Submersible Well Pumps for Drinking Water Wells
     

Reply:

Dropping stuff into a well, or worse, a person or animal falling into a well is a problem as old as mankind and wells. [See Luke 14:5 and Matthew 12:11.] And I know about this "Honey I dropped the Pump" problem too, and haven't added a full article on retrieving stuff from water wells at InspectAPedia because of lack of photos of the array of in-well-stuff grabbing tools, and also because I don't think most homeowners will have much luck retrieving stuff that has fallen into their well on their own.

First off, it sounds like a horrible problem when a well pipe breaks and we drop stuff into the well. But don't panic. You have to figure that you're not the first people to have such bad luck - and it happens most often to well drillers not homeowners.

Our photo (left) shows an old galvanized iron well pipe being pulled out of the steel casing at a Minnesota home. [Click to see a larger detailed version of any image at InspectAPedia] . You can see the clamp being used to secure the well pipe at the top of the casing while the well driller removes the upper length of well pipe that has just been lifted.

Our second photo (left) illustrates the pipe grabber clamp used to grab the well pipe to keep it from falling back into the well during a pause in lifting to allow other tasks.

The well drillers/plumbers I've worked with, including this one, tell me that once they've had a few bad experiences the are scrupulously careful to avoid a repeat of breaking a well line or dropping the whole shebang down into the well - say while trying to pull things out of the well in the first place, or during reinstallation of a pump and piping.

But sometimes bad luck, or a mistake, or a bad fitting or section of pipe can cause a length of pipe plus well pump, foot valve, what-have-you to fall back down in the well.

Because it does happen, just about every well driller and most plumbers who work on wells have a collection of grabbing devices, some of them home made, that can be lowered into the well to grapple around and grab on to the upper end of what now sits deep down in the well casing. It may take a few trials, but eventually they get stuff out by that method.

When the length of pipe and pump is pretty long, the weight can be considerable, more than you could pull out with a rope or cable. In that case the rigger brings in a truck or a portable winch system that includes a powered well pipe pulling mechanism that can handle the weight. As the well pipes are lifted out of the well, the driller or plumber may run the pipe through a clamping device that is larger than the diameter of the well casing - that prevents dropping it all back down in the well.

Certainly that device is used when, during the well pipe and pump pulling process, the operator has to stop to remove vertical lengths of well piping. Otherwise we'd have many feet of pipe sticking up in the air - creating another problem.

As a length of well pipe rises out of the casing, leaving the winch assembly attached to the top of the pipe, the operator will stop the winch, tighten a clamp around the well pipe a few inches above the top of the well casing, gently, using the winch, lower the pipe back down so that the clamp rests on top of the well casing - to "test" that the clamp is secure.

Then, trusting the clamp, the upper length of well piping is removed, the winch pulling connection is made to the newly exposed top of well piping just above the clamp, and the process continues.

I Would Call a Well Driller for Help Getting Stuff out of the Well

You can infer from all of this, that in your case the bottom line is you'll need to call your local well driller/well installer who should have the winch equipment as well as a clamping system to both grab and retrieve the top of the broken well piping as well as to pull it out without further catastrophes.

Or if it falls back in again, the well driller or plumber will be in charge of getting the pipe and pump back out for you themselves.

Sources of Home Made & Ready-Made Well Pipe Grabbers for Picking Up Lost Pipes or Other Stuff in Wells or Holes

Watch out: when buying or fabricating a tool to pull a dropped well pipe or something else out of a well, be careful not to drop your new tool into the well alongside what's already in there. Test your device above ground first and also be sure it's strong enough and long enough to do the job.

Watch out: also that you do not jam the item you are trying to retrieve. For example, using a grappling hook to try to fish out a well pump from the well bottom risks jamming the whole assembly inside the well.

