An Inexpensive, Do-It-Yourself Water Well

http://www.fdungan.com/well.htm

you can drive a nail into a board, you have the skills to augment your water supply. Drilling companies charge thousands of dollars to tap ground water sources that you can often reach yourself with a few common tools and about two weekends of work.

Methods ranging from digging to blasting are used to reach the underground layer of fresh water that lies beneath dry land. Most of these are too technical, expensive, or dangerous for the average person. However, at the turn of the century the U.S. Army developed a fast, effective method to provide bivouacking troops with water that did not involve a lot of expensive, cumbersome equipment. Soldiers simply drove a pipe into the ground with a sledgehammer until they reached the aquifer. Subsequently, it has proven to be ideal for supplying water to homesteads, second homes, and remote villages in developing nations.

If driving a pipe 75 feet or so into the earth sounds like a job for Superman, I've given you the wrong impression. Too hard of a blow can damage pipe threads. It's better to soften the ground as much as possible before you begin. I recommend digging a hole at the site you've selected and allowing water to settle in it for a week. The softer the ground, the easier the work. A shallow hole (5 to 10 feet) is best because deep ones too often need reinforcement to prevent them from collapsing.

Choose a location as far as possible from septic tanks, sewer lines, chemical storage tanks, animal pens, and other potential contaminants. Check with county health officials concerning regulations and permit requirements. County officials have access to well logs and other geological data and can advise you as to subsurface composition (silt, sand, and decomposed granite are suitable for driven wells; hard clay or rock may prove difficult or impossible to penetrate), the approximate depth at which you can expect to find water, and the quality of the aquifer beneath your site.

You can also check with your neighbors. A weight on the end of a string dropped down a neighbor's well can give you a rough estimate of how far down you will have to go (measure to the point where the string becomes wet). Neighbors, particularly old-timers, can often give you some idea of what lies beneath the subsoil. If that doesn't work for you, pick a spot outside the drip line of a large hickory, walnut, butternut, white oak, or hornbeam tree that is not being irrigated. Since these types of trees have tap roots (maples, among others, do not), the fact that they are doing well without irrigation indicates that their tap roots are anchored in an aquifer. I live in a community where the street trees are immense despite the fact that they receive negligible rainfall and quite often aren't being irrigated. Common sense told me that the water table could not be more than 80 feet below the surface.

You'll need a 2-inch drivepoint with screen (a hollow, conically shaped metal point adjoined to a fine mesh screen), several spools of teflon tape, 2-inch galvanized couplings to attatch pipe lengths together, 5-foot-long threaded lengths of 2-inch galvanized Schedule 40 pipe, 2-inch galvanized caps for the pipe, concrete mix, a weight, a foot valve, and 85 feet of 1/2 inch inside diameter, thick-walled, flexible, UV resistant, flexible polyethylene tubing (I used Toro "funny pipe" irrigation tubing).

Dig a 5 foot deep pit, fill it with water, and allow the water to percolate into the ground so as to soften/lubricate the subsoil. Make sure the drivepoint is perpendicular to the ground—check it frequently with a level. If it is not straight, pull it out and start again. A slanted well wastes pipe and may be difficult to pump.

Use a heavy wooden mallet or maul to drive the capped galvanized pipe into the ground. Hit the capped pipe as evenly as possible in the center of the cap and avoid side-to-side swaying of the pipe. A well-placed blow will make a dull sound rather than a ping. When the cap becomes cracked or dented, discard it and screw on a new one. Establish a steady rhythm and the work will go easier.  When the cap is about even with the bottom of the pit, unscrew it and screw on a coupling and a new length of pipe. Use teflon tape on the pipe threads, and make certain all connections are tightened securely with a pipe wrench. You may occasionally need to work from a step ladder in order to reach the cap with the maul.  When going through clay or shale, you may find it easier to use a sledgehammer, but be careful not to overdo it.

