Features of selecting a pump for watering a vegetable garden depending on the source of water intake

Which brand should you prefer?

There is a large selection of domestic and imported pumps on the market for organizing irrigation in the garden. Russian brands offer a favorable ratio of quality and price, are moderately reliable and unpretentious in everyday use. Gilex brand products

, units from
UNIPUMP
. The devices are captivating with their simplicity of design and affordability.

Among the most reliable pumps are German brands Metabo

and
Karcher
.

Quattro Elementi

is trying to compete Gardena's flagship garden equipment .
The success of the brand is determined by its price advantage and good performance characteristics. As for pumps of the ZUBR
and
Vikhr
, they demonstrate a favorable combination of cost and operating parameters.
At the same time, the same Karcher, assembled in the Middle Kingdom, will still be “head and shoulders above”, since the Germans reserved quality control for themselves.

Types of electric water pumps

The domestic water pumping equipment market offers a wide range of pumps, many of which can be used for water supply from surface tanks. The following types of household electric pumps can be used for pumping from barrels:

Centrifugal surface (garden)

Centrifugal pumps are widely used in water supply systems of private houses; most often they serve as the main components of pumping stations that have a built-in hydraulic accumulator, pressure switch and pressure gauge. For barrel water intake, no additional equipment is required, and the electric pump is used without these elements, installed next to the reservoir and immersed in the pressure hose.

Since a surface electric pump is capable of sucking liquid from depths of up to 8 m and this height of the container is difficult to imagine on an individual site, a centrifugal external electric pump is suitable for irrigation from barrels in all cases. The models on the market are capable of providing a pressure of about 50 m or more, their maximum supply volume usually does not exceed 5 m3/h. Centrifugal surface electric pumps have an efficiency of about 55% and work mainly with clean or slightly turbid water.

Types of well pumps

Submersible borehole (well) electric pumps

For borehole water intake, household multi-stage deep-well electric pumps of a centrifugal operating principle are used, capable of pumping water with a pressure of up to 300 m with supply volumes of up to 20 m3/h. The efficiency among analogues is maximum and reaches 65% in expensive modifications from the world's leading manufacturers (Grundfos).

Also in the trading network are vortex and screw well units with more modest characteristics: maximum pressure up to 100 m, the supply volume of screw ones does not exceed 10 m3/h, for vortex ones it does not reach 5 m3/h, the efficiency of two varieties is not more than 50%.

All of the above units have a high cost and are used for constant water supply to houses with three to five people living (the volume of water supplied is 3 - 5 m3/h), that is, they are capable of pumping on average about 70 liters of liquid per minute and supplying it over many hundreds of meters . It is clear that such pumping volumes and distances are more suitable for watering large areas in agriculture, so their use in everyday life is irrational and economically unprofitable.

The retail network sells varieties of centrifugal, screw and vortex electric pumps with a float switch, designed for drawing water from well sources; they have parameters similar to well types, in the direction of some reduction, but are also too expensive and ineffective when drawing water from surface reservoirs for irrigation.

Drainage pumps

Drainage submersible units

Another modification of electric pumps that can be used for irrigation only as a last resort is submersible drainage pumps, designed to operate in heavily polluted environments. Since the working mechanism has too large gaps for the passage of large particles and, accordingly, high hydraulic losses, these units are absolutely unsuitable for working with clean water due to low efficiency (very low efficiency).

Vibrating

Inexpensive, low-power pumps with a vibration operating principle push water by moving a piston located on the armature of an electromagnetic coil; they are more represented on the market than other types; in addition to domestic manufacturers, the product is supplied from China and the former CIS countries - Belarus, Ukraine. The maximum supply volume of vibration units does not exceed 1.5 m3/h, the pressure reaches 80 m (standard 40 m), the efficiency is quite low and is about 35%.

Since the low price is complemented by rather modest technical parameters, vibration models are widely used in households for various purposes, the main of which are watering garden plots and filling containers with water. The disadvantages of vibration models, in addition to low productivity, are the low quality of workmanship of many brands, the absence of a float switch that stops the pump when the water in the container runs out. Sometimes the volume of water supplied by the unit for irrigation of even medium-sized areas is too small (the nominal operating supply parameter is usually 1.5 times lower, and taking into account the low quality of such products, it is actually about 0.5 - 0.8 m3/h).