Concepts useful to understand when fishing stuff out of a water well:

There are just a few basic types of pipe or junk grabbers used to pull stuff out of oil or gas or water wells:

• Spears are fishing devices that are inserted into the interior bore of a well pipe and then grab onto the interior sides of the pipe. Logan Oil Tools calls devices of this sort "internal catch" devices.[12]
• Overshoots or Overshots are fishing devices that fit over the exterior of the well pipe and then grab onto the well pipe exterior to enable lifting the pipe. Logan Oil Tools calls these "external catch" devices. [12] The overshot may be a metal mesh device, or a spiral device, one or more round or oval loops, or similar devices that grab on to the pipe exterior.
• Grappling hooks are sometimes used to try to hook onto tools, or other non-pipe-shaped items that have fallen into a well.
• Magnets are sometimes used to retrieve smaller metal objects that have fallen into a well; it's doubtful that a magnet could pull a steel well pipe however.
• Grinders: in the oil and gas industry a "junk mill" is sent into the well to try to grind up smaller junk that has fallen into the well. The Junk mill works with a boot basket to retrieve the ground up stuff - if it works. This probably won't help with water well troubles.[11]
• Reamers: are devices used to ream out collapsed well casings in the oil and gas industry; [11] and those clever folks also use an impression block to figure out the shape of whatever it is that has fallen into the well if they don't already know. [12]

Any tool you make or buy is going to be of one of these classes.

Fishing Tools to Retrieve Stuff from Drilled Steel Casing or Other Water Wells

• Overshot mesh well pipe or item retrievers for fishing stuff out of a well: the most effective tools we know about for pulling lost well pipes out of a drilled well are various versions of overshots. Overshots, an "overshoot" type tool, are a bit easier to get over the outside of a well pipe than spear type tools are to get into the well pipe, unless the upper end of the pipe is near the top of the well.
  
  Overshots are used in the oil and gas well drilling business[11] as well as water well drilling to retrieve pipes fallen into the well. Overshots is a generic term that might be used to describe a braided metal sleeve (the "basket") or a spiral grapple. The overshot is lowered over the end of the pipe in the well. If there is enough friction around the object the braided sleeve will contract and grab the object when the line is pulled up - like that braided rush "chinese finger trap" trick we played with as kids. Other pipe grappling tools or terms for them used in the oil and gas industry include specialty tools that can help guide even a do-it-yourself effort that may work at least in more shallow water wells:
  • Basket Grapple - see the text just above.
  • Die Collars - used to retrieve a lost well pipe, the die collar is a coupling lowered over the lost pipe; the gas or oil version may not be easily workable for a plastic water well pipe; see our "double bite metal loop" pipe retriever discussed below.
  • Free-Point Indicator - used to locate where a pipe is stuck in the well, not for retrieval
  • Spears - are expanding devices inserted into the interior of the lost pipe. Pulling on a line attached to the spear (along with mechanical design of the spear) or turning it expand the spear inside the lost pipe.
  • Spiral Grapples - helical grapples lowered over the lost well pipe end, using twisting torque or friction to grab on to and lift the pipe.
  • Wall hooks - used to center the lost pipe in the well so that it can be grabbed by another device. A home made "wall hook" is sometimes fabricated out of funnel of appropriate size, pushed over the lost pipe by a rigid pipe length.
    
    
• Store bought or home made single or double bite metal loop well pipe retriever: some well pipes can be successfully retrieved by fabricating a flexible pair of metal rings with squared or sharp edges connected and hinged to a rod that is in turn connected to the bottom of a working pipe long enough to reach down to the top of your well pipe in the well. When the pair of metal rings slip over the exposed upper end of the well pipe, push the assembly a few feet further down over the pipe. If you've got your design right (test it above ground first) when you pull up on the assembly the rings will hinge to an angle that will "bite" onto the vertical pipe in the well and allow you to pull the assembly back out.
  
  A rope with a large sharp edged "washer" or any other round object that can be dropped over the well pipe can do this same job. Some technicians call this assembly a cam cleat but more often that's a nautical device for halyards and one that doesn't work in this application.
  
