I have been giving a lot of thought to having a reliable source of potable water if faced with an extended power outage. I live rural and have a drilled well with a submersible pump. I had been exploring the various deep well hand pumps, like the Bison. They seem to be good units, although they are quite costly. Yesterday I pulled the cap off the well to get a measurement of how high the static water level was. I was shocked to find it only 11 feet down! I ran the water for 3 minutes at a rate of 7 gallons a minute, and remeasured after 5 minutes to recover. Still 11 feet! I did this process 3 more times and the final reading was 12 feet down from the top of the well casing. Apparently I have very good recovery rate. My question is, shouldn’t I be able to mount a standard pitcher pump on the well casing cap, maybe put the end of the pipe down 20-25 feet?
Does this water level fluctuate much based on how wet or dry conditions are? Here in Northern New York one thing we have plenty of is water, no matter the season.
Also, what is a good brand/model of pump? Also any books/articles you know about regarding any of this?
Everything I found online is useless garbage. A few YouTube videos, but they all pertain to a well point.
