[jljbtm]

K Whats the best way to get water pumped out of your well when the power goes out? My house is backed up with a 9kw natural gas generator and can also run on gasoline, but what do you do when the gas runs out? I have seen well buckets made in the shape of the well casing but you will have to pull the pump,wiring and piping to use that. I have also seen very large inverters that cost big bucks to run a 220 well pump but those only work if you have gas in your car.

[Big Bird]

http://bisonpumps.com/hand-pumps.htm

[TN.Frank]

That actually make a solar powered system that'll supply electricity to your pump in times of power outages. You can google it to find out more.

[SFCSMITH(RET)]

Some people I know have a dedicated solar/battery/inverter setup, and that's what runs their well all the time. It's already off the grid, and was one of their major worries..

[WolfNotSheep]

I have a 40'' circumfrenece shallow well (45ish feet deep and never, ever lesss than 30 foot of water) and just pop the top and bucket the water up when i need it. I use cheap marine rope (kept sealed in the factory bag until needed), a 2-3 gallon bucket, and a clean 10 pound weight plate (kept sealed in a ziploc until needed). Remove the wire bail handle from one side of the bucket and re-attach it through the weight so the mouth of the bucket hangs down, tie the rope to the handle, lower the tilted bucket into the water and pull up when full. We then store the water in 5-6 gallon jugs with pour spouts and run everything manually. We were without power (an my generator won't kick over my well pump, unfortunately) for 5 days this past August and we only had to haul water once.

[jwagess]

Windmil?

[kirgi08]

Too much dependence on weather,as a b/up for a cistern yep.'08.