Powering Wells During a Power Outage

It’s a good idea to have plenty of stored water on-site, especially if you are reliant on a well. Estimate you’ll need one gallon of water per person, per day and up to 20 gallons per animal, per day for large animals, such as cows.

For water needed for non-human consumption, such as flushing toilets, hygiene, or animals, your bathtub can be filled with water if you have advance notice of a planned power outage, such as a Public Safety Power Shutoff.

Another option is to access the water stored in a tank water heater. To do this, connect a garden hose to the drain valve at the bottom of your water heater and slowly open the valve with the other side of the hose in a bucket or container. Be cautious as the water may still be hot!

The back of a toilet tank can be filled with water manually to allow for toilet flushing. For drinking and cooking, we recommend only bottled water.

One option to ensure water service to your home during a power outage is to contract for a bulk water delivery. Be sure to clarify if the companies require you to have your own storage container and if they can provide potable water (versus water suitable only for agricultural purposes).

Manual hand pumps are often seen in parks and campgrounds and can be found in use all over the world. They may also be installed in homes alongside your electric well pump to be ready for any disruption in electricity.

The are two main types typically installed in private home wells.

Lift pump

A lift pump operates by pushing down on the handle to fill a piston inside with water. When you raise the handle, the water is forced up the pipe. Lift pumps are typically only used in wells less than 25 feet deep, because when it gets much deeper than this, the physical effort to force the water up the pipe becomes overly challenging.

Piston pump

The piston pump can be used in much deeper wells (up to 300 feet) and requires less physical strength to operate. Instead of forcing the water up the pipe, this type uses a piston to push water up a pipe from the bottom.

The piston pumps are relatively inexpensive but also depend on the physical strength of the user to operate. PGE recommends calling your well pump service provider for advice if you are interested in installing this or any of the referenced options.

When considering backup power, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Most well pumps are hardwired into your electrical panel. This means you likely cannot simply plug the pump into a generator or battery outlet. A transfer switch is needed to allow the use of portable power or fully integrated backup power with your electrical panel.

  • Some older panels may need an upgrade before being able to support backup power.

  • Transfer switches or fully integrated backup power should be installed by professionals.

• Pumps come in many sizes, which require different electrical needs — be sure to consider the voltage, starting surge and running wattage of your well pump when selecting an appropriate backup.

  • If you do not know the size of your well pump, it may be listed on the well cap. If not, you may need to contact your well installer, as the size affects the power you will need.

  • Well pumps often require 220 volts to power (a larger than normal size, simliar to a dryer outlet). Some may only need 110 volts.

  • Wattage use for well pumps will vary by size. Well pumps also have a startup surge requirement, which can be up to six times the running wattage. Depending on your setup, you may be able to use a variable frequency drive or reduced voltage starter to lower the startup surge and allow a smaller backup device to be used.

When it comes to traditional fuel generators, there are two types that will work when sized appropriately: portable or whole home systems.

Portable generators can be plugged into your transfer switch to only power your well pump, while whole home generators are hardwired into your electric panel and may be sized to power your entire home.

• Perks

  • Continue powering your well as long as you have fuel

  • Can be configured to seamlessly turn on in an outage

• Drawbacks

  • Difficult to start manually

  • Noisy and heavy

  • Powered by fossil fuel. May need to keep gasoline, diesel or propane stored on hand

  • Safety risk of fumes, carbon monoxide

Batteries offer a non-emitting energy alternative to traditional fuel-powered generators. They come in both portable and whole home systems.

• Perks

  • Safe to use anywhere, including indoors —no fumes or carbon monoxide risk

  • Quiet

  • Can charge from solar (rooftop, if whole home battery, or portable solar panels, if portable battery)

  • Only use the energy you need, rather than running all the time. Some batteries (both whole home and portable) can be recharged with a generator. If you have both a generator and a battery you can only turn the generator on for a short period of time to recharge the battery, rather than have it run continuously.

• Drawbacks

  • More expensive than traditional fossil fuel generator

  • A limited run time. Will need to be re-charged with either solar panels, a traditional generator, or brought somewhere with power to be plugged in and recharged.