I need to pump water 250m from a dam to a trough up a hill (about 30m high). What sort of pump should I get?

Question

I have a WP30 pump that I want to use and have been told that it wont be able to do the job. I only need it to fill a trough a couple of times per week. Can I use this pump and, if not, why is it not suitable?

Answer 1

Below is a site that has a download to calculate pump head and flow needs. You will have a fairly sizable head to overcome given the distance and the vertical height.

Answer 2

just get a gas powered water pump. The one you have should do the trick as long as the hose is sturdy enough. You may need something a little stronger though to carry the water that far but give it a try anyway. good luck

Answer 3

Do you have a fall from the dam level? If you do, you could use a RAM PUMP, it uses no gas or electricity.

They are very simple to make

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB5X3vqo5...

It depends on how much water you need, but  YOU CAN MAKE IT! You just need a column, or head.

See hydraulic ram pump in wikipedia

Answer 4

The reason some may be saying pump won't work is what is called "head" or back-pressure on the pump.  Your pump is a  "high volume, low pressure" design and is good for moving lots of water but not lifting it much.

If you have the book that came with the pump look for a diagram that shows how much water the pump will move at a given head or lift -- you'll see the pump will move a lot of water at a low head but the volume will drop off rapidly as the head increases. (In other words, it will pump the water but will take forever to fill the trough)

If you are trying to lift the water 30m that is a fair amount of head on the pump so you'll need a pump designed to operate in a high head situation.

Or you can find out how high your pump will lift water and set up intermediate tanks and move the pump from one to another until you get the water to the top.

Answer 5

i would look at either an electric or diesel driven pump.....as a manually operated one would require quite a large amount of labour over a distance and head for your requirements