A Water Pump That Works - and keeps working
27/02/15 09:54
Good hunters know, animals come to water. Water plays a critical role in animals daily behavior, and hunters who take that into consideration usually hunt better.
But hunters need water too. For us, with a large group, that means bringing the water with us. In campers and camp trailers, it is a no-brainer - until the pump fails, or the water tanks spring a leak - or worse - freeze in cold weather.
A solution that has served us well is to bring a couple of 55 gallon drums full of fresh water. That will last a group of 35+ about four days. Unless the pump fails.
We had one of those cheap siphon pumps that they sell everywhere the drums are sold. These must be a high volume item, since 55 gallon drums and those $12 pumps are even sold at Walmart. Maybe the pumps are a high-volume item because they fail so often and must be replaced.
The cheap pumps take a lot of pumping, and then the flow is not that great. We tried to get the kids to pump the water, to use up their excess energy and to “strengthen their arms”. That was ok until a kid came and said “no water is coming out”. After an impressive demonstration of pumping by me - with nothing coming out - I realized that the pump had failed.
Do you know how hard it is to tip a 55 gallon drum to pour water from it, without the whole thing crashing on its side and splashing water everywhere? Try it. It works ok after you have lost most of the water.
After trying to pour water from drums for a couple of days, I committed myself to finding a better water pump. It turns out that there a lot of other kinds of pumps out there. And they might be suited for pumping water for animals. Animals probably don’t mind if there are little rubber bits in the water from the rubber vanes in the rotary-type pumps. They may not mind the “metal taste” in some of those industrial pumps. And they won’t mind the work involved with the old fashioned lever pumps, as long as you are doing the pumping.
Thanks to the internet, I finally found the ideal pump - in New Zealand. They make an all-plastic water pump with no parts that wear - so no wear residue and no metal taste in the water. The pump spews water on both the up and down strokes. And it is so easy to use that it won’t build any muscles on even little kids. The flow is better than my kitchen faucet. (You have to actually try this pump to believe how much water it pumps with so little effort. It is a patented process.)
I imported some of these pumps. But 10 years later, we are still using the very original pump for our camps. It pumps the same today as it did then; there really is no wear. It has never failed. And most important to me, it pumps pure, clean water. Even if the animals don’t care, I do.
You don’t have to import yours by the case. You can get a single pump at www.better-outdoors.com. It will last you for many years of camping. And for us, it is also our emergency preparedness water supply pump, since it requires no electricity and not very much work. We have a stored water supply in our 55 gallon drums when we are not camping that is always there if we need it.
But hunters need water too. For us, with a large group, that means bringing the water with us. In campers and camp trailers, it is a no-brainer - until the pump fails, or the water tanks spring a leak - or worse - freeze in cold weather.
A solution that has served us well is to bring a couple of 55 gallon drums full of fresh water. That will last a group of 35+ about four days. Unless the pump fails.
We had one of those cheap siphon pumps that they sell everywhere the drums are sold. These must be a high volume item, since 55 gallon drums and those $12 pumps are even sold at Walmart. Maybe the pumps are a high-volume item because they fail so often and must be replaced.
The cheap pumps take a lot of pumping, and then the flow is not that great. We tried to get the kids to pump the water, to use up their excess energy and to “strengthen their arms”. That was ok until a kid came and said “no water is coming out”. After an impressive demonstration of pumping by me - with nothing coming out - I realized that the pump had failed.
Do you know how hard it is to tip a 55 gallon drum to pour water from it, without the whole thing crashing on its side and splashing water everywhere? Try it. It works ok after you have lost most of the water.
After trying to pour water from drums for a couple of days, I committed myself to finding a better water pump. It turns out that there a lot of other kinds of pumps out there. And they might be suited for pumping water for animals. Animals probably don’t mind if there are little rubber bits in the water from the rubber vanes in the rotary-type pumps. They may not mind the “metal taste” in some of those industrial pumps. And they won’t mind the work involved with the old fashioned lever pumps, as long as you are doing the pumping.
Thanks to the internet, I finally found the ideal pump - in New Zealand. They make an all-plastic water pump with no parts that wear - so no wear residue and no metal taste in the water. The pump spews water on both the up and down strokes. And it is so easy to use that it won’t build any muscles on even little kids. The flow is better than my kitchen faucet. (You have to actually try this pump to believe how much water it pumps with so little effort. It is a patented process.)
I imported some of these pumps. But 10 years later, we are still using the very original pump for our camps. It pumps the same today as it did then; there really is no wear. It has never failed. And most important to me, it pumps pure, clean water. Even if the animals don’t care, I do.
You don’t have to import yours by the case. You can get a single pump at www.better-outdoors.com. It will last you for many years of camping. And for us, it is also our emergency preparedness water supply pump, since it requires no electricity and not very much work. We have a stored water supply in our 55 gallon drums when we are not camping that is always there if we need it.
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015