PARTS LIST BELOW. Got this idea from u-tuber Approtechie. He has a lot of good ideas. Use schedule 40 white PVC pipe. I don’t have back up power here so this is my way of accessing my most convenient source of clean water if the power should go out for a long period of time. I used teflon tape on any threaded joints. This cost about $70 to put together.
Parts List
Outer Pipe Assembly-
-One 11/4″ plastic foot valve(Lowes has them)
-One 11/4″ adapter(slip x thread)
-As much 11/4″ PVC pipe and couplings as needed
-One 11/4″ x 1″ Tee(slip)- This is at the top.
-One 11/4″ x 1″ Bushing(slip)- This goes into the tee.
-One 1″ x 1/2″ Bushing(slip) Trim the inside of this one.- This goes into the previous bushing.
Inner Pipe Assembly-
One 3/4″ Plastic foot valve
-One 3/4″ Adapter(slip x thread) Trim the nubs off of this one.
-One 3″ length of 3/4″ pipe. Sand one end to fit into 1″ piston pipe.- Connects the piston to the adapter.
-About a 3ft. length of 1″ pipe- this will be the piston.
-One more 1″ x 1/2″ Bushing(slip). Don’t trim this one. Glue it to the top of the piston and glue the 1/2″ ram pipe to it.
-As much 1/2″ pipe and couplings as needed(drill 1/4″ holes straight through this pipe just above the piston).
-One 1/2″Tee(slip) + two short lengths of 1/2″ pipe with two 1/2″caps(slip) complete the handle at the top of the 1/2″ ram pipe.
THAT’S IT….But for this design to work ,as seen, you MUST SEAL UP THE 1/2″ pipe so that water doesn’t go up it too much higher than the 1/4″ transfer holes. Certainly not all the way to the top(check out the Further Pump Explanation vid in this box).
I capped the handle off completely in order to trap air inside the upper portion of the 1/2″ pipe so that I don’t waste energy lifting a lot of trapped water up and down. But mostly because it forces the water out the 11/4Tee which is where I want it to go. Otherwise it could come out the handle as well which I do not want. You could, instead of capping the handle off, block up the 1/2″ pipe just above the transfer holes by gluing a nickel into one of the 1/2″ couplings. This would accomplish the same thing and make the caps on the Tee unnecessary. It would also allow you to install the 1/2″ pipe one piece at a time, if you wanted to, without it filling up with water. I was a little worried that the trapped air in my pump would make the inner pipe too buoyant and rise up on its own so I drilled a hole in it about midway down to add a little weight. My well is pretty clean so I didn’t put any kind of filter at the bottom. Some wells might need a finer screen than the one that comes with the foot valve( I think I’ve heard of people using sack cloth for this but not sure). For larger depths it might help to make the piston longer, maybe 5ft.
