What water pump?

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AllanA
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What water pump?

Post by AllanA »

I have 2 water butts, 220L and 110 litre.
I would like to purchase a water pump that would allow me to water straight from the Butts.
Has anyone used them and could you please give me some advice on which to buy.
I wish to water round my plants rather than spray over everything.
Thank you in anticipation.
Allan
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edds
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Re: What water pump?

Post by edds »

Allan, what sort of vertical distance are you pumping from the top of water level in the butt to the highest plants? I assume you'll be pumping through standard diameter hose pipe? If so you'll have a fair bit of head from that too.

I wouldn't go for anything too expensive to start with as you'll only be using it every so often so would give something like this a go to start with. https://www.amazon.co.uk/BARST-Hydropon ... 28767&th=1
This has a nearly 2m head. Bear in mind that will give you zero flow at that height so if you're not sure that's enough go to larger flow rate.

Fit a cheap ball valve you can quickly close near the hose end to shut off the water and throttle back the flow if it is too high (something like this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/sourcing-map-C ... 6787&psc=1)

Once you are happy this works for you, if that cheap pump gives up the ghost after a couple of years you can get a better quality one to replace it.
Ed

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Tina
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Re: What water pump?

Post by Tina »

Have a search for water butt pump, I think mine is a karcher but cheaper models available
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AllanA
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Re: What water pump?

Post by AllanA »

Hi Tina,thank you, it was the first thing I did and found 40-50 pumps. Not knowing anything about them, I asked on here .
Thanks again for replying.
Allan
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AllanA
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Re: What water pump?

Post by AllanA »

Hi Edds, thank you for your reply. Does the pump you illustrated need a filter or is it built in?
I am pumping about 3ft above max water level and about 7ft above lowest water level.
Thanks for the tip about the ball valve.
Allan
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edds
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Re: What water pump?

Post by edds »

AllanA wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:04 pm Hi Edds, thank you for your reply. Does the pump you illustrated need a filter or is it built in?
I am pumping about 3ft above max water level and about 7ft above lowest water level.
Thanks for the tip about the ball valve.
I have one at home and the inlet has a very basic strainer that keeps larger particles out (leaves for example) and anything that goes through will get pumped. If the water had lots of leaves in it I'd get a different pump to be honest.

I'd get a pump that can do at least 8ft head, probably more. This may be rated at 2,000lph but the performance curves flatten off rapidly as the head increases and closing the valve effectively just increases the head. Do make sure you don't leave it running for long with the valve shut as water flowing through the pumps helps cool them (though submerged in a water butt it won't be too big an issue for a few minutes at a time).

Or go with the water butt pump if you can find one for a decent price as Tina suggested - they are designed for the job!
Ed

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uzbeck
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Re: What water pump?

Post by uzbeck »

I would be very wary of Hozelock water butt pumps if I were you. A gasket on my 3 year old pump has failed and Hozelock say they do not sell spares or know anyone who does. Suggested I buy a dud one (?) from Gumtree for parts. Hozelock customer services agreed that I now have £70 worth of junk!!!
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Re: What water pump?

Post by habanerocat »

I put in a similar system recently to pump away excess water from my greenhouse. I was reluctant to post as the built in RCD in the mains plug of the system failed after a few days. Not much pumping going on at the moment obviously but other than that it has worked fine over the summer.

It's a TTB582PMP from Screwfix.
https://www.screwfix.ie/p/titan-ttb582p ... stid=49243
IMG_3722a.jpg
IMG_3721a.jpg
I've attached a standard garden hose to the pump using one of those old style jubilee adaptors. The head height isn't a problem but you'd need to control the flow rate as posted above. They have a cheaper one with lower specs but I was afraid it mightn't work with my hose and head height.

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/titan-ttb583p ... pump/65041

These are 'dirty water pumps' so leaves and the like shouldn't be a problem. I originally tried it with a flat hose but that was a disaster altogether. It leaves about 2-3 inches in the sump. I see no reason why you couldn't make this a portable system, moving from barrel to barrel.
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