Water Pumps: What "Head" and "Lift"?

Question

I was looking at a water pump and the specs said 110 Foot Max. Total Head and 20 Foot Max. Suction Lift. Can someone please explain this? Thanks.

Answer 1

Head is the height over the pump location that a pump can push water, suction lift is the depth it can lift it from. Picture a 130' well with the pump 20' from the bottom and 110' from the top- in that case it will pump it... but without a volume factor (how much is going to flow) it's impossible to determine whether you'll get a trickle or a flow with those conditions.The store or manufacturer should be able to supply that info. Also the heights are relevant to sea level (or actual location above sea level) not necessarily the pipe length.