Vibration pump - device

Special pumps for irrigation from a barrel

Leading foreign and domestic manufacturers of pumping equipment have developed special models of electric pumps designed for drawing water from surface tanks. For these purposes, a high pressure of the unit that sucks water from surface reservoirs is not needed, because when calculating, 10 m of a horizontally located pipeline corresponds to 1 m of its vertical length (for rigid-walled polymer pipelines with a diameter of 1 inch). In addition, the absence of various fittings, bends, tees and other elements of plumbing fittings on a straight hose reduces hydraulic losses and, accordingly, does not require additional pressure to overcome them.

The supply volume plays a more important role and in barrel types it approaches the limit value of 5 m3/h, and since the lack of water in the irrigation tank is a common occurrence, all models are equipped with a float switch with adjustable immersion level.

Leading manufacturers of electric drum pumps often equip their products with the following additional accessories:

• A gun with a water shut-off button (aquastop) and nozzles that allow you to regulate the flow from a hard, narrowly directed jet to aerosol dust.
• Adapters for changing from 3/4" to 1/2" sizes.
• Watering hoses and connecting connectors for attaching the hose with one click.
• Telescopic clamp on the edge of the barrel with a flexible clamp, allowing you to change the depth of immersion of the pump into the tank.
• A float switch with an adjustment unit for turning off the device at different levels of water in the barrel, a convenient rotary lever for turning the unit on and off on the handle.
• A filter integrated into the electric pump that protects its mechanism from the penetration of large dirt particles.

Compared to other types of electric pumps, barrel pumps have rather modest basic characteristics: in standard models, the pressure does not exceed 15 m, and the supply volume is 5 m3/h.

Barrel pumps

Choosing a pump for garden irrigation

When choosing a pump for irrigation, in addition to the manufacturer’s brand and cost, owners pay attention to a number of key characteristics:

Typical design.

It is largely determined by the fact where the water intake will come from. There are barrel, submersible and surface pumps. The latter option is optimal for pumping water from large containers. Drainage devices have shown themselves to be excellent in wells and reservoirs. At the same time, pumps designed for pumping out barrels have the most modest performance.

Suction depth.

It is important when supplying water from wells and natural reservoirs.

Pressure

If the site has elevation changes or you plan to connect the pump to an extensive irrigation system, this characteristic plays a key role in ensuring a reliable supply of water to the garden.

Performance.

It also affects the quality of land reclamation. Supplying large volumes of water is optimal for watering trees in the garden and collecting containers for settling water. This parameter is also important when using several sprinklers at once in a garden plot.

Main selection criteria

When purchasing any electric pump for irrigation and other purposes, the buyer is faced with a description of its main technical characteristics, according to which he must choose the appropriate model. The passport data for pumping equipment always contains the following information:

• Maximum pressure . Shows the limiting height of the water column that a working electric pump can hold, indicated in meters. When carrying out calculations, a vertical column is often converted into a horizontal distance; the coefficient depends on the material of the pipeline and is proportional to its dimensions.
• Feed volume . Indicates the amount of liquid that the pump pumps out per unit of time; the standard indicator is calculated in cubic meters per hour; indicators in liters per minute or second are often used.
• Immersion depth . The indicator is used to indicate the parameters of different types of electric pumps in relation to the surface of the earth: for deep pumps, it means the maximum distance to which its body is allowed to be lowered under the water surface. If a surface model is used, the immersion depth indicates from what distance from the soil surface it is capable of sucking up water, in which case the maximum value rarely exceeds 8 m.
• The size of the particles passed through. The water from the source is not always clean, and if rainwater is collected for economic purposes or open reservoirs are used, there is a high probability that it contains small suspended particles in the form of turbidity. There are electric pumps on the market that are designed only to work with a clean aquatic environment, but there are modifications that can also work in a turbid environment.

Few buyers pay attention to this factor; many purchase units that are not too demanding on water purity to be on the safe side. It should be noted that in this case, the efficiency of the device, due to the increased gaps for the passage of large particles, will be lower than in models designed for collecting clear water.

Internal structure of a garden pump

• Power. Power is directly related to the pressure and performance of the pump and increases as they increase.

Tip: A thoughtful buyer can save some money on energy consumption by comparing units from different brands with the same pressure and pumping volume parameters. A model with reduced power with the same volume-pressure characteristics has a correspondingly higher efficiency.

• Temperature of the working environment . Almost all electric pumps are designed to pump water with a temperature of no more than +35 °C, which is not found in natural water sources; this factor only indicates that the unit should not pump hot water.
• Idling protection. An important function for submersible electric pumps (surface pumps, due to their large dimensions and air cooling, can operate for a long time without liquid), ensuring the safety of their windings in case of overheating without water cooling.

