of bottled water to have around for guest or parties.

Some survivalist stockpile water in 35 or 55 gallon drums.

When the water goes out, the bottled and stockpiled water will go first. Its convenient, you just un-screw the top of the bottle and the water is ready to drink. Most people like to take the easy way out, and bottled water is about as easy as it gets.

Water Wells and Urban Survival

Preparedness Articles, Urban Survival
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water well for SHTF survival

Water, water everywhere and nar a drop to drink – is a classic statement from the rhyme of the ancient mariner. But in the case of urban survival, there is no water and there is nothing to drink.

Most urbanites depend on water supplied by the city – through the cities water system. However, this is also a weak point in disaster planning. Most cities and towns have prohibited their citizens from digging private wells. If that is the case in your area, its time to get the laws changed. Not being able to have your own water supply makes you and your family a slave to city. Free people do not ask permission to use something that is on their own property – or in the case of ground water, under their property. Slaves ask permission, freemen use what is theirs as they see fit.

Depending on the area where you live, that will define how deep the well has to be. If you are planning on installing a water pump, go ahead and set it up for an electric water pump as well as a hand powered pump. This would include a housing for the pump to go in, ground rod and maybe electrical wiring.

Instead of a hand powered pump, a solar powered unit could be installed and the solar cells could be placed on top of the pump house. But in this article, we will just be discussing hand powered pumps.

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