Can a pool pump be used to pump water from a tank to a dwelling?

Question

Have a shack next to a water pump, and the old pump there seems to be knackered. Have an old pool pump which I thought about using in place of it, but suspect it may not be suitable, as it would be constantly pumping water, and not sure what might happen with the taps turned off! Trying to find look around on the net for some tips (on even how to troubleshoot the existing pump), but there doesnt seem to be much about. Any Ideas?

For my first question I have raised here, I am very impressed with the responses and thank all who have provided an answer.

My concerns with a simple swap have been confirmed and I have a few other ideas to work with now.

Have a whole bunch of other questions now, think I will raise them separately.

Answer 1

Most Pool pumps are not designed to pump up, they are what is called a circulatory pump. You can buy a cheap pump for 30.00 on up at Harbour Freight tools, or you can have the old pump rebuilt.

Answer 2

Water pumps for wells or tanks have engines powerful enough to move the water where it needs to go (in my case, uphill). Pool pumps (depending on HP) may not have that kind of power, they are just built to recirculate water.

Even if you don't have to move the water long distances, a pool pump would be constantly pumping, which would burn out the pump, or might even blow your pipes. The pump has to have a pressure switch or the tank has to have a float switch to make it shut off when the system is full.

You could try to get it to fill temporarily with a pool pump, but it would be drained the moment you opened the taps or flushed.

We got our well pump from Sears a few years ago. Sears should have some info on their web site. Also you should do a bit of sleuthing for plumber sites about wells and water tanks, and well pumps. This is a common topic for rural dwellers. We found some sites when we changed our pump (about 3 years ago) that had some good info.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

Answer 3

The electrical control system for a well pump includes a high pressure shutoff switch so that the pump will shutdown when there is enough pressure in the system.

This serves two functions, first it saves energy, second, it prevents the pump from overheating.

A pump overheats because the motor is suppling energy to the fluid being pumped. That energy exhibits itself as both pressure, and increased temperature.

Normally if there is flow through the pump the increase in temperature is barely measurable because there is a high flow of water and the energy is dispersed over the hundreds of gallons of water that is being pumped by the pump, however, if no water is flowing through the pump, less than a gallon of water is absorbing all of the energy from the pump, and that water can rapidly heat up and even start boiling.

There are three very important design factors that an engineer would look at when designing a pump for a given service:

1) What Discharge Pressure do I need?
2) What Flow do I need?
3) What will the suction pressure be at the pump?

All three of these factor into the choice of pump for the application.

Usually a well pump would be designed to turn on when the pressure drops to about 30 psig, and turn off when the pressure is above 50 psig. 15 to 40 gpm would be a typical design flows for a well pump, and the suction conditions are going to depend on the location of the pump in relation to the location of the water.

Some pumps are designed for "Suction Lift," Others have to be lowered into the water and run submerged because they are not designed to "lift" the water.

In either case, the feet of lift has to be figured into the design of the pump and subtracted from the discharge pressure.

Because of these 3 factors, a pump designed for one service seldom will work in another service.

If the pump does not have enough suction lift, it will gas up and stop pumping (and overheat)

If a pump does not have enough discharge pressure, it won't be able to make it up to the second floor, or even the first floor, AND the pump discharge pressure will never hit the pump shutoff pressure, it will run all of the time and overheat.

And if a pump does not have enough flow, you will not be able to do things the way your are used to doing them, for example, your watering system may just dribble, or you might only get a small flow at the shower.

If you have any operating data or design data on the pool pump you could determine if it has a discharge pressure and flow that is in the ballpark as a temporary replacement for your well pump. It likely does not, but it doesn't hurt to check.

If the pool pump somehow happens to be a match on pressure and flow, it still may not be a match for the suction lift. Unless you have spec sheets for the pool pump you will not know one way or another. You could try to install the pool pump with the intent of removing it if it did not work.

As for the pressure shutdown, that is normally should be tied into the electrical supply to the pump. As long as you wire the pump up using the same electrical systems you should be ok. (Make sure the wiring is large enough for the new pump!)

Again though, I will stress that the chances of the pumps matching well enough to interchange them is very low!

Answer 4

Pump For Water Tank

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

The pump will do what you would like except for the fact that you do not want the pump running when the faucet is closed, water must flow some where or the pump will burn up trying to pump the water that is going no where. It must be shut off when not in use. Most well pumps pump water into a holding tank which has a bladder inside that fills up and shuts the pump off when the bladder reaches a certain pressure. The pressure in the bladder is used to supply water pressure when the pump is not running, when a faucet is turned on the pressure in the bladder reduces to a point then the pump will turn on again to re-fill the bladder in the holding tank. You could install a regular tank like a 50 gallon drum on the roof of the shack, have a switch to turn the pump on when you need to fill the drum. The tank being located above where the faucet is located will supply the pressure needed to get water out of the faucet.

Answer 7

First of all you need to be sure that the pump has failed and not just the motor. Pumps fail when the shaft seal leaks and you get more water dripping out the shaft seal than the pump is pushing. If it;s the motor, then you might be able to buy just a replacement motor and attach the old pump to the new motor.

As for a smimming pool pump, I think it would work, depending upon the flowrate and pressure you are looking for. My pool pump puts up about 20 lbs discharge pressure, but only a couple of gallons per minute. If you need large volume flow and higher pressure, you will want to look for another pump.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

The key is the switching mechanism. You need some sort of electronic flow switch or a manual sump pump switch to detect water levels.

Answer 10

YOUR PRESSURE TANK ON A WEEL SYSTEM IS THE SHOCK ABSORBER... IF YOU SHUT THE VALVE, B-4 THE PUMP HAS STOPPED ( WITH OUT A PRESSURE TANK ) YOUR PIPES EXPLODE! WATER DOES NOT COMPRESS!