If the drivepoint hits a large rock, pull the point out and start again in a new location. To pull out the drivepoint, place two hydraulic automobile jacks on opposite sides of the pipe. Attatch a pipe clamp to the pipe for the jacks to lift against. Once the drivepoint lifts a few inches, it should be easy to remove.

When you believe you have reached water, tie a weight onto a length of string and lower it into the pipe. If it comes out wet, repeat the test several times over the next two days, and if the results are the same, you've found water. Drive the pipe down some more to compensate for seasonal fluctuations and periods of drought.

The last step is adding a sanitary seal to prevent surface runoff from contaminating the aquifer. Lengthen the pipe to a height approximately 3 feet above the surface of the ground and fill the pit with the original soil. To protect your water supply and anchor your well, pour a small concrete slab into forms made of used 2-by-4's or 2-by-6's centered around the pipe at the surface. Install insulation around the pipes to protect your well from damage if the temperature where you live drops below freezing in winter.

Pitcher pumps like the one in the photograph at the beginning of this article are ideal for shallow wells. At depths greater than 25 feet, however, they stop working due to the limitations of atmospheric pressure. Inertia pumps (one-way footvalves attatched to flexible irrigation tubing) like the one in the next photograph are the simplest (they contain only one moving part) and least expensive (under $20) manual deep well pump.

If you have indoor plumbing or sprinklers, you will need a powered pump. Should the flow and/or pressure prove insufficient, you can either hook up multiple wells in series or install a storage tank. Inexpensive solar powered pumps are available, but I cannot vouch for their dependability.

Australian Aboriginee Water Survival Technique

Australian Aboriginee Water Survival Technique: By Cynthia Long

I’ve recommended "Mutant Message Down Under", by Marlow Morgan to family and friends, through the years. Mutant Message Down Under, highlighted a few survival skills the Aboriginees taught Marlows character on a walkabout, in Australia. A few months into the walkabout, there were days without water. The Aboriginees were accustomed to this situation, but Marlo, the mutant (they called her which is any human other than an Aboriginee), was not. At one point, Marlow thought she might die, as the hot and dry desert didn’t let up. She was severely parched and sunburned, her bare feet blistered and raw.

As the story unfolds, the group continued walking but nothing was said as their main communication throughout the entire journey was by telepathic means. Lack of water was only a part of this survival lesson. At one critical point, Marlow could finally read an elder’s thoughts, “Put a rock in your mouth”. Something so simple and available, probably for many of Katrina’s citizens, who waited days for water to arrive may have benefited from this effortless teaching. How many in our nation know about the rock/pebble concept? The rock/pebble actually stimulates the saliva to regenerate. It is also known that the earth’s rocks carry nutrients and minerals.

ANCIENT SURVIVAL TECHNIQUE  

If you are ever unfortunate enough to find yourself in a crisis where potable water is no longer available, you can allay some of the maddening symptoms of thirst. Simply find “a quartz type pebble” and put it in your parched mouth, start sucking on it, breathing through your nose only, keeping your mouth closed.

Sucking on “a quartz type pebble” will stimulate your salivary glands and alleviate the constant reminder of your thirst. Breathing only through your nose will help in alleviating the 'dry mouth' sensation and will lengthen the time that the pebbles will be effective.

This is a critical survival technique when water is unavailable. It is NOT a replacement or substitute for water, it will keep you sane and lengthen your ability to seek water. The fact remains that a person can only survive a finite amount of time without water before succumbing to total dehydration! A person can go considerably longer without food than without water, but a pebble, which holds minerals may help for a short time.

There’s another survival skill most people would feel uncomfortable with and would not bow down to--- urine therapy. Several years ago, I read extensively on the benefits of urine therapy and practiced this modality. Urine therapy has been used for centuries and very common in India and Europe for curing many ailments. It’s also a survival method to help one without water, stay alive. Urine contains excessive nutrients the body does not use. One needs to research the brief procedures, which are quite simple. A friend, from India, who has practiced this method and mentioned this ancient survival technique as we watched the Katrina crisis unfold, was certain that most people would be too fearful to attempt this life saving method, unfortunately.

