Posted: 10/9/2015 10:20:36 AM EDT
I wanted to give some details on the install on my Simple Pump well pump for those of you considering purchasing a hand pump for your well. The company was relatively easy to purchase from, provided an accurate quote prior to ordering, shipped everything needed for the installation (minus one part) and provided easy to follow installation instructions.
In many ways, my install was probably ideal. I would be installing my Simple Pump alongside an existing electric submersible pump within a well casing 6” in diameter. I have surface water at 7’ and a total well depth of 135’. I was able to find the original well drillers report online from the local water management agency that gave me my casing depth, total well depth and static water level. The only data I did not have prior to installation for the exact depth of the existing well pump. We estimated that it would be about 50’ deep just above the casing depth but this was incorrect. I had watched Youtube videos showing a Simple Pump install and read online reviews for years before finally making my purchase. The hefty purchase price alongside the potential difficulty of installing the pump always stopped me from purchasing one. When I finally called Simple Pump after obtaining a written quote I spoke with the owner Gary Wittig who asked if I had any questions. I told him that I’d be reading enough about this for years that it was time to stop asking questions and just place my order. Simple Pump recommends a professional install with the existing well pump and cap like I have but my helper and I worked around that. We used a floor jack, wood beam and blocks and a vise to lift the existing pump and swap out the existing cap for the Simple pump well cap. Install took about six hours from start to finish on a hot Florida summer day. 
After lifting the existing pump, removing and replacing the well cap and rerunning the electrical wires we had little trouble with the rest of the install except for one thing. And it was a big issue at the time. When placing the new well cap it didn’t fit! I had measured the circumference of the well pipe when placing my order so that Simple Pump shipped the correct size cap. When the new cap didn’t fit we stared at the problem for a while in frustration. We eventually came to realize that the top of the well casing wasn’t level. When the well casing had been cut by the original well installers they left a lip in the metal that made the top of the casing slightly wider than the overall casing width. So we used a metal grinder to grind the interior and exterior of the well casing to reduce its circumference. And after that the new Simple Pump well cap fit perfectly. Crisis averted! After installing the Simple Pump well cap the installation of the actual Simple Pump is very straight forward. I had spent about an hour the night before the install laying out of the parts and pieces and reviewing the instructions. I attached the pump cylinder assembly to the drop pipe and sucked rod that we would be dropping down the well first. I wiped down all the well pipe with a mild bleach solution and washed out the interior of all the well pipe as the instructions suggested. 
The pump cylinder assembly and your first drop and sucked rod go down the well first. Your Simple Pump supplied safety tool makes life easy when putting each drop pipe and sucked rod down the well. Remember when I said we didn’t know the actual depth of the existing submersible pump? We found the depth when lowering the third drop pipe down the well. So we had the pump cylinder assembly, two 9 foot drop pipes and half of the third drop pipe down the well when we hit something solid. It was the submersible pump. It was only half way down the well casing. We lifted the drop pipe up and down a bit a half dozen times or so and eventually we squeezed past the submersible pump. After moving past the submersible pump it didn’t interfere anymore with any of the rest of the installation. Everything except the sucker rods seems to be installed using “teflon” plumbers tape during the install. After installing all the drop pipe you attach the pump rod and pump head to the last drop pipe. You then attach your lever arm with an allen wrench to the pump head and then you’re ready to pump water. That first glass of water from the well is a beautiful thing to hold in your hand. We adjusted the pump head to a height that seemed to allow for the easiest pumping without bending over and then replumbed all the PVC. The pump is separated from the household water system by the red valve with a spigot in between the Simple Pump and the valve. So I can pump directly from the Simple Pump into a bucket or a drinking glass or a hose at the well. If I keep the spigot closed and open the red valve I can pump directly to my household pressure tank and get water at my kitchen sink or shower. 
I mentioned earlier that one part was missing. The seal kit for rebuilding the pump was missing from my order when I received it. I emailed the company and they sent a kit to me a few days later without any trouble. So I had a lot of things going for us in this installation. I had a very high water table and a wide pump casing that made installation a breeze in spite of not knowing the actual submersible pump depth. That allowed us to install the pump without paying a professional well installer and saved some money. If you have a smaller well pump diameter and don’t know your well pump depth I would agree that the professional well installer would probably be necessary for most people. Thank you for reading. |
