Having enough fresh water
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population will increase by approximately 29 percent between 2000 and 2030, and the western and southern regions are projected to experience the greatest growth (more than 40 percent) during this time. With such tremendous population expansion, fresh water becomes increasingly scarce. The bureau predicts water shortages in nearly all states. Below is a 2014 U.S. Government Accountability Office map depicting anticipated water shortages over the next decade:
As population grows, droughts continue, fresh water declines and water tables drop, more wells are drilled (the National Groundwater Association reports 800,000 holes bored annually), putting more strain on freshwater supplies.
When the water table drops below the submersible pump in a well, many people face desperate situations without water. Often, a professional pump installer must be contracted to lower the submersible pump to reach water. In some cases, the well must be drilled deeper to access water with an electric pump. Another complication is having to wait for a well professional to remedy the problem. In some areas the waiting list can be as long as 8 months. Meanwhile, no water can be pumped.
On our road to self-sufficiency, twice we learned firsthand the consequences of the water table dropping below the depth of our pump. Even though we had electricity, it was useless. On one occasion, while we repaired our well, we depended on a neighbor for water. What would have helped us — and kept us self-reliant while we fixed the problem — was a simple well bucket.
Our main backup water supply system is now a deep well manual pump. Still, if the water table drops again below our pump, we have our trusty well bucket to get water.
Why have a well bucket?
Private wells supply 13.2 million occupied American households with water, according to a 2010 report by the National Groundwater Association. In most wells, electricity powers a pump submerged in the well to bring water to the surface. Without power, of course, water cannot be pumped. A simple well bucket can sustain a family until the power comes back on.
Even if you’re generating your own power (with solar or wind, for example) to operate a submersible well pump, those systems can fail – temporarily or permanently. Ice, snow, wind and lightning can damage electric components, rendering systems inoperable.
And, although you may have a reliable hand pump, something may happen.
A well bucket, also known as a torpedo or cylinder bucket, is the simplest, least expensive way to get water from a well without power. As the name implies, a well bucket is simply a long, skinny bucket that can be lowered into the narrow confines of a well casing to bring water to the surface.
How Well Buckets Work
We refer to well buckets as “inexpensive insurance” for water without electricity. There is no limit to the depth a well bucket can be used. However, for greater depths, it is easier to use a tripod or windlass to raise and lower the bucket.
Several styles of buckets are available commercially, and homemade versions abound on the Internet. Most include some sort of one-way valve on the bottom that holds the water in the bucket until it is hoisted to the surface. The water enters the bucket through the bottom valve.
The best bucket design enables users to empty the bucket by pulling a lever at the bucket top.
By comparison, buckets that pour out from the top are difficult to manage. Remember, water is heavy (about 8 pounds per gallon) and liquid. Aiming for a pail to empty the well bucket into usually results in overshooting the pail and wasting much of the water.
Another common homemade bucket type includes an extension on the bottom of the valve that must be pushed up to discharge the water. This works well if the full bucket is lifted onto a device to push up the valve, draining the water into a pail or irrigation trench. However, if the bucket is simply set down in a pail to discharge the water, the volume in the bucket and pail will equalize, not allowing all of the water to be released. The remainder must be poured out of the top.
WaterBoy Well Buckets and Related Equipment
For more information about well buckets, tripod kits please see our products page. Have the water you need — without electricity from any depth.
©2017 Well WaterBoy Products LLC WaterBuck Pump
Pedal Powered PTO
Sand point wells (a.k.a. well points or drive point wells) were once widespread, but, like so many other unsophisticated tools, went to the scrap heap once electricity, drilling rigs and volumes of deep water became available. “Mechanics of the Household” of 1918 describes the easy installation and maintenance of sand point wells as if every household should have at least one. Just as many Americans have saddled a horse, used a crosscut saw, canned sauerkraut or sewn with a treadle machine, many do not know about sand points. Yet, we should.
Many professional experts now agree the severity of our extreme weather is increasing, fossil fuels really are irreplaceable, and the cost of energy will only go up. For a few hundred dollars, a hand pump and driven well could be a lifesaver, and not only for rural folks. Installing a sand point may be less complicated than you think.
