Well pump - which is the best to choose
Providing a country house with water is one of the primary tasks for creating more or less suitable living conditions, since you cannot bring a lot of water into the house yourself, especially for everyday use. The easiest way to get access to water is to dig a well, but another problem arises here, expressed in a dilemma such as "which pump for the well to pick up". Easy access to water is vital for any home where you plan to live throughout the year. Therefore, it is also necessary to approach the choice of a pump for a well wisely.
Naturally, only one thing is important for an ordinary person: the well should simply provide water, no matter what way it will happen. But, depending on the location of the house, the conditions under which the pumping of liquid from the depths will take place also seriously change.
How to choose a pump for a well - the necessary information
So, in order to choose a pump, you need to consider:
- Distance from the point of entry to the bottom of the well. An ordinary rope with a tied weight is sufficient for measurement. In the case of country collapsible water pipes, the measurement is usually made from the upper edge of the head, since the hose through which the water is supplied passes through it. Permanent water pipes are measured a little differently: from the point of entry down to the bottom.
- "Mirror of water" or static level. This refers to the distance from the ground to the water in the well. You can measure it yourself. To do this, you need to tie a weighty nut with two ropes to opposite walls so that when the nut comes into contact with water, it makes a sound that resembles a cotton.
- Dynamic level. Determined by the method indicated above, but with one feature - water is pumped out before measurement. In the case of a static indicator, this cannot be done.
- The full height of the well. By adding the heights used in the construction of the rings, you can get this value.
- Site plan with dimensions. It can be hand-drawn, as long as there are precise distances. It is necessary in order to determine the distance from the water intake point to the water intake points.
- The height of the water column. It is equal to the height between the bottom and the dynamic level.
- Difference between static and dynamic level response. To find the well flow rate, you need to know this value.
- Water pollution. It is necessary to determine exactly what kind of water is in the well. It may be clean or slightly suspended.
It is also necessary to know the condition of the soil at the bottom. In some cases, visual observations alone may not be enough. Therefore, additional laboratory tests will be needed.
What you need to know before buying
To be sure exactly which pump to choose so that it meets absolutely all requirements, it is worth answering a few small questions before buying:
- What will the pump be used for? It is possible that it will be used purely to provide liquid to the garden area. The pump will become the main supplier of water to the house, where it will always be required a lot.
- What water pressure should be provided by a pump for a well based on all needs.
With this approach, it will become easier to choose the appropriate option after performing relatively simple calculations.
What else needs to be considered
There are a couple more things to consider when choosing the right pump for a well.
The pump capacity (flow rate) is the amount of water that the pump can pump over per unit of time. It is usually measured in liters per second, or cubic meters per hour.
As a rule, it is recommended to select a pump based on the calculation of the maximum water consumption in the house, that is, when sinks, baths, showers, washing machines and dishwashers are turned on.
Estimated consumption rates of 1000 liters per person per hour are often quoted.
It should be borne in mind that such tables are compiled for large industrial enterprises or apartment buildings. In the case of a suburban home, the picture is somewhat different. You need to focus on the flow rate of the well, since in an hour it is quite capable of being less than the pump performance. In this case, a water accumulator must be provided in the water supply system - a container with a volume exceeding the daily water consumption in the house. Then a pump with a low capacity will fill this container, and already from it water will begin to flow into the house.
What affects the head and efficiency of the pump
Pump head is an important detail to consider. Since the pump itself is a hydraulic machine that converts energy, as a result of its operation, kinetic energy is created, which is called pressure. It is measured in meters. Moreover, during the calculations, only the vertical movement of water is taken into account or how much the vertical pipe is filled, which is connected to the pump outlet.
Pressure is closely related to pressure - after all, hardly anyone wants to use a shower, from where water will flow weakly.
For standard water supply systems, the operating pressure is from 1.5 to 3 atmospheres.
It is spent on overcoming hydraulic resistance: friction against pipe walls, turns, horizontal movement, creating a jet of a certain power in the mixer. This working pressure is entirely dependent on the pump head, with every 10 m of lift equal to one atmosphere. As a result, if the pump manufacturer specifies the maximum water rise height of 50 m, then this means that the liquid can rise to a height of 50 m, or 5 atmospheres is created at the pump outlet. The required 3 atmospheres will be created at a height of 20 m.
The comfortable pressure level at the end point should be 1.5-2 atmospheres.
The overall pump efficiency will also depend on the rest of the system: if there are a lot of turns, contractions and extensions plumbing the efficiency of the entire system decreases.