If a budget vibrating submersible electric pump does not have an internal shutdown relay when the winding overheats, without an aquatic environment it will definitely burn out and the unit cannot be restored.

A barrel pump with a float also needs protection, which turns it off in the absence of water - when the float switch gets caught on the walls of the tank and does not go down, the winding of an expensive electric pump without an internal relay will burn out, and replacing it will become economically impractical - the unit will have to be disposed of.

Classification

Submersible screw pump for well

According to the principle of operation, pumps are:

• Manual. It is put into operation using physical influence. It is inexpensive and easy to operate. Used when there is no electricity at the dacha. The disadvantage is the need for physical labor. It is almost impossible to use such pumps for watering a garden, although this mechanism is completely independent of the power source.
• Electric. Operates using electric current. A very productive unit, capable of pumping up to 200 liters of water in one minute. Electric pumps are efficient and have a long service life thanks to protective systems that protect them from overheating and fire.
• Pneumatic. It is activated under the influence of compressed air. Such a unit does not depend on the availability of an electrical network and is capable of pumping from 50 to 150 liters of water in one minute.

Manufacturers

An interesting trend is observed in the domestic market of barrel and garden electric pumps for irrigation - in the retail network it is impossible to find products from world-famous manufacturers of pumping equipment for individual water supply (Grundfos, Pedrollo, Wilo, Speroni).

Also, a number of the largest Russian manufacturers of electric pumps do not produce models of this series for various reasons, so the unconditional leadership in the market of pumping equipment for gardening belongs to the largest German concerns with a high rating - Karcher, Gardena, Al-ko.

Each of the companies is well known in the world as a supplier of high-quality equipment and tools for garden care in a wide range. Karcher has won worldwide recognition and positive feedback from domestic consumers thanks to its extensive line of vacuum cleaners and steam cleaners for domestic and industrial use. Al-ko, in addition to the production of garden equipment, produces components for the largest German automobile concerns and manufactures ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Of the Russian models in the retail chain, you can buy barrel pumps with the brands Belamos, Zubr, Stavr, Unipump, it is clear that their cost is two to three times lower than their foreign analogues, products from lesser-known companies Quattro Elementi, Grinda are less common.

With limited financial resources, most owners of dachas and cottages use vibration pumps for irrigation, which are characterized by low cost and low parameters. The market offers a huge range of products from Russian, Chinese, Belarusian, Ukrainian (currently unknown) manufacturers; consumers are well familiar with brands such as Malysh, Rucheek, Vikhr, Zubr, which have approximately the same characteristics.

Brief overview of popular models

In addition to pure barrel submersible pumps, many homeowners also use garden pumps, with which they water from containers. Garden types operate on a centrifugal principle and differ from submersible barrel ones in higher productivity. When choosing a pump for a 200 liter barrel for irrigation or pumping water from a tank of another capacity, many users opt for budget vibration pumps of domestic and foreign production, characterized by their simplicity of design and unpretentiousness in operation.

• Karcher BP 1 Barrel (4500 RUR) - a barrel submersible unit with a maximum productivity of 3.8 m3/h and a delivery height of 11 m, power is 400 W, Karcher BP 1 Barrel Set, complete with a hose, a gun and various connecting connectors, costs about 7000 rub. All modifications are equipped with a float switch and built-in idling protection; they are installed vertically in the tank in a suspended state, thanks to fixation on the edge of the barrel with a curved holder.
• Karcher BP 4 Garden Set (RUB 10,000) - a surface garden pump, the latest representative of the BP line, with the highest power of 1000 W with a maximum flow volume of 4 m3/h and a head of 45 m; the other two models in this series have lower characteristics . The Karcher pump for irrigation from a barrel BP 3 creates a pressure of 40 m with a productivity of 3.5 m3/h (5300 rubles), parameters BP2 - 35 m3 and 3 m3/h (6400 rubles), respectively.

All units are designed for pumping clean water, are capable of sucking water from depths of up to 8 m, operate silently, and the diameter of the outlet pipe for connecting the hose is 1 inch.

Gardena 4000/2 Classic and Al-Ko Jet 3000 Classic

• Gardena 4000/2 Classic (5300 rub.) - a barrel submersible pump designed for drawing water from various types of containers, its maximum head is 20 m, productivity is 4 m3/h with an energy consumption of 500 W, like all analogs, the Gardena pump stops watering when when the built-in float switch or internal dry-running protection relay is activated. A distinctive feature of the Gardena 4000/2 electric pump is the presence of 2 impellers and, accordingly, stages that increase the outlet pressure, resulting in this parameter being the highest among representatives of its class.
• Al-Ko Jet 3000 Classic (RUB 5,500) is a surface garden electric pump with a maximum head of 35 m and a productivity of 3.1 m3 / h, consumes 650 W of electricity, is equipped with a standard 1-inch outlet pipe and is capable of supplying water from a depth of 8 m. Alco is silent and is designed to pump only clean water; the approximate weight of the unit is 6.4 kg.

