Thanks guys,
That is good food for thought. I am less concerned about ruining my watertable or even being found out by the EPA as I would have only considered this plan only in a SHTH or TEOTWAWKI scenario.
I don't own a generator (yet) and have actually been talked out of one by my electrican who points out since we have underground wiring it may be overkill... " we have not lost power in this area for more than 2 hours in his lifetime" He is looking at it from a past performance point of view and not a preparedness view obviously.
So OK, the right way to approach this is to go the generator route. A couple of more questions-
I have a water pressure tank in the basement that the pump feeds. Would I need to run a generator non-stop to be able to get at the well water, or would I be able to "recharge the watertank" for a couple of hours to at least be able to refresh my water bottles etc. Obviously I have a much shorter window with regards to fuel if I have to keep the gen running more or less continuoisly.
Secondly, regarding removing my wellcap, I have seen manual water pump products sold through Grainger for that purpose exactly. Who would regulate and more importantly enforce the removal of my well cap? Just curious if it would be local state or federal regulations. Always good to know whose law your breaking!
Finally, I like the idea of rewiring the current "hard wired" pump configuration. Can you describe what the alternate gen run set up would look like? 30 amp box, ok... but then what does the wiring between the box and the gen consist of? a standard grounded extenstion cord or something more elaborate?
(PS... I have an electrician I use...I don't do electrical, plumbing, drywall taping and a host of other skills I am resigned to never being any good at! )