Survival in Different Environments.

* In the mountains: As How to Stay Alive in the Woods (Simon & Schuster, 1998) points out, just remember that water flows downhill. Look for where running water has carved grooves in the earth and follow them downhill; you’ll eventually hit water. Do not look for water on a mountaintop.

* In the desert: Look for a dry riverbed or a low point in a canyon, and start digging wherever you see darker, moist soil or a depression in the ground. If you’re lucky, water will seep into the hole, and all you'll have to do is sit back and wait. If this doesn't work and you happen to have a large sheet of clear plastic, follow the directions in The Backpacker’s Field Manual (Three Rivers Press, 1998) for building a solar still: Dig a hole, place a bucket in its center, and cover the hole with the plastic, weighting its edges with rocks to make a tight seal. Place a small rock on top of the plastic, directly over the bucket, forcing the plastic to sag slightly. Over the course of the day, sunlight will cause water in the soil to evaporate; it’ll condense on the plastic, run to its center, and drip down into the bucket.

* On the beach: Not the place you’d expect to find fresh water, huh? Don’t worry—there’s still hope. Head to just below the high-tide line and dig a hole in the sand. When water starts to seep in, stop digging and let the bottom of the hole fill up. Since fresh water is lighter than salt water, it lies above it, and you can drink from your little basin.

* At sea: As the Ancient Mariner told us in high school, the ocean is the great thirst paradox: “Water, water, everywhere / Nor any drop to drink.” Try drinking the salt water and you will become violently ill. Instead, try to catch a fish. A huge percentage of a fish’s body is fresh water—just cut into bite-size pieces and chew ’em like gum, then use the chewed-up bits to attract seabirds. Drinking the blood of one of these, though unspeakably gross, can keep you alive until the rescue boat comes.

Vital Information:

The best type of rocks/pebbles are those with the Mohs scale of 7.5 as they don't absorb pollution. Quartz are hard rocks and difficult to hold pollution. In many cases, one probably won't have much of a choice in crisis situations. Then, one must choose. We advise to research and gain knowledge about survival skills. Avoid all blue and green rocks as they hold arsenic.

By Cynthia Long

 Shared by Teri

 Well "Torpedo" or "Bullet" Bucket Construction Plans

http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/06/letter_re_well_torpedo_or_bull.html

Do you have a diagram or plans for a well torpedo? In case I have the term wrong, a PVC tube with a flapper valve at the bottom that when sent down the well shaft hits the water, the tube fills/sinks, when you pull on the rope the flapper valve closes sealing in the water for you to pull up the well shaft. I have the well. What I need is the way to install the flapper valve. Thanks, - DAB

JWR Replies: For any readers that aren't familiar with them, narrow shaft well buckets--also sometimes called "bullet buckets" or "torpedo buckets" are designed for manually drawing water from modern modern small diameter wells that are more than 20 feet deep. Shallow wells (less than 20 foot depth) are much more efficiently accessed with a hand pump, such as a traditional pitcher-type cistern pump (available from Lehmans.com) or this home-fabricated PVC design by Keith Hendricks, shown at the PermaPak web site. Deeper wells require a sucker-rod actuated pump.

Have a deep well but you can't afford a manual pump or you don't foresee anything but short term emergency need to draw water? A bucket will do. The following method works, but you will first have to pull the pump, wiring and its draw pipe before you can use an emergency bucket. Most modern wells have 4-inch or 6-inch diameter casings. Well buckets can be made from PVC pipe and some fittings available at nearly any hardware store. (The only hard-to-find item is the foot valve.) Use a 4 or 5 ft. length of 3-inch diameter white PVC pipe if your well has a 4" casing, or 4" diameter pipe if your well has a 6" casing.

