We have created a human-powered pump head so unique and strong that new performance charts must be drafted for this machine’s capability to pump water by hand from bored wells. No charts exist for the performance of such a hand pump with this type of mechanical advantage. Our hand pump machine is also within the performance range of 1/2 horsepower submersible electric well pumps, possibly more with further testing.

Our output surpasses that of existing hand pumps. To get the maximum yield of 3 gallons per minute from a common deep well hand pump (with a 3-inch cylinder and 1 1/4-inch drop pipe from an 80-foot static water level) requires a strong, fit man stroking the handle 60 times a minute. The maximum yield for most common shallow well hand pumps is around 5 gpm.

With our prototype machine, pumping from the same static water level of 80 feet, a 63-year-old grandmother on her first attempt pumped 5 gallons in 1 minute with only 17 strokes of the handle.  And a mom in her 20s, also first-time user, pumped 10 gallons a minute.

Interestingly, our hand pump operates a 4-inch pump cylinder with a 2-inch drop pipe and 3/8-inch metal pipe sucker rod. That is a lot more weight in metal and water to pull up under human power. The exceptional mechanical advantage design makes it possible. Could you imagine how much water a strong, fit man could pump in 1 minute?  Stay tuned for our next video demo and an update to the performance chart.

The 10 gpm the young mother pumped is comparable to a 1/2-horsepower electric submersible well pump with a flow range of 10 gpm at a 40 psi discharge.

Our output is also comparable to performance charts of a 12-foot diameter windmill and may exceed that with further testing. The maximum depth of a 12-foot diameter windmill operating a 4-inch pump assembly is 86 feet with a maximum gpm of 13.8, with wind speeds of 15 to 20 miles an hour. With our hand pump, a fit man can easily surpass 13.8 gpm and the 20-something mom who pumped 10 gpm.

Our inventive machine operates windmill reciprocating pump systems with cylinder sizes up to 6 inches – a feat unprecedented in the common hand pump sector – with a capacity reaching 30-plus gallons per minute, which will be proven.

Our machine is for shallow or deep wells and uses a closed system with the windmill pump system. With two operators pumping in tandem, more water can be retrieved easily. We anticipate depths of 500 feet can be achieved.

The machine’s design efficiently uses human shape, motion, weight and strength, which makes it easy to use, thereby producing more water. In just 10 minutes, a 50-something-year-old couple, pumping moderately and in rotation, can fill a 55-gallon barrel drum in 10 minutes. In just a few minutes of pumping throughout the day, water can be pumped to an overhead storage tank or piped to a pressure tank inside the house. The machine can also be set up to pump volumes of water from ponds and creeks for irrigating gardens and watering animals.

Imagine the uses for this pump – off-grid communities, rural communities of all types, large families and preppers for fresh drinking water, bathing, laundry, cleaning, watering gardens and livestock – with volumes of water you can’t get from a common hand pump.

We hope to go into production in May. Our first model will be unveiled soon. If a hand pump like this interests you, please let us know.

Early in 2012, I set a goal to come up with a manually operated pump that could reach beyond the 300-foot threshold, past the point where common hand pumps can operate.  I also wanted a pump that could deliver volumes of water from shallow wells, a lot more water than from a common hand pump. 

Why We Created Such a Machine

On our journey to an eco-friendly, self-sufficient, off-grid lifestyle, my wife and I learned from experience that we overlooked some important issues: too much modern alternative-energy reliance for, most importantly, water and an insufficient water supply.

First, using technology for water was not as dependable as I initially thought. Although I had wind and solar systems, they were powerless when winter storms coated the wind turbine and solar panels with ice for more than a week. Then, a summer windstorm blew my solar panel rack out of place. Fortunately, flying debris did not hit my solar panels, but easily could have. Another time, I had electronic failure in my control box, possibly from lightning, that required parts and repairs.

My only source of fresh drinking water – or any water at all – was my bored water well. I eventually understood that even without a weather disaster, alternative energy components can break and batteries have a lifespan. If one part fails and is not readily available, the entire system can be inoperable leaving me without the most important thing – water. Realizing my micro-grid technology could be destroyed or fail caused me to wonder what I need to do now to secure a major water backup supply for a long-term emergency.

After we began our new homestead, we discovered the second issue, insufficient water, when we experienced another water crisis: drought. In 2012, because of the lack of rain, we watered the vegetable gardens with the electric well pump.  After a few weeks of 100-degree temperatures and no rain, we stopped watering because the well’s yield and recovery rate decreased causing the pump to suck air.

If worse came to worst, we had our own trusty well bucket for retrieving fresh water from the well, although the recovery rate did not get that low.  We managed washing clothes by turning the machine off once or twice during the fill cycle to give the well time to recharge and not burn up the pump.

Our garden plants (main food supply) and young trees (future food) began dying, so the next option was to set up a hand pump next to a cattle pond. My wife struggled for 2 hours daily to pump that water (an elevation of 7 feet) just to keep the plants alive, yet it was not enough water. The hand pump eventually broke and had to be replaced.

I realized common hand pumps on the market today are inadequate for supplying the water I need long-term. I thought, how will I get water during a catastrophe?  Yes, I had a cattle pond to get water, but I am not going to bathe in it or wash clothes in that mess. That’s when I got busy designing and building a hand pump machine. After three prototypes, I came up with this machine that is unlike any hand pump in existence.