Which Pump Do I Need?
UK Flow Centre buying guide
Choose a pump from the duty, not the horsepower
A pump needs to move the required amount of water at the required pressure and height. A bigger motor alone does not guarantee the right result.
1. Start with the job
2. Match the pump type to the water
- Clean-water transfer or irrigation: check the flow required at the working pressure.
- Tank boosting: consider water level, automatic control, dry-run protection and the outlet demand.
- Drainage or dirty water: check the permitted solids, the lift and the discharge route; do not assume a clean-water pump is suitable.
- Submersible or surface pump: choose around where the pump will physically sit and how it will be supplied with water.
Common mistake: do not select a pump only from its maximum flow or maximum head figure. Those are at opposite ends of the curve; the useful answer is what it can deliver at your actual duty.
3. Gather the five facts
- Water source and water condition.
- Required flow or number of outlets running together.
- Vertical lift from water level to discharge point.
- Pipe diameter, total length and major restrictions.
- Available electrical supply and preferred control method.
4. Plan the system around it
Also allow for suitable suction or delivery pipework, isolation, non-return protection where needed, filtration where appropriate, pressure control and electrical protection. The pump is one part of the system.
Quick choice
- Watering a few zones: establish the flow and pressure each zone needs first.
- Boosting a tank supply: start with the demand and the control method, not the largest pump available.
- Removing water: choose around the water condition, lift and discharge pipe size.
Technical guidance from UK Flow Centre, operated by JK Irrigation Ltd.