About electricity
One of the first things to do before buying a pump is to find out its electrical parameters. They must be taken into account to create a power line that will be able to withstand the load without interruption. And this is likely to be required by a dedicated machine. Also, some equipment can be very demanding on the stability of the supplied voltage. Because of this, it will be necessary to install a stabilizer to prevent water supply problems and to avoid potential early equipment breakdown.
How to choose a pump for a well - what options are worth paying attention to
There are several different types of pumps and they are all designed to perform the same task, but in different conditions. The final choice will depend on the location of the house, sea level and other parameters.
It is worth knowing that the pump does not suck in water, but makes a vacuum in the chamber of its body, after which the water is literally "pushed" there by atmospheric pressure.
From this and "follow" some features that must be considered when choosing the type of pump.
Surface well pumps
Surface pumps are usually only used during the summer. However, they cannot lift water from great depths (maximum 10.3 meters under absolutely ideal conditions). Naturally, in reality, everything is much more complicated. Therefore, manufacturers usually indicate 9 meters as the effective depth. When installing, it is necessary to count on an even lower value, about 6 meters under good conditions, up to 8 meters, depending on the equipment purchased and the location of the house. Surface pumps can be used for water intake from open sources and shallow wells. However, for more serious options, using them is rather difficult, but sometimes possible. They are installed very simply in comparison with deep-seated analogs. And low efficiency was the reason for their low prices.
It is safe to say that a surface pump is guaranteed to raise water from 5 meters, provided that the house is not in the mountains.
Submersible well pumps
Submersible pumps are more efficient - they don't need to suck in water first to start pumping it through the system.
Among their advantages are:
- a submersible pump does not annoy with noise, unlike a surface one;
- less "capriciousness" in relation to the pumped-over water - such a pump can quite cope with fine suspensions, which is quite likely when installed in a well;
- if the flow rate of the well is sufficient, the chance of overheating is minimal, since the pump will be cooled by the pumped water;
- special float automatic equipment included in the kit makes it easy to monitor the water level in the well.
It is incomparably easier to remove a submersible pump for a well than to dismantle a pumping station in a caisson.
However, there is also one feature here - such a pump is much easier to steal if the owners forget to get it on time and leave the home for a long time.
One more thing - for small wells with a silted bottom, it is best to buy pumps with an upper water intake. If the device is demanding on the purity of the water, then it is worth paying attention to the models with an intake pipe - they are often equipped with additional filtering devices.
Types of submersible pumps
Everyone can decide on a specific brand, while choosing one of the many types is more difficult. So, it is worth taking apart the main types of submersible pumps that may be encountered.
Well vibrating pump
One of the most common types. In stores, you can often see a wide range of these pumps, but, despite the large number of manufacturers and brands, their design is practically the same.
Here it is better to look at the device diagram right away:
As a rule, the metal case consists of two halves, approximately equal in height, but differing in configuration. There is an elastic seal between the body parts to seal the surface and improve elasticity while reducing vibration.
The lower part houses the electrical parts. This is also where food is supplied. The electromechanical part consists of a coil with a ferromagnetic core, filled with a dielectric compound, which prevents short circuits if water unexpectedly gets there. A steel anchor is located above the coil.
The stem has an elastic diaphragm and a piston at the top. When the armature begins to move downward, a vacuum begins in the pump chamber, due to which water begins to flow through the intake hole. When the armature begins to move upward, the compression phase begins, the valve closes the water outlet to the outside and it has only one way - through the branch pipe, and then along the attached hose.
As you can understand, the vibration pump is not complicated, which determines the rather low price.
However, there are a few things to be aware of before purchasing it:
- The vibration pump is capable of breaking the soft walls of the well due to strong vibration. Even the presence of an elastic damper is not enough to completely damp all vibrations. Therefore, such a device is best used only if the well has strong walls, from concrete rings, for example.
- Water contamination can interfere with pump operation. The valves will not fit snugly enough due to heavy particles.
- The pump is quite noisy despite being in the water.
- The design does not imply the presence of additional automation, sensors. You will have to buy them yourself if necessary.
- Insufficient performance with good head.
- Such pumps do not work for a long time, again, due to their vibration.
Vibrating pumps are an excellent choice for less demanding tasks, such as watering a garden, or providing water for a small summer cottage.
Submersible screw pumps
They are quite rare. The design is based on the "Archimedes screw", which resembles the principle of operation of a conventional meat grinder.
The auger is connected to an electric drive by a shaft. Rotation is carried out in the cavity of the stator, which is usually made of elastic material, usually rubber is used as a base. The rotor-auger turns are adjacent to the stator machines. Water enters the cavities, after which it is pushed further due to their rotation. The configuration of the stator and the screw is made so that the volume of the supplied liquid is always the same, which is why such pumps have a stable outlet head.