I have to admit that even though getting water off-grid is our business, I was unfamiliar with sand points until Darren brought one home. Now I wonder why such a handy device was overlooked by so many of us. A sand point makes it possible to drive a well for use with a pitcher pump. Although, the yield is relatively low (about 3 GPM), homeowners can have emergency water for the house, livestock and gardens without the expense of drilling a new well. If ordinances permit, you may even be able to install one in town.
Find your water table
Sand points are used in coarse sand or gravel. In clay, earth augers function best. Where stone or hard formations exist, or water is very deep, wells are drilled. The water table, or upper level of saturated soil, fluctuates seasonally. In wet periods the water table may be above the surface. In drought, the water table may sink below the well bottom, “going dry.”
To learn about your water table, contact your county’s water district or state’s natural resources department. Well drillers and neighbors with sand points can tell you about their well depths and yields. Online, check with Water Systems Council or U. S. Geological Survey. You may also need a permit.
How to install a sand point well
Through the years, Mother Earth News published several good articles about sand points, including “How to Dig a Well” in 1970 and “Water Development for Homesteaders,” in 1971 by Ken Kerns, who says, “If driving conditions are good, a 4-inch diameter casing can be driven to as deep as 50 feet.” Readers Digest “Back to Basics” book of 1981 says depths of 150 feet can be achieved with equipment. Typically, however, driven wells are installed no more than 30 feet deep with a 1 1/4” or 2” pipe with simple tools. Also in Mother Earth, Steve Maxwell writes in 2012 in “Homestead Water Sources and Options” that 50 feet can be reached with perfect hydrogeological conditions.
Basically, a driven well is installed by hammering a sand point and pipe directly into the earth to tap groundwater that may be literally right under your feet. The sand point, a perforated pipe of 24 to 60 inches with a heavy steel point (the water intake), is screened to keep out larger dirt particles. The screen, available in various opening sizes depending on soil, must be strong enough to withstand hammering and abrasion. Two good sources for installation information include Merrill Manufacturing and Wisconsin DNR.
Drive pipe, couplings and cap
The drive (rigid) pipe, or well casing, must also be heavy-duty. Threads of ordinary thin-wall pipe and couplings may strip or shear or the pipe may break at the threads. A drive cap protects the threads. It may be helpful to use a short section of rigid pipe and coupling below the drive cap, which is easier to remove than the cap after repeated blows.
Hammering methods
This pipe is hammered into the ground by repeatedly dropping a heavy weight (a driver) onto the pipe generally in one of four ways: The driver is guided inside the pipe to strike the pipe cap, the driver is guided outside of pipe (as pictured here) to strike the pipe cap, the driver strikes a clamp outside the pipe, or a long, thin driver strikes the sand point base inside the pipe. The last technique eliminates compressive loading on the pipe and makes heavy drive pipe unnecessary. A maul can be used, but besides being grueling, is difficult to drive squarely.
The weight can be driven by hand using a tool resembling a T-post driver, or the weight can be raised and lowered with a tripod and pulley. Or, if dropping a weight inside the pipe, the weight can be lowered with a rope and no tripod. Just be sure to tie off the rope so it is not accidentally dropped down the well (this is from personal experience).
After the first pipe is driven into the ground, the pipe cap is removed and another section of pipe (with threaded coupling and pipe compound) is added. It is easiest to work with 5-foot pipe sections. If using 10-foot pipe and a T-post driver, first dig a 3-foot deep hole to stand in as the pipe is driven down. This hole must later be filled. Another option is to stand on a ladder or platform as sections are added. Again, this can make hammering awkward.
To determine when you have hit water, lower a weighted string down the pipe. You will hear when it hits water. Drive down about 5 more feet to allow for seasonal water level changes. Do not drive down too far or you may push your sand point past the water-bearing formation. Leave enough pipe extending from the ground to be at a comfortable working height with the pump you intend to use, about 2-3 feet. This also helps protect the well from surface contamination. The system also must be flushed to remove dirt.
Next, attach your pitcher pump or suction pump. (Soak the pump leathers by submerging the pump in water a few hours.) Begin pumping. Within a few strokes, you’ll have water coming out the spout. As with any new well, the muddiness will disappear in time.