Pumps Zubr ZNPB-300, Belamos Omega 350 LX

• Bison ZNPB-300 (RUB 3,000) is a submersible drainage pump for supplying contaminated (rain) water with a particle diameter of no more than 0.5 mm from tanks, the maximum pressure and supply volume are 9 and 2.46 cubic meters. m3/h, respectively, the unit consumes power 300 W. The pump has a built-in float switch to turn off the power supply when the water level drops, there is internal protection against dry running, the diameter of the outlet pipe is 3/4 inches, and there is a curved telescopic rod for easy hanging from the edge of the tank.
• Belamos Omega 350 LX (RUB 2,700) is one of the budget models of a submersible electric pump, designed for drainage and irrigation from a barrel, has a maximum head of 10 m with a productivity of 3 m3/h, power of 350 W. The unit can pass particles with a diameter of up to 0.05 mm, has a telescopic rod for hanging, is equipped with a float switch and internal idling protection.
• Livgidromash Malysh BV-0.12-40-U5 10 m (1500 rubles) is a budget vibrating submersible pump for an irrigation barrel, which is often used by homeowners when drawing water from reservoirs and irrigating their garden plots. The unit has standard pressure and pumping volume for its class of 40 m3/h and 1.5 m3/h, respectively, power consumption does not exceed 240 W, immersion depth under the water surface is no more than 3 m. Since all vibration models are not afraid of turbid water (exception are liquids containing sand), they are often used for pumping rainwater from reservoirs for watering the garden.

There are several more models on the market with the same name from different manufacturers, they all have the same parameters, design with minor changes and differ from each other in cost.

Varieties of the Malysh brand

Three categories of electric pumps are best suited for organizing irrigation from a barrel: surface garden, barrel and vibration; each type has its own characteristics and a different niche of application.

Garden units with a centrifugal operating principle make it possible to irrigate places furthest from a water source; barrel pumps for watering a vegetable garden are easy to use, more suitable for immersion in tanks and are designed for irrigating medium-sized areas.

The advantage of vibrating types is their low cost, with their help it is practical to water small areas, but when carrying out work, constant supervision is required - budget models are not equipped with a float switch, many do not have protection against dry running - these circumstances often lead to burnout of the winding and the inability to restore the functionality of the pump .

Application

Barrel pumps are most often used for watering a garden, flower bed, lawn or vegetable garden. Many plants prefer warm, settled water for irrigation instead of cold water from a well. If there is no need to set up an irrigation system, then you can use a simple and quick method of watering using a pump from a barrel. The installation of an irrigation system consists of several steps:

1. A container is installed to store water; it can be a special container or any barrel available;
2. The container is filled with water from a well or rainwater;
3. The pump is immersed in a full barrel, and if it is a surface unit, it is installed in a designated area. The submersible pump remote control is mounted on the wall of the tank.
4. Flexible hoses of the required length are connected to the pump, and a watering can is attached.
5. Connection to the electrical network is in progress.

Barrel for irrigation system

Installation

To install the irrigation system you will need:

• irrigation pump;
• barrel;
• flexible hose of sufficient length;
• taps and fittings;
• watering can or sprinkler.

The installation technology requires the following steps:

1. Installation of a storage tank. Depending on the type of pump and irrigation system, the tank is installed on a hill, at ground level, or below ground level. A tank for a drip heating system is installed on a hill. A tank for an external pump is placed in the ground. A reservoir for a submersible pump is installed at ground level.
2. A pump with the appropriate power for the irrigation system is installed.
3. To regulate the filling of the tank, a float sensor is installed in it, which turns on the pump when the tank is empty and turns off when it is full. If the pump is connected to the water supply system, it cannot be turned off. In this case, the float regulates the operation of the valve, which closes when filling and opens when the tank is empty.
4. Pipe distribution for the irrigation system is installed using fittings and taps, or flexible hoses are connected for manual watering.

Important design features

• Draining. The design must allow water to be completely drained so that frost does not damage the equipment.
• The thickness of the water layer at which the equipment can operate (for submersible pumps). Some models work even with a layer thickness of 1 cm. This is important when pumping barrels, pits and pools.
• Filter on the inlet pipe. Detains contamination and extends equipment life.