Assembling the Bucket:
For the top cap, drill a hole in the center and insert a threaded eye-bolt with lock washer and nut to hold the lifting/lowering rope. Use PVC cement to attach the pipe cap. Be sure to use sturdy nylon rope. (Recovering a bucket if the rope breaks would be problematic, to say the least.) In the bottom cap, drill a centered hole and install a "foot" valve. This will be open when floating and allow water in to the bucket. The valve will automatically close when the bucket is pulled up. Foot valves (also called "check valves") are available in PVC construction, as well as brass and cast iron. Depending on the type of valve you buy, you will probably have to screw a threaded pipe adapter (male-to-male short coupling) to into the top of the valve and then glue it into the appropriate size hole that you have drilled into the end cap. Needless to say, you need to be sure that the valve's "flapper" is oriented in the right direction before you attach it to the bottom cap. You need the bucket valve to hold rather that release water when the bucket is raised!

OBTW, for anyone that would rather buy a commercially-made well bucket, they are available from Ready Made Resources (search on "Well Bucket"), and from Lehmans.com (search on "Galvanized well bucket".)

http://www.whenshtf.com/showthread.php?35313-Well-bucket

http://www.hydromissions.com/products.htm#pumps

How to Drill a Well in your own Backyard

 http://howtodrillawell.com/

It works like this: a small but powerful air-powered drill is attached to the end of a length of pipe. The drill turns a specially designed drill bit which cuts the hole. Simple enough, right? Now comes the cool part. The exhaust from the air tool is ejected up the back side of the drill, and up the pipe. This creates a vacuum at the back of the drill, which sucks water into the pipe. This water is then blown up the pipe and out on the ground, which in turn creates a new vacuum, which sucks in water, which gets pumped out... and voila! We have a pumping system to remove tailings from our well!

The pipe itself never twists, only the bit at the very end of the pipe turns. And since this system IS so simple, and since there are so few parts to this system it is incredibly inexpensive when compared to every other home well drilling system on the market, which often cost several thousand dollars!

The fastest way to start drilling your own well is to buy our completely Ready-To-Drill kit, which includes all the specialized parts and items you'll need, as well as everything else that can be shipped through the mail! And all orders on our website over $75 include free shipping!

How to Make a Solar Water Survival Still

Water is Key to Survival

In a survival situation we are often quick to find that water is the limiting factor for how long we can survive. Having enough clean drinking water, free of chemical and biological contamination can mean the difference between life and death.

In a previous Survival Topic we discussed the importance of water discipline and always staying as hydrated as possible. Without an adequate intake of fresh water to replace water lost through bodily processes, the efficiency of the survivor decreases rapidly to the point where unconsciousness or death may occur.

There are a number of ways to produce potable water that the Survival Expert should know. Where there is plenty of water and fuel available usually one of the best ways to make water safe to drink is by bringing it to a boil. A very popular article on Survival Topics broke the news that you do NOT have to waste fuel boiling water for X number of minutes as many so called health experts claim – once water hits its boiling point the water is safe to drink).

Damp Earth

But there are occasions when there seems to be no water available, or it is brackish (part salt water), or thick with vegetation and therefore seemingly undrinkable. However, if there is an abundance of sun and you have your survival kit with you, all is not lost. You can make a solar still.

Solar Still Essential Items

While walking in the hot sun along a dry stream bed I found a low spot where water was likely to accumulate. It is a little known fact that often there is as much water flowing underneath the stream bed as there was flowing on top during non-drought periods. This water is slowly percolating between the interstitial voids of the stream bed and is generally out of sight except where pools form due to bedrock or clay barriers.

Solar Still Plastic

Sometimes you can tap into this underground source of water by simply digging a hole and allowing it fill with water. On other occasions the material will only be damp and there is no water that you can simply scoop up for a refreshing drink.