Uses for sand point wells
According to “Self-Help Wells” by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, sand point wells have many uses in developing countries. For instance, while the well diameter is normally small and the yield relatively low, a number of driven wells may be coupled and pumped with a single pump. Because driven wells are quickly constructed, they may be used as a temporary water source and pulled up when no longer needed. Driven well points may be used for dewatering excavation sites. A driven well point may be used to finish a hole that was excavated to the water table by another method such as an auger.
Investing now in something as simple as a sand point well, if at all possible, is wise. After all, you can only store so much water.
Complete sand point and pump kit
Besides individual sand points available now, we also offer a do-it-yourself sand point and pitcher pump kit with instructions for driving your own well. You will need to purchase 1 1/4″ galvanized pipe locally, which generally costs about $3 a foot.
©2014-2015 Well WaterBoy Products LLC WaterBuck Pump
Pedal Powered PTO
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Having enough fresh water
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population will increase by approximately 29 percent between 2000 and 2030, and the western and southern regions are projected to experience the greatest growth (more than 40 percent) during this time. With such tremendous population expansion, fresh water becomes increasingly scarce. The bureau predicts water shortages in nearly all states. Below is a 2014 U.S. Government Accountability Office map depicting anticipated water shortages over the next decade:
As population grows, droughts continue, fresh water declines and water tables drop, more wells are drilled (the National Groundwater Association reports 800,000 holes bored annually), putting more strain on freshwater supplies.
When the water table drops below the submersible pump in a well, many people face desperate situations without water. Often, a professional pump installer must be contracted to lower the submersible pump to reach water. In some cases, the well must be drilled deeper to access water with an electric pump. Another complication is having to wait for a well professional to remedy the problem. In some areas the waiting list can be as long as 8 months. Meanwhile, no water can be pumped.
On our road to self-sufficiency, twice we learned firsthand the consequences of the water table dropping below the depth of our pump. Even though we had electricity, it was useless. On one occasion, while we repaired our well, we depended on a neighbor for water. What would have helped us — and kept us self-reliant while we fixed the problem — was a simple well bucket.
Our main backup water supply system is now a deep well manual pump. Still, if the water table drops again below our pump, we have our trusty well bucket to get water.
Why have a well bucket?
Private wells supply 13.2 million occupied American households with water, according to a 2010 report by the National Groundwater Association. In most wells, electricity powers a pump submerged in the well to bring water to the surface. Without power, of course, water cannot be pumped. A simple well bucket can sustain a family until the power comes back on.
Even if you’re generating your own power (with solar or wind, for example) to operate a submersible well pump, those systems can fail – temporarily or permanently. Ice, snow, wind and lightning can damage electric components, rendering systems inoperable.
And, although you may have a reliable hand pump, something may happen.
A well bucket, also known as a torpedo or cylinder bucket, is the simplest, least expensive way to get water from a well without power. As the name implies, a well bucket is simply a long, skinny bucket that can be lowered into the narrow confines of a well casing to bring water to the surface.
How Well Buckets Work
We refer to well buckets as “inexpensive insurance” for water without electricity. There is no limit to the depth a well bucket can be used. However, for greater depths, it is easier to use a tripod or windlass to raise and lower the bucket.
Several styles of buckets are available commercially, and homemade versions abound on the Internet. Most include some sort of one-way valve on the bottom that holds the water in the bucket until it is hoisted to the surface. The water enters the bucket through the bottom valve.
The best bucket design enables users to empty the bucket by pulling a lever at the bucket top.
By comparison, buckets that pour out from the top are difficult to manage. Remember, water is heavy (about 8 pounds per gallon) and liquid. Aiming for a pail to empty the well bucket into usually results in overshooting the pail and wasting much of the water.
Another common homemade bucket type includes an extension on the bottom of the valve that must be pushed up to discharge the water. This works well if the full bucket is lifted onto a device to push up the valve, draining the water into a pail or irrigation trench. However, if the bucket is simply set down in a pail to discharge the water, the volume in the bucket and pail will equalize, not allowing all of the water to be released. The remainder must be poured out of the top.
WaterBoy Well Buckets and Related Equipment
For more information about well buckets, tripod kits please see our products page. Have the water you need — without electricity from any depth.