  A home-made "corkscrew" that increases in diameter towards its upper end, affixed to the end of a rigid pipe can also be pushed into the interior (or with some grapplers the outside) of the pipe in the well, turned until it grabs the pipe. I'm not sure this method will be strong enough to lift many feet of pipe in the well.
  
  Some of the home-made approaches to lowering a metal or wire loop over the well pipe incorporate an upside-down metal funnel that can be used to help center your grabber over the upper end of the pipe in the well. We like these methods.
• EasyReach™ is one of a series of grabbing devices that can retrieve rocks or brick sized objects that fall into a well or hole. I'm doubtful this tool is able to grab a round well pipe (the maximum length is about six feet and the end looks like suction cups) but the company may have tool ends that can be adapted for that purpose. EasyReach™ claims it can pick up anything from a dime to a brick. The device is sold by General Pipe Cleaners, Tel: 800-245-6200, website: drainbrain.com/specialties/easyreach.html
• Expanding rubber plug pipe retriever: a home-made stack of rubber plugs placed over a threaded rod can, if your well pipe is not too deep in the well, be pushed into the top end of the pipe in the well. The down-end of your threaded rod is locked onto a washer and nut and rubber plug just small enough to force into the upper end of the pipe in the well. If you can stab that plug into the well pipe you then tighten the upper end of the treaded rod (a nut and washer will do) until you've expanded the rubber plug enough to grab onto and lift the in-well pipe.
• Hooking onto existing fittings on the well pipe in the well: if the length of pipe that fell into the well includes couplings or a pitless adapter fitting, often any small grappling hook and line can grab onto the edge of that protrusion and pull the assembly out of the well. Pull slowly and smoothly and as soon as you can mechanically grab the end of the lost pipe as it emerges from the well, do so.
• Mini grappling hooks to retrieve a fallen-in well pipe are sometimes fabricated using a heavy duty triple-barb fish-hook. I'm a little nervous about this approach because if the attempt fails and you leave the hook and a section of line in the well you've added to the mess that needs to be pulled out of the well.
• Mousetrap well pipe retrievers:
• PVC glue-on well pipe retrieval: some report success by lowering a new section of PVC pipe down into the well onto the lower end of which has been cemented (and dried) a coupling that will just fit over the exposed top of the plastic well pipe that is already in the well. With fresh glue inside the mating end of the coupling the retrieving well pipe section is pressed down onto the exposed top of the pipe that is already in the well. Wait for the glue to dry and try pulling out the whole assembly. If the broken-off plastic pipe is below water level, or badly damaged, this approach may have poor chances of success.
• Well pipe grapplers or well pipe grabbers that will grab onto plastic pipe or iron pipe down inside of a well casing are sometimes home made based on designs such as the item listed above. Contact Us to submit photos and product names to assist other readers.
• Small portable winches for lifting well pipes can be site-fabricated using an automobile engine puller - something you can usually rent from a rental center

Question: where can I hire a submersible pump in Australia?

Living in this Country for 30 years I cannot find an answer for this simple question - where to hire a submersible pump for a well described below. There is a 4" well 500' deep. Nothing is known regarding its output. I try to help my friend to get it going (it is in a pretty remote part of Sydney, on the outskirts of the city - Blue Mountains area) - but I cannot find a soul to help us, or trace of Australian company (in Sydney area!) to be willing to get involved in the subject.

Sir! - Any suggestions? - We would be really grateful for for a help. You might have some "french connections" in this "little" country. Many thanks and regards from Down-Under Mark

Reply: Contact a local well driller for assistance. Or purchase a submersible pump - that is probably less costly than hiring (renting) a unit for any longer period

I am not familiar with the hiring of submersible pumps as in my experience, the pump is an item that people purchase and install for longer term use. One would not hire such a unit given its comparatively low purchase cost of a submersible pump compared with the much greater cost of actually installing the pump, piping, controls, etc. to provide a working water supply system.