As you can see in the picture by digging down into the gravel a short way I found the pebbles to be damp with a light coating of moisture that makes them look darker than the dry stuff on top. Although there is no water to be directly obtained here, this is an ideal environment for making a solar still because there is

1. damp ground
2. hot sun
3. and I have a clear plastic sheet

Plastic for a Solar Still

In my survival kit I always carry a couple of 50-gallon drum liners. These large garbage bags have a myriad number of uses, from improvised sleeping bags and shelters to rain gear and, in this case, solar stills. I recommend always having some on hand.

Solar Still Hole

Since I needed a flat sheet of clear plastic in which to make the solar still, I slit the drum liner open using the blade of a multi-tool. To make a handy cutting board for this purpose I found a piece of driftwood which I inserted into the bag. Then it was an easy matter to slice the drum liner open using the blade of the multi-tool. This produced a sheet of plastic about 5ft wide by 6ft long.

The Solar Still Hole

Next I dug a hole into the damp gravel about 3-ft deep and 4ft in diameter. This can be difficult work, especially in the hot sun. I happened to have a folding army shovel as a digging tool, but you can use a stick, your hands, or your mess kit to dig with.

Solar Water Still

Once the hole is dug, place an empty container in the middle of the hole and then cover the hole with your clear plastic sheet. Place stones or piles of earth on the outer edge of the plastic to hold it in place.

Take a small roundish pebble and place it in the middle of the plastic, pushing the plastic downward at this point so that its apex is directly over the empty container. Try to make the angle of the plastic from the edge of the hole to the center about 45-degrees.

Once the center stone is in place, cover the entire outer edge of the plastic sheet with material so that the seal is air tight. It is important that you make a good tight seal so that the evaporating water does not escape.

Solar Still Water

You now have a operating solar still for collecting drinkable water from the earth itself.

How the Solar Still Works

Within a short time you will notice the clear plastic sheet is cloudy with tiny droplets of water. The plastic covering has turned the damp hole into a sort of greenhouse, trapping the rays of the sun to produce heat. As the moisture within the hole evaporates, it condenses on underside of the plastic sheet and then runs down, drop by drop, into the container.

Solar Still Improvements

A larger hole and damper soil can produce more fresh drinking water but of course this is limited by the size of the plastic sheet you have on hand. You can also place juicy green vegetation inside the hole, including leaves and green grass. The heat will draw the water from these materials.

Brackish, sea water, or vegetation stained water, urine, or any other undrinkable water source may also be used to increase the water output of your solar still. The process of evaporation will separate the fresh water from all biological pollutants and some chemical pollutants as well.

Solar Still Cautions

This brings up an important point – the solar still may be used to distill fresh water from chemically polluted water as long as the contaminants do not condense with the water onto the plastic sheet. This is why urine can be turned to fresh water, as the various salts and ammonia etc are left behind as the water evaporates. However liquids such as radiator fluid should not be added to a solar still since some of the toxins may vaporize and condense along with the water.

 How to Find Water in the Wild

by Charles W. Bryant

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-find-water2.htm

Water Collection Techniques

If you're stranded and there isn't a fresh water source around, then you need to get to work on collecting water. There are a few techniques to do this, and it doesn't hurt to set up more than one system. The more water you can collect, the better your chances of survival.

One pretty basic way you can collect water is to make a belowground still. To do this, you'll need some plastic sheeting, a digging tool, a container, a drinking tube and a rock.

• Choose a moist area that gets sunlight for most of the day.
• Dig a bowl-shaped hole about three feet across and two feet deep, with an additional sump dug in the center.
• The sump should be flat and big enough to hold your container.
• Place the container into the sump.
• Put the drinking tube in the container and run it up and out of the main hole.
• Place the plastic over the hole and cover the sides with rock and soil to keep it there.
• Put your rock in the center of the sheet and let it hang down about 18 inches, directly over the container to form an inverted cone.
• Add more soil on the edges for stability.