Calculation of pressure and productivity

The required height of the water column and the supply volume are the two main characteristics by which any electric pump is selected; to determine these parameters, you can use online calculators from the Internet. It is not difficult to determine these values ​​yourself using simple calculation formulas.

Determination of pressure

The pressure is indicated in the passport data in units of water column, 10 m is approximately equal to the following technical units of measurement: 1 bar, 1 atmosphere (atm.), 0.1 megapascal (MPa.)

The determined pressure of any electric pump for supplying water consists of the following components:

1. Differences in levels between water intake and irrigation points . When a water tank is installed on the surface of the earth, and in some cases even higher, this distance is not taken into account in the calculations and can be considered equal to zero.

2. Hydraulic resistance line . The parameter is directly related to the diameter of the pressure hose - the smaller it is, the greater the resistance to the flow of the hose walls. Also an important role is played by the material of the hose (in flexible and elastic ones, the hydraulic resistance to flow is higher than in rigid, smooth-walled ones) and the quality of the inner surface of the walls - it is clear that in smoother ones, the obstacle to flow is of minimal importance.

For approximate calculations, the following relationship is used: in flexible hoses with a cross-section of 1 inch (25 mm), the flow resistance is taken equal to 2 m per 10 linear meters of length; if the diameter of the pressure hose is 3/4 inch (19 mm), the pressure drop over a segment of 10 m is taken equal to 3 m; with a 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) section the drop is 5 m.

3. Output flow forces. For the correct operation of the extreme units, which provide irrigation over a certain distance with liquid dispersion, it is necessary that a certain pressure be present at the end point of the hose - the higher it is, the greater the length of the water jet that can be applied. For most watering devices, a pressure of 1 bar is sufficient, but if desired, you can make a pressure reserve of up to 2 bar.

Based on the above reasoning, we calculate the pressure that an electric pump should provide when supplying water at a distance of 20 m with a typical 3/4-inch hose (hydraulic loss 3 m per 10 m length), the pressure in the spray gun is taken equal to 1 atm. (10 m). The final calculation formula is as follows:

H = 6 + 10 = 16 (m)

Using the above formula, the nominal indicator is calculated, the maximum value from the passport data on average exceeds this figure by one and a half times, that is, when choosing, you should purchase a device with a maximum pressure of 24 m. For barrel pumps, this is a fairly high value, so when purchasing the most productive unit with an indicator At about 20 m the outlet pressure will be slightly below 1 atmosphere.

If the pressure of the barrel pump is not sufficient to irrigate long beds, the best option is to purchase a more powerful surface centrifugal pump, for example, the KARCHER BP 4 Garden Set garden variety has a maximum column height of 45 m with a productivity of 4 m3/h.

Construction of drainage pumps - barrel analogues

Determination of pumping volume

In accordance with the generally accepted standard, irrigating one square meter of garden requires from 3 to 6 liters of water, and watering should not take too much time from the gardener. For example, let’s calculate what the productivity of a pump should be for irrigating a standard plot of 10 acres (100 x 100 m) with a vegetable garden of 5 acres measuring 25x20 m (the other 5 acres are occupied by a house and outbuildings). The final formula looks like this:

Q = 5 l x 500 m = 2500 l

Let’s assume that we plan to spend half an hour watering this area, as a result we get the required volume of electric pump supply:

Qn = 2500 l /30 min = 83 l/m or 5 m3/h

This is the limiting indicator not only for barrel pumps, but also for many powerful well pumps; the operating value will be 1.5 times lower. Therefore, if the owner of the site purchases the most powerful barrel pump, its actual working volume of pumping will be no more than 3.5 m3/h and will have to come to terms with the fact that irrigating beds with an area of ​​5 acres will take one and a half times longer than the expected time (about 45 minutes) .

Typically, the pump is selected based on the calculated nominal values ​​of flow and pressure, combining both points on the graph of the pressure characteristics of the selected series of electric pumps with horizontal and vertical lines until they intersect with one of the curves - it will be a specific suitable modification.

If we consider the characteristics of a pump defined above with a nominal pumping volume of 3.5 m3/h and a pressure of 16 m and choose a device from Karcher products, then the most suitable is the centrifugal electric pump for the garden of the Karcher BP 4 Garden brand, the curve of the volume-pressure characteristics of which is closer others to the point of intersection of the found values.

Graph of pressure-volume characteristics of Karcher BP 2 - 4 Garden