©2017 Well WaterBoy Products LLC WaterBuck Pump
Pedal Powered PTO
Today, with fuel and electricity costs soaring, more frequent natural and manmade disasters and because of the uncertain days we live in, well buckets are popular again. Many people are preparing now so they can get water from their well without electricity.
Well WaterBoy Products not only designed and makes the most powerful high-volume, manual deep-well pump known to date, we also crafted and build modern well buckets and windlass hoists. With the WaterBoy well bucket and optional windlass hoist, you can easily access your well water during long-term emergencies. Since 2011, we have sold our dependable well buckets with 100-percent customer satisfaction all across the United States.
Can you get to your well water without electricity?
Please see our product page to learn how to measure your well and watch a video to see how to use a well bucket by hand or with a windlass.
If you need a lot of water for the family and farm, please see our high-capacity human powered well pump.
]]>If a little more water is needed and the static water level is less than 25′, another alternative is a heavy duty pitcher pump. These type of pumps can be used with an existing electric submersible or can be used with a sand point well.
If a lot more water is required, like what an electric pump produces for large families, communities, farms and ranches, then a mega hand water pump is needed. This type of hand pump was thought to be impossible, but that‘s no longer true with the WaterBuck Pump. It’s truly amazing what one can achieve, if there is a need to fulfill.
This particular pump yields an incredible 2 gallons of water per stroke. Also, if needed for an emergency (like a fire), 54 – 56 gallons per minute can be pumped.
No hand water pump in the world can come near the capacity and depth the WaterBuck Pump can achieve.
]]>The price of a basic hand pump system for rural homeowners with a well that has a static water level of 25’ or less is relatively inexpensive if a lot of water is not needed. A simple pitcher pump system can provide water needs for a small garden or for the family during short-term power failures. A simple DIY installation can cost as little as $150 including parts. A pitcher pump with 30’ of 1 1/4” PVC drop pipe, 3 couplings (mounted on an existing well cap) is all that is needed. In most cases, the hand pump can be used with an existing electric pump system. It is best to install a good quality, heavy-duty pitcher pump for long life and durability. A pitcher pump can also be used on a driven sand point well.
This pump in northern California yields an incredible 2 gallons of water per stroke. Also, if needed for an emergency (like a fire), 54 – 56 gallons per minute can be pumped. We fitted the pump with a 6” diameter cylinder and 4” drop pipe, an unheard of application for a deep-well hand water pump.
If your water needs are much greater and you don’t want to spend all day pumping, then you might consider a WaterBuck Pump system. This unique human-powered water well machine used with shallow wells can easily provide enormous amounts of water for fires, large communities, farms, ranches, emergency shelters and off-grid sustainability.
Be prepared and have the water you need when you need it.
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Also, if needed for an emergency (like a fire), 54 – 56 gallons per minute can be pumped.
We fitted the pump with a 6” diameter cylinder and 4” drop pipe, an unheard of application for a deep-well hand water pump.
After the pump cylinder is broken in, we’ll have videos to show the WaterBuck in action. You won’t believe your eyes.
]]>The glass on the left contains sudsy rainwater and is translucent. The glass on the right holds hard well water, remained cloudy, made no suds and formed a soap scum ring.
Back when every home had a rain barrel stationed below the rainspout, our grandmothers knew rainwater was a must for washing hair. Grandma probably even knew why water falling from the sky felt better than that pumped from the ground. Admittedly, I didn’t know the benefits of cleaning with rainwater until going off-grid with my laundry duties.
I learned in my 1909 copy of “Household Discoveries” a simple test for discerning at home whether water is fit for laundry purposes. Simply dissolve a dab of good white soap in rubbing alcohol. Put a few drops of this mixture into a glass of water. “If the water is pure, the soap solution will be dissolved and the water will continue limpid, but if it is impure the soap will form into white flakes which will tend to float on the surface.”
To test this, I used two glasses of water – one from our drilled well and the other from the stock tank below the rain gutter. The soap disappeared immediately in the rainwater, but never dissolved or made suds in the hard water. After an hour, the well water glass also had a scummy ring on top.
For years, I accused my electric washing machine of doing a second-rate job of cleaning our clothes. Who would have thunk it was merely a water issue? Now that I wash with rainwater, our laundry is no longer crispy-crunchy or besmirched and grey.
