Shallow well, deep well, is there a third type?

: I thought I understood basic well hydrolics until my brother described something different.: I thought that a shallow well pump sat above ground and could pull water up no more that about 32 feet. At that point, the atmospheric pressure equals the water pressure at the bottom of the column in the suction pipe and the the water stops rising. If you want to pump more than 32 feet, I thought you had to have a submersible pump at the bottom of your well.: My brothers above ground pump has two different diameter pipes going down the well. He believes it pulls water from below 32 feet by forcing a portion of the draw back down the well through the thinner pipe.: Does anybody know what is really going on? This is refered to as a two pipe jet. Shallow well pumps actually consist of two parts, one the centrifugal part(creates cicrulation) and the other a venture tube(gives suction as a result of circulation). These two parts can be seperated and in the case you mention, the part actually doing the pumping is down in the well. This is a very basic illustration.

: I thought I understood basic well hydrolics until my brother described something different.: I thought that a shallow well pump sat above ground and could pull water up no more that about 32 feet. At that point, the atmospheric pressure equals the water pressure at the bottom of the column in the suction pipe and the the water stops rising. If you want to pump more than 32 feet, I thought you had to have a submersible pump at the bottom of your well.: My brothers above ground pump has two different diameter pipes going down the well. He believes it pulls water from below 32 feet by forcing a portion of the draw back down the well through the thinner pipe.: Does anybody know what is really going on?Sure do, its called a deep well pump with a two pipe jet. The most inefficient way to pump water next to the hand pump. If you can install a submersible, by all means do so. The pressure and volume will be far better than the jet system can give you.