Water pump for camp

[markm]

Does anyone have an easy and inexpensive solution for a water pump for a deer camp?

We are looking for something that will turn on/off when say a faucet is opened or a toilet is flushed.

I am hoping to find something that is 110v since we finally got electricity.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[huntmaster]

Grainger, Northern or Home Depot all have on demand pumps, just look at the sizes and determine your needs and wala there you have it.

[Rick]

We have this pump at our lease. Have a 300 gallon tank outside that we fill by hauling water in 55 gallon bbls. With the pump we are running a toilet, hot water heater, shower, and 2 sinks. We added a little extra piping and a couple of valves and use the same pump to transfer from the barrels to the tank. You have to put a check valve between the tank and the pump, or when the pump builds up the pressure in the lines and kicks off, the pressure will bleed back to the tank and the pump will keep kicking on and off.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2955

[TexasCanesFan]

We have this pump at our lease. Have a 300 gallon tank outside that we fill by hauling water in 55 gallon bbls. With the pump we are running a toilet, hot water heater, shower, and 2 sinks. We added a little extra piping and a couple of valves and use the same pump to transfer from the barrels to the tank. You have to put a check valve between the tank and the pump, or when the pump builds up the pressure in the lines and kicks off, the pressure will bleed back to the tank and the pump will keep kicking on and off.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=2955

We used the exact same pump at my last lease and it worked for the whole camp. We had a water line running into camp, but the water pressure was minimal at best. This pump works great!!!!

I about about to build pretty much the same system Rick is talking about for my trailer at my new deer lease.

Rick, can you elaborate some more on how you are using it to get the water out of the barrels and into your tank??? Also, have you planned at all for freeze proofing any of it???

[Richard M.]

Rick/Txcanesfan,
Is this pump loud?

[TexasCanesFan]

Rick/Txcanesfan,
Is this pump loud?

I did not think the pump was loud. Ours was in a wooden box to keep it from freezing, but I did not think it was loud even with the top off.

I was probably 30 yards away from it in my trailer and could never hear it run.

Definitely not like running a generator!!!!!!!!

[whitetailfanatic]

[Rick]

Our pump is inside the cabin, not loud at all. It only runs when you turn the water on.

To use it to draw from barrels and refill the tank:

First you need to make a "L" shaped piece of PVC to put down in the barrel, hook up a 12-15' piece of water hose between it and the siphon valve. You can see ours in the bottom pic laying on the ground between the tanks. Be sure to cut the bottom of the PVC that will go in the barrel at an angle so it won't get against the bottom of the barrel and not draw.

1 - Close the tank valve
2 - Open the Drain/Siphon valve and place PVC above in the barrel - you will be pulling from the barrel instead of the tank. Sometimes you have to open the tank valve to prime the pump, then close it back and it will start drawing from the haul barrel.
3 - Close the cutoff valve above the pump.
4 - Open the outside faucet and run your water hose to the tank you want to fill.



So you are pulling from your haul barrel, and filling your holding tank. You close off everything else in the cabin with the cutoff valve.

You also use the drain valve when you close up the cabin to drain your outside lines, it is in the lowest point in the line. Close the tank valve and open the drain valve. We also have some drain valves in the low spot of the lines inside the cabin to drain lines in cold weather.

Hope all that makes sense!! Below are a couple of pics of our setup. The one that shows the pump does not show the cutoff valve, it is just outside the top of the picture.

[Rick]

Also....You need to use a piece of good quality hose for your suction line. If you use cheap, flimsy hose the suction will collaspe it.

[TexasCanesFan]

That is pretty dang slick!!!!!

Thanks for all of the info!!!!

My concern was the lines freezing and you seem to have solved that problem. That siphon for your plastic drums is pretty dang nice as well!!!!

Very well thought out and nice design!!!

[dieselmaker]

Camp pump

We had low pressure also so we hooked this pump up and pumped into a water well tank with a pressure switch. It took a lot of the swings out of the pressure.

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/attributeSearch.do?catPath=All%2BProducts%252F%252F%252F%252FUserSearch%253Dpump&currentPage=1&lastPage=7&isNext=&isPrevious=&category=&attributeValue=%2410+up+to+%2430&attributeName=Price+range&requestedPage=1

[Raleigh]

we used a subpump to pump water out of a natural spring and into a pressure tank that fed the house. The whole set was about $300.00. What can get ya is the hoses and fittings. That could cost you another $100.00. Not sure if you want to spend that kind of money but once done it is fool proof and you can take it with you when you if and when you leave.