Before actually going off-grid, I ran a garden hose from the rain tank outside to our electric washing machine in the basement just to see if the machine would launder better. It did, and I no longer had to add borax, washing soda or vinegar to the rinse cycle. While these additives are natural and relatively inexpensive, it is one more step to perform (and remember before the spin cycle ends).
“Household Discoveries” lists several ways to soften water, but also acknowledges that rainwater is absolutely best for cleaning anything, even without soap. In case of drought when a sufficient supply of rainwater cannot be obtained, however, here are some old-time methods for softening water:
“Bring the water to a boil and expose it to the air, which may be done by pouring it from some height into a tub or other vessel, and afterwards letting it stand overnight.
“Or boil it with the addition of a little baking soda, and afterwards expose it to the air.
“Or place a quantity of clean wood ashes in a tightly closed woolen bag and immerse the bag in a tub of water. The required amount of ashes can be ascertained by experiment.
“Or use chalk, which may be put into the spring or well or used in a tub or bucket, the proper amount depending upon the extent of the impurities, and to be determined in each locality by experiment.
“Or add a small quantity of borax or potash or soda lye, but care must be taken not to use too much, as otherwise the alkali they contain will injure the fabrics.
“Or add 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls of quicklime to each tubful of water. Slake the lime with a little warm water, stirring it to a cream, pour it into a tubful or boilerful of water, and let stand overnight or long enough to settle to the bottom. Pour off the clear water, taking care not to disturb the sediment.”
These water-softening tips make collecting rainwater much more appealing, don’t they?
We do not live in an industrial area or have large tree limbs overhanging our roof, which is metal. As such, we have only an ordinary mesh screen over the rain tank to keep out bugs and other debris. If the roof is asphalt or other airborne contaminants are a concern, the first few gallons of rainwater can be diverted away from the cistern (referred to as first flushing).
Where pollution is heavy, the water can also be filtered. A free-standing drip filter such as the Katadyn Drip Gravadyn can be easily installed in a rainwater harvesting system. And here is information about an old-time rainbarrel filter.
Mother Earth News has many wonderful articles about collecting rainwater. These were useful to us when we set up our “cloud juice” system:
Build a Rainwater Harvesting System
Build a Rainwater Collection System
Harvesting Rainwater: How to Make a Rain Barrel
A Better Rainwater-Harvesting System
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A young woman boils laundry in 1918
Having clean laundry was my greatest off-grid obstacle until I discovered two secrets – washing with rainwater and a hand-crank wringer.
During long-term power outages before we transitioned off-grid, I washed clothes by hand. It was not terribly difficult, but I was never thrilled with the results. I haven’t used an electric or gas-powered dryer for decades, so line-drying laundry wasn’t the issue. In fact, I think hanging clothes out to dry is therapeutic (all that fresh air and exercise) and enjoyable (no dryer racket or static cling).
The problem was getting the clothes clean. I would rub and scrub and twist the water out until I could twist no more. Small articles weren’t too grueling, but sheets, jeans and large towels held so much water that the clothesline sagged nearly to the ground. The fabric took eternities to dry and was stained by excess water marinating along the bottom edges for hours. I tried all sorts of soaps, but still had dingy laundry.
For a while, I thought, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” But then I started some serious washerwoman research. As always to relearn old-time skills, I grabbed my books from the mid-1800s and early 1900s. Incidentally, sites such as OpenLibrary.org have made such investigation just a click away. At the end of this article are links to a few antique homemaking books in the public domain that can be downloaded and saved for future reference.
Because so many styles of mechanized washing machines have been designed and patented through the years, I thought washing clothes by hand must be absolute drudgery or inventors wouldn’t have bothered. Many lengthy books, such as “The Laundry Manual; or Washing Made Easy” by a Professed Launderer, 1861, were devoted entirely to washing clothes. Days of the week revolved around a laundry schedule:
“The family linen must be looked over the day before washing, and people in Scotland usually prefer Tuesday to be that very important day – first, because it is best to have the washing early in the week, so that it is all finished and put away before Saturday; second, because it is better to have Monday to look over and mend clothes, soak, remove stains, etc., and of course that cannot be done if we wash on Monday, as Saturday is too far away, and the clothes would lie too long if soaked on Saturday; and Sunday, of course, is out of the question.