An exception, and the one that appears to be your case, is the need to test a well flow rate capacity before attempting to connect it to a building's water supply system. Well drillers often employ a temporary pump unit that is used during the well drilling process and at the completion of well drilling to confirm the flow rate of the well.

There also are companies who specialise in well testing services using a portable, and completely self-contained well testing services, though we find these employed principally in the oil and gas industry not the water well industry. And there are manufacturers who supply pre-packaged well stimulation and testing equipment "off the shelf". These are normally purchased by well drillers, but may be available for rental from a manufacturer or supplier in Australia.

For that purpose the driller has purchased a pump and necessary piping and controls, all of which are temporarily connected above ground just to test the well water flow, and are not connected to the building water supply piping.

If this is the sort of application that you need, you might be able to obtain that service for hire by contacting a well driller in your area. But even in this case, unless your need for a hired pump (we say "rented" in the U.S.), is needed for just 24- hours, it will still, most likely, be less costly to buy and assemble what's needed.

A more sophisticated version of a well-proving pump used to test flow rate involves a submersible pump installation whose pumping rate can be adjusted. A well driller uses this approach to find the actual rate of water in-flow into the well at different depths or to find the overall number. If I have misunderstood your application, please clarify and we can try again to be of assistance.

For determining the well flow rate using a temporary submersible pump, you will need:

• A 4-inch submersible pump. Manufacturers include Goulds Pumps, Grundfoss, Flint & Walling, Wilo, and others listed in the reference section of this article. In selecting a pump for proving well flow, you may want to select a variable speed submersible pump such as those supplied by Grundfos or E-tech. Be sure to check the power requirements, as some of these operate on 3-phase power.
• Well piping: sufficient length of well piping, I presume you will use plastic for less weight, along with suitable fittings.
• Well pipe centering devices: You may need one or more well pipe centering devices to keep piping centered in the well. A similar device, a torque arrestor system, is used to secure a submersible pump installation inside the well casing against rotating movement each time the pump cycles on and off, reducing damage to piping, connections, pumps, and reducing the loss of well pumps in the well. AGE provides this equipment in Australia.[13]
• Riserless Well Pump: alternatively, if your well equipment supplier carries a riserless well pump, such as the AGE Riserless Pump System, you can omit the well piping entirely for simple well testing. A riserless well pump includes an inflatable packer seal surrounding the pump assembly.
  
  The riserless water well pump is lowered into the well on a cable that also carries its electrical supply. The pump is sealed against the well casing walls. When the pump is turned on, it sends water from the pump intake near the pump bottom, through its internal passages, and out at the top of the well pump. This approach uses the well casing itself to deliver water from the well pump to the well casing top. AGE points out that by using the well casing itself instead of a riser pipe, the frictional head loss is reduced, thus reducing well pump power consumption. AGE is an Australian company so this may be a good lead for you to investigate.[13]
• An electrical power supply - a portable generator would suffice
• A crane or winch to raise and lower the well piping and pump to an appropriate depth
• Clamps or other control tools to prevent dropping the whole assembly down into the well and losing it during installation and removal of the set-up
• A well cap, if you do not already have one, to protect the well and casing from extraneous debris when the well testing step has been completed
• Subsequent well installation: And of course for using the well, additional components such as a pitless adapter, piping, water pressure tank, controls, will be required.

All of these are equipment that a well driller has on hand and regularly employs.

Our article WELL FLOW RATE may also be of assistance - a true well flow rate needs to be measured over a longer time period - usually 24-hours. You will also want to read Well Yield: Well Flow Rate and since the properties of the well you are exploring will vary at different depths, take a look at Drill Stem Testing.

If I have misunderstood your application, please clarify and we can try again to be of assistance. Please keep me posted on how things progress in your own application, and send along photos or other details of what you are trying to do and of your well equipment if you can. Such added details can help us understand what's happening and often permit some useful further comment. What we both learn may help me help someone else.

