"Attila Iskander" wrote in message
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" wrote in
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Soak in water for a couple of hours to a day so that they are supple



No prep required for install

But easier if leather is supple

But you MUST soak before trying to use the pump

Thanks!!! I will soak them in water for 24 hours before I install them
this week.



Don't forget to make sure that you have a lock washer for the bolt & nut
that attach the weight to the central part of the leather flapper.
That's usually the first point of failure of a pitcher pump.




Oh and another thing
Make sure that you use really clean water to prime your pump.
Since our cabin is in Wisconsin, I need to clear the well pipe for winter.
Unfortunately, the person who was doing all the closing and opening of the
cabin, allowed the well to be infected

So when starting things up in the spring, I do the following
1) I actually drop a gallon of bleach down the pipe the day before I
prime the well
2) Using a plunger I built from 1" pipe, I pump the well about 10 times,
slow and easy to make sure the bleach spreads into the area surrounding the
sand point.
3) A day later, I prime the pump using water that has been boiled and
stored in gallon jugs for that purpose
4) I then flush the chlorinated water that comes up the well, throughout
all the household pipes, until the chorine odor is gone.
I also drop some to that chlorinated water around the well pipe to
disinfect the soil around the pipe.
This process takes about 1-2 hours to completely run clear.

This does 2 things.
It kills anything that may have drifted into your pipes and well during the
off-season
It kills any iron bacteria that may already be present and near your well.

After 3 years of doing this, Last year was the first summer where I had
rust-free water all summer.