A hand pump on your well is an excellent off-grid alternative. Mine is about as simple as they come, but still requires periodic maintenance. This month, I had to replace the bottom seal.
I coaxed a few more months of service out of the old seal. It had been three years since I replaced the seals. (Blog post of replacing seals in 2018) The lower seal had developed an air leak and needed to be replaced.
The leak was small at first. I could splash some water around the base of the pump to wet it. After a few minutes, the leather would swell, closing off the leak. After the heat of August, however, the leather got too dry. No amount of splashing/soaking/waiting fixed the leak anymore. The seal had to be replaced.
Since the leather seals in a pump like mine eventually fail, I keep spares. That made it a fairly quick repair.
The bottom seal sits between the base and the cylinder. It forms a flapper valve as well as a seal. Two bolts hold the cylinder to the base, so it’s a quick fix. I swapped over the iron weight that bolts to the leather to help it close. Bolt it back together and viola!
I had been coaxing that old seal into working for so long that the repaired pump felt miraculous. The pump took only a little slosh of water to prime it. It held a prime for several minutes (instead of a few seconds). Such luxury!
After the repair, I ordered another bottom seal to replace the one I’d just installed so I would still have a spare. A time may come when I may have to depend upon that well pump. I don’t want see it fail for lack of some simple replacement parts.
It makes sense to keep spare parts for things you will have to depend upon.