“If possible, 1 or 2 hours ought to be added to the day at the beginning of the washing day, to prevent the wheels of the household machinery getting out of the gear before the day is over, and prevent the breadwinners from feeling unnecessary discomfort. First light the boiler fire and fill the boiler; then make and take a cup of tea, which is the best and necessary refreshment before starting hard work at an early hour.”
― “Household Cookery and Laundry Work” by Mrs. Black, 1882
Generally, 150 or so years ago, laundry was mended and sorted on Monday, washed Tuesday and pressed, mangled and starched Thursday and Friday. Unsurprisingly, doing laundry was an enormous task — considering a woman’s dress could contain 12 yards of cloth, water was heated manually in tubs, and many clothing articles had detachable frills to be cleaned separately.
I applaud all those many inventors who strived to make the task easier. The vast array of washing machines I encountered reveals inventors’ determination and abstract thinking. Early machines shook or pounded clothes clean, often smashing buttons and ripping expensive fabric in the process.
The American Floating Ball Washing-Machine, patented by Indiana farmer Mr. Moore in 1857, employed 200 to 300 floating elm wood balls the size of Seville oranges (about 3″) to gently rub clothes as a laundress manipulated the machine’s long handle. It was said to very closely imitate human hands in “pounding, scrubbing and squeezing.” Whew. I bet children enjoyed playing with that gadget.
While the multitude of washing machines evolved into the spinning drum models common today, the wringer went to the wayside – until us modern homesteaders demanded its revival. And, you know what? The wringer has changed little in more than 150 years. It is still simple, effective and easy to use.
In the mid-1800s, a wringer was relatively expensive because of one feature – vulcanized rubber on the rollers. Care had to be taken to prevent damaging the rolls, which were costly to replace. During World War 2, the U.S. government even advised housewives to take especially good care of their wringer washers. After the war, rubber eventually became affordable.
By the time I was a child in the 1960s, wringer washers were nearly extinct although my mother used one until I graduated from high school. I can still recall the horror as I carelessly pinched my fingers in the electric-powered wringer, but admit the machine was fun for a youngster to use.
When I decided I wanted one for our off-grid evolution, I thought my husband could retrofit one of those 1950s machines. They still occasionally turn up at auctions, but go for inexplicably high prices. I am not sure if the novelty drives bids, but recently we watched as a line of the old machines, some not operational, sold for more than $200 each. As it turns out, a modification would be impractical and costly. Besides, I only wanted the wringer and not the tub.
I found the perfect solution online. After setting up the three-compartment restaurant sink we nabbed at a consignment auction, we ordered an American-made stainless steel hand-crank wringer from BestDryingRack.com in Missouri. The wringer is very similar to those from the Civil War era – simple, effective and easy to use – except made of longer-lasting, better materials.
The restaurant sink may seem a bit over-the-top for a tiny off-grid home, but it is my entire kitchen/laundry/mop/garden wash station. The wringer easily clamps from one basin to the next and the drip tray can be flipped to divert the water from one sink or another, an improvement during the past hundred years. Wringing laundry with this simple tool eliminates labor spent twisting clothes and it actually gets the water out, very important for bright, clean laundry. Without all that hand-wrenching, too, garments aren’t distorted out of shape.
In this article, I explain why rainwater is best for laundry and how to quickly test your water yourself for hardness. Meanwhile, for more old-fashioned household laundry hints, check out these online books:
“Beeton’s Book of Household Management” by Mrs. Isabella Beeton, 1861
“Household Work; or the Duties of Female Servants,” 1850
“The Sunlight Year Book,” 1898
“Household Cookery and Laundry Work” by Mrs. Black, 1882
The British Housekeepers Book, by John Henry Walsh, assisted by a committee of ladies, 1857
“Hand-Book for the Kitchen and Housekeepers’ Guide” by Flora Neely, 1879
“The Ohio Farmers Home Guide Book,” 1888
“The Laundry Manual; or Washing Made Easy,” 1863 (in my opinion, the best of these guides listed here)
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Check back for updates and more videos like this one. https://youtu.be/3Rx5uuE2vao
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