Hand pump for 26 foot shallow well?

Hello,

We have an OTG cabin in Northern Michigan with a full solar electric system and composting toilet.  This past weekend we drove a shallow well for wash water.  I hit water at ~26 feet and have about 5-6 foot of water in the well.  3 foot sand point with six 5' sections of pipe and about 2-3' above ground with a brass ball valve.  I had one of those cheap China pumps from Menards and it pumped out about 15 gallons and then broke suction.  Could not get it to prime after that.  My thought is the build quality of the pump and the sand in the leathers as we pumped to clean it out reduced the already marginal depth we are pumping.

I know about the Bison and other deep well pumps but they are very expensive.  I'm thinking if I buy a good antique pump and rebuild if I might have better luck.  Anyone have any similar experiences with the modern cheap pumps?

Also curious about the stainless teel pumps on Amazon.  It seems the tolerances might be tighter and help?  Anyone ever use those?

Should I borrow/rent a jet pump to clean the sediment until it runs clear?  Wondering if the sand destroyed my leathers?

Sorry for all the questions but this is my first shallow well and looking for experienced feedback from those that have been in my shoes.  I don't want to spend a fortune on deep well pumps since it is not a primary source of drinking water.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Craig,
Welcome to Permies!

I don't have the experience you are looking for, but thought I would ask if you have checked Bison's shallow well pumps? I imagine they are more expensive than some, but should be much less expensive than their deep well versions.

Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Craig,
Welcome to Permies!

I don't have the experience you are looking for, but thought I would ask if you have checked Bison's shallow well pumps? I imagine they are more expensive than some, but should be much less expensive than their deep well versions.

$1500 ... WAY out of my price range!

Craig Myers wrote:$1500 ... WAY out of my price range!

Ahh... I had some recollection that they were only $300-$400. I must have been looking at something different.

I have purchases shallow well Bison pump in June 2014 for $550 and installed it in my well with 3/4" 20' long stainless pipe. I thought that in 2023 it stopped working and ordered a new set of seals, but it turned out that the water level
dropped in 2022 and I did not even try to use it. It's still working the same with the original seals pumping our drinking water a few times per day.
I don't know how much the same model costs today, but I know that good things are not cheap.

After Edit:
If it really is $1500, I would not pay this much. I do not believe that the price was increased by the factor of 3 in 10 years. Maybe $1500 is for a deep well pump?
I really do not like that they do not post prices online - I hate companies that do that. I feel like they want to hide something or bait customer into their monopolisticly priced product.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:
After Edit:
If it really is $1500, I would not pay this much. I do not believe that the price was increased by the factor of 3 in 10 years. Maybe $1500 is for a deep well pump?
I really do not like that they do not post prices online - I hate companies that do that. I feel like they want to hide something or bait customer into their monopolisticly priced product.

https://www.lehmans.com/product/stainless-steel-shallow-well-pump?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=21779797177&utm_medium=ad&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw68K4BhAuEiwAylp3klpDDK-V2cV_BKc6yzUYXegf134snl9tsr96Mkn96zdKmEpBKxYPbhoCeAIQAvD_BwE

https://shop.avrame.com/products/bison-shallow-well-hand-pump-model-1900

I haven't called Bison direct yet since I am hoping for something a little more reasonable even than $550.

If that's the case and it really cost &1860 it's beyond insane. I doubt that the manufacturer would offer much lower price, but since they are hiding it (maybe to not compromises their dealer network and allow for literal extortion) it's possible it may be
lower.
I have checked gold prices in June 2014 and they were around $1200 per ounce and now it's $2600, so even if they used gold as the adjustment factor for their prices it would not justify increase by 3.4 times.
It's sad to say, because I like manual tools, but it would be better to just buy a generator and 20 years worth of fuel to run some pump 5 minutes per day or buy some solar setup. They just take advantage that the market for manual pumps is a niche and it just begs for reverse engineering it and manufacturing in far east or just some cheaper country in Europe.

India is really good at handpumps, but I don't know if any Indian pumps are available in the US. Look into it...

Rebecca Norman wrote:India is really good at handpumps, but I don't know if any Indian pumps are available in the US. Look into it...

So interestingly I found IndiaMart.com and then found this:
https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/mild-steel-hand-pump-2854187440733.html

Looks kinda familiar!

Craig Myers wrote:Looks kinda familiar!

Totally! They already "stole" my idea of copying it
Have you checked Simple Pump company? Expensive, but cheaper than Bison.

Simple Pump shallow well