The moisture from the ground reacts with the heat from the sun to produce condensation on the plastic. The still forces the condensation to run down the plastic and into your container. You can also add vegetation inside the hole to increase the amount of moisture -- just make sure the plants aren't poisonous. Use the tube to drink directly from the container. If you don't have one, you can remove the container and reassemble it after. A good still can produce up to one quart of drinking water per day.

For better-tasting water, let it sit for 12 hours if you can afford to. You can also make a filter to remove any visible particles:

• Find a large can, hollow log or plastic bag. Hollow bamboo will also work.
• Punch 5-10 small holes around the base of your container and suspend it from the ground.
• Fill it with alternating layers of rock, sand and cloth.
• Use both fine and coarse layers, the more the better.
• Pour your collected water into the filter and catch it in another container below.

The water should come through fairly clear, if not you can pour it through again. Add charcoal from your fire to remove odor -- just make sure you filter the charcoal out with some cloth. This method merely removes large sediment and improves the taste. You should always purify the water by boiling it.

In the next section, we'll look at some other techniques for collecting water.

More Water Collection Techniques

If your energy is low, you'll want to avoid the digging involved in a belowground still. All you really need is a clear plastic bag, and you can use the transpiration technique to collect potable water:

• In the morning, take a bag and tie it around a leafy green tree branch or shrub.
• Weight the inside with a rock to create a low point for the water to collect.

Don't Drink the Water Giardiasis isn't the name of a fine Italian wine. It's actually the most common waterborne disease in humans. Giardia lamblia is a parasite that lives in the intestines of humans and animals. It's expelled from the body in feces, and if it's near a body of water, the lake or stream will be contaminated. Cramping, nausea and diarrhea are the most common symptoms of giardiasis. Symptoms may not show up for two weeks and once present can last as long as six weeks. If infected, get medical attention as soon as possible. Cryptosporidiosis doesn't sound too inviting either, and for good reason. It's another waterborne illness involving parasites found in feces. The same symptoms as giardiasis can be expected, but more severe. Both of these parasites can be found in soil and vegetation as well, so wash anything you plan on eating in purified water and remember -- to give yourself the best chance at survival, you should always boil your water, even if it looks clean and clear.

Over the course of the day the plant will transpire and produce moisture that will collect at the low point. Poke a hole to drink the water or pour it into a container for later. The water will taste like whatever plant you choose, but it's better than nothing. It's also important to use non-poisonous vegetation. Once you're done, tie the hole shut and reuse the bag.

If you're near the coastline, a beach well is an excellent way to get drinkable water. Dig a 3-5 foot hole in the depression behind the first sand dune. This is typically about 100 feet from the waterline. Put rocks in the bottom of the well to keep sand from getting too active and line the sides with wood if you can -- this will prevent the walls from caving in. In a few hours, you could have up to five gallons of filtered water. If it tastes too salty, you should move further back behind the second sand dune.

This well technique works near any body of water. Dig swamp and lake wells closer to the water than the beach version. The same method also works in the desert during the wet season -- just dig at the low point between dunes, near vegetation. Look for moist soil in dry river beds and chances are you can find groundwater underneath.

 How To Get Water From Your Well In A Grid Down Situation

http://www.ldspreppers.com/showthread.php/1672-How-To-Get-Water-From-Your-Well-In-A-Grid-Down-Situation

I have been looking for an economical way to get water from my well in the event of a prolonged power outage. I would love to have the money to install a 240v solar panel system, or buy a nice big genny with lots of fuel but that is just not in the cards right now.

I have looked at the deep well hand pumps like the Bison, but even they are out of my reach at $400+.

Today I was listening to a great podcast by Cope Reynolds. (http://www.theshootingbench.net/) and he was interviewing James Rawles. Mr. Rawles mentioned a torpedo bucket is available from Lehman's that is made to fit down a 5 to 8 inch well casing. Well I looked them up and they really seem to be a great economical solution to access well water when the power is not on.

