"Dave Martindale" wrote in message
...
writes:

Yes, thanks for the picture, that's what I was thinking of.
But what I've learned here is that my well is simply too
deep (150') for any kind of manually operated pump, right?

Not exactly. No pump, manual or power, with the pumping mechanism on
the surface can lift water more than 25-30 feet, because it depends on
atmospheric pressure to do the lifting. But if the mechanism is down
below water level in the well casing, this limit doesn't apply. That's
how submersible pumps work (impeller is below water level) and jet pumps
(the venturi that does the actual pumping is down in the well).

So you *could* build a manually-operated pump that was 150' high, with
the operating handle at the top, the piston and valves at the bottom,
and the pipe plus a long rod coupling the handle to the piston. On the
other hand, lifting water 150' takes a lot more force than lifting it 10
or 20', so you won't enjoy operating such a pump by hand.

Dave
Such deep well "force" pumps have actually existed for probably 100 years or
more. They have been operated by hand levers or mechanical "pump jacks"
worked by motors or windmills.

Don Young