...

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• Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. The firm provides professional home inspection services & home inspection education & publications. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides:
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• [2] Deep Well Jet Pumps, Government of Alberta, Agriculture and Rural Development, toll free in Alberta at 310-FARM web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex639
• [3] Betta-Flo Jet Pump Installation Manual, National Pump Co., LLC., includes helpful well pump troubleshooting tips as well as basic jet pump installation details. Web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.nationalpumpcompany.com/Documents/OIM/Betta%20Flo%20IOM%20Jet%20Pump.pdf
• [4] Water Fact Sheet #3, Using Low-Yielding Wells [ copy on file as /water/Low_Yield_Wells_Penn_State.pdf ] - , Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension, School of Forest Resources, web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/XH0002.pdf
• [5] Smart Tank, Installation Instructions [ copy on file as /water/Smart_Tank_Flexcon.pdf ] - , Flexcon Industries, 300 Pond St., Randolph MA 02368, www.flexconind.com, Tel: 800-527-0030 - web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.flexconind.com/pdf/st_install.pdf
• [6] Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps_1.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
• [7] Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
• [8] Water Ace Jet Pump Installation Manual, instructions from Water Ace Pump Co., web search 08/28/2010, original source: http://www.waterace.com/pdf/R510%20R520%20and%20R100%20Jet%20Pumps%20Manual.pdf
  Consumer hotline: 800-942-3343 - instructions for the installation and maintenance of
  Water Ace shallow well pump Model R510 1/2 HP
  Water Ace deep well pump Model R100 convertible 1HP and
  Water Ace deep well jet pump Model R250 convertible 1/2 hp.
  Quoting from the company's website:
  The Water Ace Pump Company is a dynamic, rapidly growing retail pump manufacturer, backed by a tradition of over 125 years of excellence. We offer a complete line of sump, sewage, lawn sprinkler, swimming pool, submersible well and jet pumps as well as pressure tanks and accessories.
• [9] Water Ace Jet Pump Installation Manual, from Water Ace Pump Co., web search 08/28/2010, original source: http://www.waterace.com/pdf/RTS5%20RTS7%20RTS10%20RC5%20and%20RC10%20Jet%20Pumps%20Manual.pdf
  Consumer hotline: 800-942-3343 - instructions for the installation and maintenance of Water Ace pump models:
  Water Ace Shallow Well 1-line Jet Pump Models RTS5 (1/2HP), Model RTS7 (3/4 HP) and RTS10 (1HP)
  Water Ace Deep Well 2-line Jet Pump Models RC5 (1/2 HP) and RC10 (1HP)
• [10] Water Ace Submersible Well Pump Installation Manual, from Water Ace Pump Co., web search 08/28/2010, original source: http://www.waterace.com/pdf/23833A019%20Well%20Pumps%20Eng.pdf
  Spanish and French language submersible well pump installation manuals are available from the company.
  Consumer hotline: 800-942-3343 - instructions for the installation and maintenance of Water Ace pump models:
• [11] "Overshot Definition", OilGasGlossary.com. Oil & Gas Field Technical Terms Glossary, Web Search 04/21/2012, original source: http://oilgasglossary.com/overshot.html
• [12] Logan Oil Tools, Inc., 11006 Lucerne Street, Houston, Texas 77016-1920, Tel: 281.219.6613 | Fax 281.219.6638 Email: sales@loganoiltools.com, Website: http://www.loganoiltools.com/
• [13] AGE water well equipment, including AGE Riserless Pump Systems, AGE Developments, 38 Harris Road Malaga WA 6090 Australia, Tel: (08) 9209 2844, Website: agedevelopments.com.au

