Some bilge pump advice, please?

[PEJ]

I know that there are a lot of clever folks on here and I seek advice on bilge pumps but for a non boaty problem.

I want to pump water out of a stream in to a 1000 litre container in a remote location with no mains power but I do have a tractor. I figured that if I could hook a bilge pump to the battery terminals of the tractor I could pump the water out of the stream. Do you think it would work?

The stream is about 4ft below ground level and the top of the container is about 4ft high, so it needs to pump uphill about 8ft. The tractor battery is 12v but if I need 24v and we are sure it will work I'll get two new 12v batteries.

There is no great hurry to fill the container but under an hour would be good so a minimum flow of 17 litres per minute would be nice.

What do we think?

 

[volvopaul]

I know that there are a lot of clever folks on here and I seek advice on bilge pumps but for a non boaty problem.

I want to pump water out of a stream in to a 1000 litre container in a remote location with no mains power but I do have a tractor. I figured that if I could hook a bilge pump to the battery terminals of the tractor I could pump the water out of the stream. Do you think it would work?

The stream is about 4ft below ground level and the top of the container is about 4ft high, so it needs to pump uphill about 8ft. The tractor battery is 12v but if I need 24v and we are sure it will work I'll get two new 12v batteries.

There is no great hurry to fill the container but under an hour would be good so a minimum flow of 17 litres per minute would be nice.

What do we think?

Hi Peter I’d have a look at machine mart .
Or a simple p t o pump off the back of the tractor , look on vapormatic site

 

[markc]

Sorry for not answering your question (although Paul's answer looks good), but will you need a licence to take water from a stream?

edit - I answered my own question via Google - licence needed only if you take more than 20 cubic metres per day - you'd need a pretty big bilge pump for that!

 

[volvopaul]

Sorry for not answering your question (although Paul's answer looks good), but will you need a licence to take water from a stream?

I bet he owns the stream .

Sarcastic question peter but wouldn’t a pool store pump work?

 

[markc]

I bet he owns the stream .

But not the water in it

 

[stelican]

Hire a 2 Polish men with a 10 litre bucket have it done in a couple of hours

 

[vas]

don't see why it wont work as others said, however, make sure you have a settled area/pool within the stream to place your pump. I mean you wont get much water if there's a fast flow as pump will be sucking lots of air in there...

 

[Mr Googler]

How about an inverter then use a 240v scavenger/submersible pump?

You need something that won’t clog up with the odd twig/mud

 

[dj43]

Small gennerator, then you could run decent sized pump or just get a small petrol powered pump , depending how often you need to draw water ?

 

[PEJ]

Thanks for the answers so far.

I could take a generator down there and I could probably rig up one of my pool pumps but I thought a 12v pump would be small and easy to use. The PTO is attached to a high pressure land drain jetter that sucks the water out of tank #1 and the hope was that while I am jetting the drains the blige pump is busy filling tank#2 ready for the next operation.

The water ends up back in the stream having cleaned the land drain so I am not really extracting it I suppose.

 

[sarabande]

How frequently do you need to fill the IBC ? That really determines whether you go for a 12v water pump driven from the tractor electrics, or a 240v one from the genny, if your PTO is busy.

What's the gradient of the stream ? Could you put a length of 1inch alkathene in at a higher point, and let the water flow naturally ?


I have a hands on feeling the generator route would be best; this Makita is a 300W, and claims 140l/min, though that will reduce for a 3m head.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-PF0...id=1513117604&sr=8-2&keywords=240v+water+pump

 

[PEJ]

I have a hands on feeling the generator route would be best;

Yes, I think you are probably right. Plus the jetting needs doing in lots of locations, with a generator I can set up at the next location whilst working the current one.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[jrudge]

Was trying to find out how much loss you would get on a 3m head

Not sure - maybe half?

Found this article

http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/spages/how-to-specify-the-right-bilge-pump-for-your-vessel.htm

Sobering how much water can come in a small hole!

Does make me wonder that one engine should have a diverter as standard on the cooling intake as it would be able to ship huge volumes of water for the price of a valve.

There are problems I suppose - if it does a good job there will be no cooling water left!

 

[gordmac]

If go the bilge pump route get a decent one. The second last one I bought wouldn't pump from the bilge over the side, well under two meters!