Besides being affordable, I can see this being alot easier to help neighbors. Once I have my water drawn for the day, they could borrow my bucket and draw their water. A lot easier than lugging a genny or PV panels over to them.

Here is the link at Lehmans:

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Water__...___550202?Args=


Galvanized Well Bucket
Previous Product | Next Product





Get water from any well by hand


Works at any depth
Special leak-proof valve opens to fill then closes automatically when bucket is drawn up
Use for emergencies or temporary installations
Not intended for everyday use
Galvanized steel with watertight, soldered seams
Reinforced with 16-gauge crossbar and extra-strong bottom
You may have to remove any installed submersible pump before using a well bucket
Holds 1.9 gallons
Fits wells down to 4"ID
2" welded ring for rope
3½"ODx52"L
4 lb.
Locally made by the Amish.


Note: Although we pack our products carefully, this item is difficult to ship without acquiring some small dents. The performance of the bucket will not be affected.


Check out our Water Information Center which includes helpful articles about
Common Water Contaminants
Water Tests
Cross Reference Chart for Water Filters
Pumping Basics for Deep Wells
Pumping Basics for Shallow Wells




There was also a post at www.survivalblog.com about how to make your own torpedo bucket out of PVC:

http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/06/...o_or_bull.html

Letter Re: Well "Torpedo" or "Bullet" Bucket Construction Plans

Jim -
Do you have a diagram or plans for a well torpedo? In case I have the term wrong, a PVC tube with a flapper valve at the bottom that when sent down the well shaft hits the water, the tube fills/sinks, when you pull on the rope the flapper valve closes sealing in the water for you to pull up the well shaft. I have the well. What I need is the way to install the flapper valve. Thanks, - DAB

JWR Replies: For any readers that aren't familiar with them, narrow shaft well buckets--also sometimes called "bullet buckets" or "torpedo buckets" are designed for manually drawing water from modern modern small diameter wells that are more than 20 feet deep. Shallow wells (less than 20 foot depth) are much more efficiently accessed with a hand pump, such as a traditional pitcher-type cistern pump (available from Lehmans.com) or this home-fabricated PVC design by Keith Hendricks, shown at the PermaPak web site. Deeper wells require a sucker-rod actuated pump.

Have a deep well but you can't afford a manual pump or you don't foresee anything but short term emergency need to draw water? A bucket will do. The following method works, but you will first have to pull the pump, wiring and its draw pipe before you can use an emergency bucket. Most modern wells have 4-inch or 6-inch diameter casings. Well buckets can be made from PVC pipe and some fittings available at nearly any hardware store. (The only hard-to-find item is the foot valve.) Use a 4 or 5 ft. length of 3-inch diameter white PVC pipe if your well has a 4" casing, or 4" diameter pipe if your well has a 6" casing.

Assembling the Bucket:
For the top cap, drill a hole in the center and insert a threaded eye-bolt with lock washer and nut to hold the lifting/lowering rope. Use PVC cement to attach the pipe cap. Be sure to use sturdy nylon rope. (Recovering a bucket if the rope breaks would be problematic, to say the least.) In the bottom cap, drill a centered hole and install a "foot" valve. This will be open when floating and allow water in to the bucket. The valve will automatically close when the bucket is pulled up. Foot valves (also called "check valves") are available in PVC construction, as well as brass and cast iron. Depending on the type of valve you buy, you will probably have to screw a threaded pipe adapter (male-to-male short coupling) to into the top of the valve and then glue it into the appropriate size hole that you have drilled into the end cap. Needless to say, you need to be sure that the valve's "flapper" is oriented in the right direction before you attach it to the bottom cap. You need the bucket valve to hold rather that release water when the bucket is raised!

OBTW, for anyone that would rather buy a commercially-made well bucket, they are available from Ready Made Resources (search on "Well Bucket"), and from Lehmans.com (search on "Galvanized well bucket".)