# Can you pull water through a submersible pump?



## farmkid (Jan 8, 2012)

I have a culinary well, rather than municipal water.  As a backup water source, I would like to plumb a hand pump into the system inside the house so I can still get water in case of a power outage or other problem.  The plan would be to plumb it in where the line comes in the house.  Naturally there would also be a few valves necessary, one on the pipe to the hand pump, and another to block off the lines to the house and pressure tank.  

What I need to know, however, is whether I can pull water through the submersible pump in the well when it's not running.  It seems to me I should be able to, but I'm not sure exactly how those are built so I don't know for sure. 

By the way, I do realize that hand pumps usually can't raise water very far, but that shouldn't be a problem.  The water table is very high around here, and the water level in the well casing is only about 10 feet below ground level.  The pump will be in the basement, so it will only have to raise the water less than 10 feet and pull it through 30 feet of pipe.


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## JoeD (Jan 8, 2012)

How deep is the water? Hand pump will not pull water more than 25 feet up from the pump portion. That is not the length of pipe but the elevation the water to the pump.
Pulling through the pump is another question that will depend on the pump. Post a make and model. Maybe someone will know.


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## farmkid (Jan 8, 2012)

As I said, the water level is only about 10 feet down, so that shouldn't be a problem.  

As for the model of the pump, I have no idea.  It was in the well when we bought the house a couple years ago and we didn't get any information about that.  If there are some that water can be pulled through and some that can't, which kind is more common?


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## JoeD (Jan 9, 2012)

Sorry I missed the part about the water being ten feet down. I don't know enough about pumps to say if water can pulled them.


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## Speedbump (Jan 9, 2012)

If the water is only ten feet, it will work.  You will need a shutoff valve below the pump so you can isolate it when the sub is in service.  Otherwise, you will have a flooded basement.


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## farmkid (Jan 9, 2012)

Yes, I had figured I would need a valve below the pump, as well as one to block off the rest of the house and the pressure tank when using the hand pump.  

So, are there some submersible pumps out there that water couldn't be pulled through, as *JoeD* suggested there might be?  If so, are they very common?


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## Speedbump (Jan 9, 2012)

Submersible pumps are all made the same way.  The water will come up through them easily.  It just won't go back down.  The built in check valve prevents that from happening.


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## farmkid (Jan 9, 2012)

I had thought that was probably the case, just based on what I know about pumps in general, but I know nothing about submersible pumps and didn't know whether they were built differently.  Thanks for the information.


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## hornetd (Aug 23, 2015)

I have no personal experience in attempting to do what you want to do.  That means my answer will be based on the knowledge of how the different types of pumps work which I learned in my firefighter training courses.  So I can only offer this on a FWIW basis.  

This link will take you to a google images picture of how most hand well pumps work.  

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...d=0CD8QMygYMBhqFQoTCLfw5-m2v8cCFcFUPgodlV0GtQ

To work effectively the piston has to be below water level.  Such pumps have to be mounted on the well head itself in order for the shaft between the operating lever and the piston to go straight down to the piston in the well casing which is below the water level.  

Since you mean to draw water through the centrifugal electric pump you are going to have to use a different type of pump that does not need to have parts located in the well casing.  Any pump that is not located in the water can only draft water to a maximum of Twenty Four Feet above the water level before it enters the pump mechanism.  That figure is theoretical and the effective practical limit is Twenty Feet.  From what you have said that should not be a problem for your situation.  You will simply have to use a different kind of pump.  The following link will take you to a picture of a diaphragm pump which may well work for your situation.  
http://www.deanbennett.com/pacer-hand-transfer-pump.gif
The entire mechanism is inside the housing that the pump handle is attached to.  

The other type of pump that would work for you is a rotary vain pump.  It would look very similar to the the diaphragm pump except that the handle gets turned like those on a manual coffee grinder.  The drive shaft of the handle directly drives the rotating vanes inside the volute of the pump.  This link will take you to a picture of a hand rotary vane pump.  
http://i00.i.aliimg.com/photo/v1/104668510/Hand_Rotary_Oil_Pump_Oriental_B_.jpg  The one in that picture is designed to be a transfer pump for petroleum products which brings up the possibly obvious need to assure that the pump you choose is suitable for use with potable (drinking) water.  I used the word "potable" because it is the "term of art" in drinkable water systems that you should look for in the descriptions of the pumps you will be considering purchasing.  

I hope that is of some help to you.  Would you be so kind as to let us know how your project works out.  There are undoubtedly others who would like to add a manual water pump to their systems that could benefit from knowing what worked for you.


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## frodo (Aug 23, 2015)

you need to check out this co. called Flojak

http://flojak.com/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Hand_Well_Pump_JF


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm1GNOwUeGY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm1GNOwUeGY[/ame]


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## slownsteady (Aug 23, 2015)

Sounds like you already have an answer, but it might still be worth testing at the well before plumbing everything into the house.


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