Hand Pump for a Well: Deep Well Kits by Depth and Casing
The short answer
Two measurements decide a hand pump for a well before any brand does. Casing diameter comes first: the pump has to fit down the casing and, where an electric pump is already in the well, beside it. Static water level comes second, and it is not how deep the well was drilled but how far down the water stands, which is on your well log. The pump has to sit below that level with room to spare, and Bison's guidance for its own pump is about 20 feet below it. Flojak's portable Rush and Ready kits fit a 2 inch or larger casing and are rated to lift water up to 50 and 150 feet; its permanent Plus needs 4 inches and is rated to 200. For water deeper than that, Simple Pump and Bison are rated to static water levels of 325 and 250 feet and sell through dealers.
The solar well pumps page covers pumping a well with electricity, from the head a pump works against to the capacitor that stops it starting. This page is about the backup that needs no power at all: a deep well hand pump in the same well.
The market sells these by depth, and depth is the second question. The first is whether the pump fits.
Casing first, then depth
Two measurements decide a hand pump for a well, and neither of them is a brand.
Casing diameter decides what physically fits. A hand pump has to go down the well casing to reach the water. If an electric submersible is already in there, the hand pump has to fit in the space beside it, which is a much tighter question than fitting down an empty casing. All three manufacturers on this page organize their own ranges around it: Flojak’s pump selector asks for your casing diameter before anything else, and Bison sorts its entire catalog by how its pump shares a well with an electric one.
Static water level decides which pump reaches. It is not how deep the well was drilled. It is how far below the surface the water stands when nothing is pumping, and a deep well can have its water standing much closer to the top. The solar well pumps page sets out why those are different numbers and where to find the right one.
Both are on your well log. If you do not have it, the driller who sank the well may, and some counties keep well records you can request.
What fits your casing
Here is what each manufacturer publishes, in its own terms:
| Pump | Casing, pump on its own | Beside an electric submersible |
|---|---|---|
| Flojak Rush | 2 inch or larger | Not published |
| Flojak Ready | 2 inch or larger | Not published |
| Flojak Plus | 4 inch or larger | Not published |
| Bison Standard | 4 inch or less, outside diameter | 5 inch or more, outside diameter, through a pitless adapter |
| Simple Pump | Not published | Stated as compatible |
Read the column headings, because the makers are not measuring the same thing. Bison states the casing’s outside diameter. Flojak states a casing size without saying whether it means inside or outside. A casing wall has thickness, so the room a pump actually has is smaller than the outside figure, and on a tight fit that difference is the whole answer.
Flojak’s minimums are for the pump alone. None of its published figures says whether a Rush, Ready or Plus fits beside an electric submersible that is already in the casing. If yours has one, ask Flojak before buying instead of assuming that a 4 inch minimum leaves room in a bigger casing.
Bison’s standard model is specified for two situations: a casing of 4 inches or less with no electric pump in the well, or a casing of 5 inches or more sharing the well with one. Bison sells other configurations for other wells, which is why its catalog is arranged by how the pumps coexist rather than by depth.
Which kit, by depth
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A pump’s rated depth has to clear your static water level with room to spare, because the pump has to sit in the water rather than at its surface. Bison’s guidance for its own pump is to set it about 20 feet below the static water level, which it says allows for the water table rising and falling and keeps the cylinder under water. Flojak rates its kits by how far they lift water, so check with Flojak how far below your water level a given length should sit, and treat a length that only just reaches the water as too short.
| Flojak kit | Rated to lift water | Flow | Casing | Installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rush | up to 50 ft | 1 GPM | 2 inch or larger | No assembly, portable |
| Ready | up to 150 ft | 1.5+ GPM | 2 inch or larger | Deploys in minutes, portable |
| Plus | up to 200 ft | 3+ GPM | 4 inch or larger | Glued in the field, permanent |
Every figure in that table is from Flojak’s own range page. Flojak is the only one of the three makers on this page linked here, because the other two sell through dealers and this site earns nothing from recommending them. They get their own section below.
Water close to the surface: Flojak Rush
Water down to 150 feet: Flojak Ready
The Ready is the Rush’s idea with three times the rated lift and more flow: a coiled, portable pump rated to lift water up to 150 feet at 1.5 gallons a minute or more, deploying in minutes and fitting a 2 inch or larger casing. It is sold by length, so buy the one that sits well below your static water level rather than the one that matches it. The same caution about a submersible already in the casing applies.
Ready, 100 ft, at Amazon Ready, 150 ft, at AmazonPermanent, and down to 200 feet: Flojak Plus
Portable or permanent
A permanent pump is in the well before the power fails. A portable one has to go in during the outage. That is the real choice between the Plus and the other two, more than depth.
