I want to use well in garden to water plants

dllive

Hi all

I have a well in the garden (15 feet deep; water level is 5 feet below ground). Ideally I would use this water for all my grey water, but this will be a bigger job than I want to do at the moment.

In the meantime I want to use this water to water the garden with. Ive seen products such as Hozelock's water butt pump (unfortunate name!) But I dont think its going to be powerful enough. They do some others such as https://!!!!!!!.com/y3lsrmum but I dont know if theyre designed for this purpose.

I just need a pump I can plug into extension; connect to a hose; lower in the well.

Long shot: Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup?

Thanks!

TheBiggestBadger

Do a google search for submersible pumps. That should sort you out

dllive

Thanks. So these submersible pumps you can just stick a hose on? (I dont want to buy one and find I cant use it. Ive noticed that you cant return these pumps).

FreeBear

Two things to watch out for - The "head" or how high the pump will pump water up to. Also the size of hose 1" or 1¼" are the usual sizes used.

stator

Most submerssible pumps will have a hose tail that can connect various sized hoses and also a threaded part that you can connect a 1" BSP hoselock / other brand adapter to.



In your situation head height is the most important feature of the pump, 5m is very high and most pumps won't handle that.

snowcat75

I run my garden (and partially the house)on a Victorian well.

A standard submersible will be no good unless you want to pump low pressure to a header tank, they cant cope with the head height and your end up with no pressure at the business end (remember flow is different to pressure)

What your need is a proper borehole/well pump the major difference is these run multiple impellers to provide flow and pressure, mine came from Germany relatively inexpensive with pressure and flow switch, electric connection box with thermal override and inline filter, I then piped up 1" steel pipe.

Sounds complex but its not and the system works really well (pardon the pun) I wanted something my wife could turn the tap and it would work overwise I knew it wouldn't get used.


There is some discussion here



and a few pictures in here where you can see the pumping head etc.

coffeehound

OP you could probably use a pump like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192840286011

20 metre head and up to 30 L/min. £27 delivered looks reasonable. You would also need 1" threaded hose connectors and some sort of strainer to go on the end of the hose length you drop into the well.

Relatives use a larger 3/4 hp pump like this to take water up to a loft cistern via a filter system for domestic water use, controlled by a float switch in the cistern. The pumps last about 10 years in that role.

Ganga

coffeehound wrote: »

OP you could probably use a pump like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192840286011

20 metre head and up to 30 L/min. £27 delivered looks reasonable. You would also need 1" threaded hose connectors and some sort of strainer to go on the end of the hose length you drop into the well.

Relatives use a larger 3/4 hp pump like this to take water up to a loft cistern via a filter system for domestic water use, controlled by a float switch in the cistern. The pumps last about 10 years in that role.

Were would you mount this pump? it cannot be used underwater and would need priming if not used a lot,better getting a submersible,as the water is only 5 ft below ground level should be able to purchase a decent high volume pump with a float switch so as not to run dry if left on to long ( do not know how long it takes the well to refill if a lot of water taken out )

coffeehound

Ganga wrote: »

Were would you mount this pump? it cannot be used underwater and would need priming if not used a lot,better getting a submersible,as the water is only 5 ft below ground level should be able to purchase a decent high volume pump with a float switch so as not to run dry if left on to long ( do not know how long it takes the well to refill if a lot of water taken out )

For running a hosepipe, it could just sit on the ground near the well. Yes it would require priming either by connecting to a tap to run some water through before fitting, or by undoing the screw-cap and pouring water in from a jug. You then just need to connect enough hose to dip a couple of feet into the water, with the strainer on the end.

Most wells have mud, silt or sand at the bottom so you really wouldn't want a submersible sitting on the bottom dredging that and trying to send it up the pipe. It might work okay if you suspended such a pump a few feet below the water surface I guess.

Another thing I meant to say is that the suggested pump might well work for the OP's future grey-water project, too.

snowcat75

coffeehound wrote: »

OP you could probably use a pump like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192840286011

20 metre head and up to 30 L/min. £27 delivered looks reasonable. You would also need 1" threaded hose connectors and some sort of strainer to go on the end of the hose length you drop into the well.

Relatives use a larger 3/4 hp pump like this to take water up to a loft cistern via a filter system for domestic water use, controlled by a float switch in the cistern. The pumps last about 10 years in that role.

That pump is a clean water pump, wells contain a fair amount of silt (depending on where there filling from), and as with a domestic submersible the seals can be taken out within a few hours of running, Plus the head required even with a foot valve (non return) will make it absolute pig to prime.

Ganga wrote: »

Were would you mount this pump? it cannot be used underwater and would need priming if not used a lot,better getting a submersible,as the water is only 5 ft below ground level should be able to purchase a decent high volume pump with a float switch so as not to run dry if left on to long ( do not know how long it takes the well to refill if a lot of water taken out )

Water in the top of wells is ground fill and would be pulled down extremely quickly, the fill is from the water table, to give example I'm pulling from around 2.5 to 3m down at the moment pumps mounted at 4m and I have about 6+m of total depth, As iv said through experience to do the job properly you need a borehole pump which start from around £100.


The other thing that needs consideration is that the job should be done so that the well has a decent cover that CANNOT be opened by children the implications of falling 20' into a well are not worth thinking about, mines covered by braced 1/2" steel plate with a 300x300mm access hole for inspection and to service the pump which is lockable all pipes are internal and buried so no one can ever get in which helps me sleep at night;)

dllive

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful.

Im starting from square one, so please bare with me:

1) What do you mean 'priming' the pump?
2) For now, I just need a basic submersible pump that I can attach my hose to. Its only going to be used in the summer months to water the garden with.
3) Would it help if I uploaded some photos to give you a better idea of what Im working with? I can do this tomorrow.

Many thanks