• Access Water Energy, PO Box 2061, Moorabbin, VIC 3189, Australia, Tel: 1300 797 758, email: sales@accesswater.com.au Moorabbin Office: Kingston Trade Centre, 100 Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin, VIC 3189
  Australian supplier of: Greywater systems, Solar power to grid packages, Edwards solar systems, Vulcan compact solar systems, water & solar system pumps & controls, and a wide rage of above ground & under ground water storage tanks: concrete, steel, plastic, modular, and bladder storage tanks.
• Smart Tank, Installation Instructions [ copy on file as /water/Smart_Tank_Flexcon.pdf ] - , Flexcon Industries, 300 Pond St., Randolph MA 02368, www.flexconind.com, Tel: 800-527-0030 - web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.flexconind.com/pdf/st_install.pdf
• Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps_1.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
• Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
• Water Fact Sheet #3, Using Low-Yielding Wells [ copy on file as /water/Low_Yield_Wells_Penn_State.pdf ] - , Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension, School of Forest Resources, web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/XH0002.pdf
• Crystal Clear Supply provides portable ceramic water filter purifiers and portable reverse osmosis water treatment equipment - see http://www.crystalclearsupply.com/category_s/7.htm

• Handbook of Disinfectants and Antiseptics, Joseph M. Ascenzi (Editor), CRC, 1995, ISBN-10: 0824795245 ISBN-13: 978-0824795245 "The evaluation of chemical germicides predates the golden age of microbiology..." -
  This well-focused, up-to-date reference details the current medical uses of antiseptics and disinfectants -- particularly in the control of hospital-acquired infections -- presenting methods for evaluating products to obtain regulatory approval and examining chemical, physical, and microbiological properties as well as the toxicology of the most widely used commercial chemicals.
• Potable Aqua® emergency drinking water germicidal tablets are produced by the Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., Jackson WI 53037. 800-558-6614 pharmacalway.com
• Principles and Practice of Disinfection, Preservation and Sterilization (Hardcover)
  by A. D. Russell (Editor), W. B. Hugo (Editor), G. A. J. Ayliffe (Editor), Blackwell Science, 2004. ISBN-10: 1405101997, ISBN-13: 978-1405101998.
  "This superb book is the best of its kind available and one that will undoubtedly be useful, if not essential, to workers in a variety of industries. Thirty-one distinguished specialists deal comprehensively with the subject matter indicated by the title ... The book is produced with care, is very readable with useful selected references at the end of each chapter and an excellent index. It is an essential source book for everyone interested in this field. For pharmacy undergraduates, it will complement the excellent text on pharmaceutical microbiology by two of the present editors."
  The Pharmaceutical Journal: "This is an excellent book. It deals comprehensively and authoritatively with its subject with contributions from 31 distinguished specialists. There is a great deal to interest all those involved in hospital infection ... This book is exceptionally well laid out. There are well chosen references for each chapter and an excellent index. It is highly recommended." The Journal of Hospital Infection.: "The editors and authors must be congratulated for this excellent treatise on nonantibiotic antimicrobial measures in hospitals and industry ... The publication is highly recommended to hospital and research personnel, especially to clinical microbiologists, infection-control and environmental-safety specialists, pharmacists, and dieticians."
  New England Journal of Medicine: City Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Covers the many methods of the elimination or prevention of microbial growth. Provides an historical overview, descriptions of the types of antimicrobial agents, factors affecting efficacy, evaluation methods, and types of resistance. Features sterilization methods, and more. Previous edition: c1999. DNLM: Sterilization--methods.
• U.S. Army Field Manual 21-10, Field Hygiene and Sanitation, 1988, web search 07/02/2010, original source: http://www.enlisted.info/field-manuals/fm-21-10-field-hygiene-and-sanitation.shtml
  The purpose of this manual is to assist individual soldiers, unit commanders, leaders and field sanitation teams in preventing disease and environmental injuries. The manual provides information on preventive medicine measures (PMM) to the individual soldier as well as essential information for the unit commander, unit leaders, and the unit field sanitation team on applying unit level PMM.
• When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein's website is www.whentechfails.com/

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