"My hand pump used to work fine. Now it won't pump anymore. Any suggestions?"
Try using some quality basic faucet grease #LU020 on the diaphragm. Many times this will expand the rubber/leather enough that it will work for you again. Make sure to use grease that is approved for drinking water (ours is).

"I have an old hand pump that I purchased elsewhere. Do you know where I can get parts for it?"
There are many different brands, with all different parts. We cannot stock or find parts for other brands. The hand pumps that we sell are pretty rugged. They do change parts every so often and so we cannot supply parts for the ones we sell either. It is extremely rare that one of ours fails within 3 years. Generally all that ever goes wrong is that the leather cup dries up. For that we recommend using some quality faucet grease (#LU020) on the leather diaphragm. If you bought your hand pump elsewhere we do not wish to ship you parts that fit to ours. We make this rule based on experience. We have found that our parts do not fit other brands of hand pumps and the return rate is simply too great for parts that people think might "fit" and then won't. We do not offer parts for hand pumps.

"Do I need to prime your pump each time?"
Because this is for shallow wells, there is no need to prime it. Sometimes when the pump arrives you will need to run some water into the pump to wet the leather. Sometimes (and certainly after time) you will need to use some quality basic faucet grease #LU020 on the diaphragm.

"I'm told that installing a check valve on the inlet side of any brand of hand pump is a good idea. What do you think?"
On a fairly new pump we don't think it matters much. But on an older pump a good spring check valve in an accessible vertical section of your drop pipe may work wonders for the pump's operation. It can keep you from the sometimes-aggravating need to prime it after each use.

"To pump water will I need anything besides the HPP-1 pump?"
You will need some 1 1/4" pipe (along with threads on at least one end). With PVC plastic pipe you will need a 1 1/4" male adapter #PVC436 (as well as your PVC pipe). With steel pipe you need 1 1/4" pipe with threads. You can also adapt from 1 1/4" to 1" and use 1" pipe. You can use almost any kind of potable (drinking water) grade pipe as long as it is fairly straight and reaches into your water source (and your water level is not deeper than 24' below the pump). Your pipe can be longer than 24'.