Flojak’s Rush needs no assembly and its Ready deploys in minutes, so neither is a large job. But using one means opening the well and lowering a pump into it at the moment you need water, and if an electric submersible is already in the casing, the portable pump has to fit beside it then. The Plus is assembled once, installed, and left in place, and it moves the most water of the three.
If you would rather keep an electric well pump running through an outage, that depends on how your house is wired, which is what the backup section sorts out.
What I would buy for deeper water, and cannot sell you
Beyond 200 feet, no Flojak kit is rated to reach, and the two pumps that are rated for it both sell through dealers. This site earns nothing from either, and names them anyway for the same reason the inverters guide names Victron: a buying guide that only names what it can sell is not a buying guide.
Simple Pump is rated to a static water level of 325 feet, the deepest of the three makers here, and states that it installs alongside an electric pump. It is made from NSF/FDA certified materials that meet Safe Drinking Water Act requirements and carries a lifetime warranty. It also publishes a maximum pressure of up to 45 PSI, a figure worth having if a hand pump is meant to supply household plumbing rather than fill a bucket. Its output is 4.5, 8.5 or 20 ounces a stroke, depending on the cylinder.
Bison rates its standard deep well pump to a static water level of 250 feet. It builds the pump head from 304 stainless steel, describes the pump as freeze proof, carries a lifetime warranty, and publishes output by cylinder size, from 4 ounces a stroke with a 1.5 inch cylinder to about 20 ounces with a 3 inch one. It is also the maker that sets out its casing requirements most completely, including the 20 foot setting depth quoted above.
Both sell pumps for wells shallower than 200 feet too. They are in this section because they cannot be linked, not because they only suit deep water.
Scope, and what this guide does not do
It covers deep well hand pumps, not shallow well pitcher pumps. A pitcher pump draws water up by suction, which only works from a shallow well, and it is a different machine for a different well.
It is not an installation guide. A well is a drinking water supply, and opening one to put a pump in can let contamination in. Many states regulate changes to a well, so talk to a licensed well driller or your state’s well program before installing anything, and keep your well log, because every figure this page asks you for is on it.
Where a figure is not published, the tables say so. The gap that matters most is Flojak’s: whether its pumps fit beside an electric submersible already in the casing.
Sizing an electric pump for the same well is a separate job. The pump sizing calculator works out the head it has to overcome and the energy it uses in a day.
Specifications last verified . Every specification quoted here was read at the manufacturer, from the datasheet, manual or specification tab, and never from a retail listing, which routinely omits the figure that decides the choice. That keeps each comparison small: I would rather name three products I can check than thirty I cannot. No price is shown beside anything I recommend, and prices are not tracked, so check the current price at the retailer. Nothing here was supplied free, no manufacturer has any say in what appears, and where I own a product its card says how many and exactly which variant. A guide describes components, not your system: whether one fits depends on your loads, your worst month of sun and how long you must run without any, which is what the calculators work out.
Common questions
- Can a hand pump go in the same well as a submersible pump?
- Often, and casing diameter decides it. Bison publishes the figure: its standard deep well hand pump shares the casing with an electric submersible when the casing's outside diameter is 5 inches or more, with the water leaving the well through a pitless adapter. Simple Pump states that its pump installs alongside an electric pump. Flojak publishes casing minimums for its pumps alone, 2 inches for the Rush and Ready and 4 inches for the Plus, and does not say whether that leaves room for a submersible, so ask Flojak before buying if one is already installed.
- How deep can a hand pump pull water from?
- It depends on the pump, and the figure to compare is your static water level, not the depth of the well. Flojak rates its kits to lift water up to 50, 150 and 200 feet. Bison rates its standard deep well pump to a static water level of 250 feet, and Simple Pump rates its pump to 325 feet. The pump also has to sit below the water rather than at it: Bison sets its own pump about 20 feet below the static water level to allow for the water table moving.
- What size well casing does a hand pump need?
- It varies by pump, and the makers do not all measure it the same way. Flojak's Rush and Ready install in a 2 inch or larger casing and its Plus in 4 inches or larger. Bison states outside diameter and specifies its standard model for a casing of 4 inches or less with no electric pump in the well, or 5 inches or more sharing the well with one. Simple Pump does not publish a minimum on its product page. Your casing size is on the well log.
- Should a backup well hand pump be portable or permanent?
- A permanent pump is already in the well when the power fails, while a portable one has to be put in first. Flojak's Rush needs no assembly and its Ready deploys in minutes, where its Plus is glued together and installed permanently. The Plus also moves the most water, at 3 or more gallons per minute against 1 for the Rush and 1.5 or more for the Ready.