Among the advantages are:
- stable pressure at the points of water intake;
- little noise and vibration;
- high resistance to pollution - this scheme was originally developed for running technical fluids.
However, despite all this, the use of these pumps is still very limited due to a number of their disadvantages:
- low performance against the background of a good pressure will not allow to fully provide a large house with water;
- screw pumps have the lowest efficiency among all, this is due to the abundance of rubbing nodes;
- friction is the main reason why the pump will require regular replacement of failed parts.
Screw pumps are intended for production, so their household models have not become widespread - too different tasks are set before them in factories and in private houses.
Centrifugal pumps for wells
When choosing a submersible pump for a well, you should pay attention to this particular option - centrifugal pumps are the most popular and demanded. The main working body is a wheel with blades in a special chamber, where at the outlet there is a special branch pipe at the periphery, and water enters in the center.
The electric drive rotates and generates centrifugal force. The incoming water will be thrown to the walls of the chamber, due to which a rarefied zone is created in the center, and a zone with increased pressure appears on the periphery. This ensures a powerful flow of fluid.
There may be several such cameras. They are placed in cascade, which increases the pressure. Centrifugal pumps do their job well because they can lift water from considerable depths without too much loss in performance. At the same time, they make almost no noise and do not create serious vibrations. This means that a well with fragile walls will not collapse over time.
Such well pumps have various designs, allowing you to choose the right model for a specific type of site. The flow rate with head can vary significantly as a result of changes in the diameter of the chambers and their number. Therefore, the buyer will always have a way to choose a pump for any option, from surface wells to deep wells.
The main disadvantage here is only one - a complex design, because of which the price of such pumps is high.However, such pumps have an important advantage - they are able to work even with polluted water, but this should be indicated separately in the passport.
Vortex submersible pump for well
Vortex submersible pumps are similar to centrifugal pumps, but with some design modifications. The special shape of the worker and the chamber allows creating, in addition to centrifugal force, turbulent acceleration, which makes the water pumped much faster. As a result, such pumps have good performance. At the same time, the device for such pumps is simpler in comparison with centrifugal ones. But, in this regard, they are comparatively fragile.
Lower cost, noiselessness and absence of vibrations are the indisputable advantages of this type of pump. Additionally, the pumps will not even be afraid of air ingress along with water - initially such equipment was intended for pumping liquid dispersed composition, so that it is usually seriously saturated with gas.
Vortex pumps are not recommended for use in unclean water - even a small amount of heavy suspension can have a detrimental effect on the device. Therefore, their use is possible only when the pumped water is always crystal clear.
What to look for when buying a pump
Pump size is one of the most important characteristics. It should be located in such a way as to be always submerged in water, but at the same time not too close to the bottom, otherwise mud will rise. It is worth reading the manufacturer's recommendations to find out the optimal pump location.
A float sensor is a must for any pump. It eliminates air suction when the water flow unexpectedly exceeds the flow rate of the well.
In the store, you need to pay attention to the case. The material must be of high quality and not subject to corrosion. In some cases, the nutritional quality of the water may be affected. This should also be excluded when selecting a pump. Various pumps use cast iron, stainless steel and all this affects the final cost of the equipment. Recently, however, high-strength plastic has begun to be actively used, it can become, in many cases, a good option.
Pumps with automatic controls are more reliable and durable, as their operation is constantly monitored.
The weight of the device is of great importance. It must be taken into account in order to make the suspension reliable in the water column. As a rule, most pumps come with cables and cords of the required strength already. With their help, the buyer can comfortably place the pump at the desired level.
Power cable - length is critical. When buying, you should immediately pay attention to this detail. It is on her that the decision on the location of the connection point will then depend.
Additional components are often included with the pump. It is highly desirable to have protection against overheating, idling. Most devices are immediately equipped with check valves and filters for mechanical water purification. It will be good if fittings for connection to the intake pipe are sold together with the pump.
Which manufacturers should you pay attention to
Most buyers are probably going to buy a pump for a very long time so that it does not have to be changed every few years. To do this, you need to buy high-quality products from a well-known manufacturer that has already established itself in the market.
The list of foreign companies looks like this:
- Grundfos;
- Wilo;
- Metabo;
- DAB;
- Pedrollo;
- Marina-Speroni;
- QUATTRO ELEMENTI.
Among the domestic ones, the following brands can be distinguished:
- "Caliber";
- "Belamos";
- "Aquarius";
- Elitech;
- "Gilex".
All of these brands have received good customer reviews. Therefore, the purchased products will last long enough.Before purchasing the model you like, it is still necessary to study the manufacturer's warranty obligations. Find out if the service network is developed in the region so that if a problem arises, it can be eliminated as soon as possible.