Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi lovely people.
Looking for advice and water pumps for allotment. I get water from a stream so it is very hard work with 2 watering cans. I'm thinking of buying a water pump so looking for advice.

What type to look for?
Does anyone else use one and can recommend one to me?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated

Many thanks
Vee

I use a bilge pump from a boat , runs of 12 volts fits on the end of a hosepipe very little maintenance I use a battery from a scrap yard and a couple of small solar panels , depending on the height you are lifting the water depends on how fast your barrels will fill, I use mine in a sump hole I drilled in a corner of my plot that used to be a pond and flooded terrible I drilled an 8 inch diameter hole with an auger I bought the pump lifts the water around 8 to 10 feet no problem at all ,the pump cost me around £15 the same for the car battery although a leisure battery would be better solar panels around £25

I to use a bilge pump with 12volt battery attached to garden hose, great for shifting water from the water butt around the plot.

When water butts are dry use a black plastic dustbin on wheelbarrow to transfer water from tap to plot.

Ooooh I'm intrigued

The stream is about 15m away so the hose will be about 30m long. Will this bilge pump setup be strong enough for me?

Please may I have details of the bilge pump, battery and solar panels as this sounds like a great plan. I'll be looking to purchase these

Thanks so much for your help!

Have a look on eBay as the seller about the strength of the pump

I used this with 2 reals (25m) attached to each other for going around the plot and find the water power ok.

When I first gat this setup I used it to fill a water butt up with water from a ditch.

Hi Virago, The strength of bilge pumps is calibrated by the head height, ie. the difference between the water level being pumped from and the maximum height that it will pump to. Not by the length of hose you intend to use. Also the volume of water pumped in a minute or hour is normaly stated. Obviously the higher the GPH (gallons per hour) the better.
Hope this helps.
Regards D.

Thanks so much for information!

I've been looking at getting 1100gph bilge pump

Robo please may you give details of the solar panels and battery you have and where I may buy them.

Many thanks for all your advice and help!!

There is a Bosch Cordless Water pump system, bit pricy but if you already have other 18v items could be interesting.

I got the battery from a car scrap yard make sure they will exchange it if it’s a dud as you may have to go through a couple before you get one that’s ok, if you find that all works great and elevates your problem then invest in a leasure battery it’s doubt full you would get one from a car breakers but if there is a caravan breakers near by try them ,the solar panels I got off eBay I bought 2 I already had one to keep my car charged when I was away, I used to go to Spain a lot from anytime from three weeks to three months