Why should you choose a pump from Apocalypse Well pumps?
We make Emergency Well Pumps. This is a pump that requires zero electricity and has been specifically designed to be installed into a well that has a submersible electric well pump and without removing it. So you end up having two seperate pumps in a single well. If the electricity is on, you have all the water you want with the electric pump but when the grid goes down you do not lose your water. An Emergency Well Pump provide the water security you need to keep your family safe during emergencies.
We want everyone in North America to have backup plans for food, water and shelter. There are several types of emergecy pumps on the market, most of them are quite good. But we get asked all the time why that person should buy our pumps over some other brand. Watch the video about our pumps and then read below as we discuss a few things to consider if you are looking at other pumps. But we save the best reasons for last; we have the coolest name in the industry and the coolest tee shirt you can buy.
COOL VIDEO COMING SOON
Be careful with the old style pitcher pump and their low price. They work on a suction principle and can only lift about 20ft. The seals are made of leather and need frequent changing and the leather needs to be wet before it will work, so you need to pour water in the top to do this. In the wintertime, the leather will freeze to the cast iron. Too many people buy this type of pump only to find out it's limitations when they try and use it. We replace a lot of these with our pumps.
Bison makes a good pump, my neighbor has one and I was impressed, but they are super expensive, several times more than our pumps! The price tag will have a comma in it. For most working folks this pump is simpy out of their price range. A pump for a well with static at 20 ft is over $3,000! That's why my neighbor recommended AWP to his friend instead of Bison
Additionally note that they sell replacement seal kits on their website, because they know their pump seals will fail. AWP has maintenance free pumps
There is nothing wrong with Flojak's pipe in a pipe design. Do watch their installation video and you will see that the whole pump needs to be laid out on the ground and glued together to install it. Good luck finding 100ft of ground without mud or dog crap. Also PVC glue takes a long time to cure in the cold.
Then after a huge assembly process,you have to wrestle this thing into your well. Our pumps require no field gluing and are ready to install in 5ft increments, the parts never touch the ground.
Earthstraw is another Flojak product. We like this product and have actually recommended it to some of our customers if they have a well with very little clearance inside because of some funky pitless adapter. But this is far from the best pump if you have a shallow well, because of the pistons small diameter (.75"). It can only deliver 25% the gallons per minute that our shallow well AK pump (1.5" piston) can deliver. It is only sold in 50ft increments instead of our 5ft sizes.
Epp and EZ Water Well Hand Pumps are both pipe in a pipe pumps like Flojak. And like Flojak you have to field glue the entire pump on the dirty ground and wrestle the thing into the well. But unlike Flojak you need to buy all the pipe needed to get to depth, so their list price is a bit misleading and their assembly is more involved. Our pumps require no field gluing, EVERYTHING is included and ready to install in 5ft increments. The parts never touch the ground. Our PVC that is exposed is UV stabilized for long life, not so with standard PVC pipe.
Simple is another great pump, but like the Bison pump super expensive, again several times more expensive than ours. Their shallow pumps (25ft static) start at over $1,000. Out of the price range for most working folks who need to spend their hard earned money on other preps.
Also be aware that pipe and pump rods are 9ft long. This makes installation a bit awkwark.
Additionally note that they sell replacement seal kits on their website, because they know their pump seals will fail. AWP has maintenance free pumps
Gunslinger and Legacy are PEX type pumps like the Earthstraw. Because of their small diameter it can fit in tight places but can only deliver a 25% of the gallons per minute that our AK shallow pump can deliver. Sold in 25ft length increments instead of our handy 5ft
Baker makes a line of quality hand pumps. These are often seen at off grid campgrounds. These are not emergency pumps and are too big to fit inside a well that has an existing submersible pump. They are built like a tank and their price tag reflects this.
RPS Solar Pumps has a line of solar well pumps that just might be the ticket for folks with very deep wells. Hand pumps are just not practical after 150ft of lift.
But these solar pumps are very expensive and require a site that has good sun exposure. They are also very obvious to others which may be a concern for some. Hand pumps are much better option for wells with a SWL of 150ft or less