Can a water pump be used for a garden hose? I use a trash water pump to run my sprinkler off-grid.

I needed to find a way to run my garden hose and sprinkler off-grid. All I had is a water pump, my pond, and a few PVC pieces. The water pump works fantastic for my sprinkler and even my normal garden hose.

The pump does not need any additional modifications and will even work with all water shutoff. This is great news for the property. We can now clean our vehicles and tractor off while not having water hookups.

[joshroten]

Retired fireman here - the pump style is a centrifugal pump. Centrifugal pumps have what is called “100% Slippage” meaning when the pump is turning and the discharge side is closed (not flowing) the insides of the pump continue to turn without any need for a relief valve. The only concern to be aware of is the water inside the pump housing overheating resulting in water vapor (essentially steam) which can damage the pump’s impellers or housing - essentially ruining the pump. To prevent the pump from overheating keep some water flowing through it. Feel the pump housing with your bare hand to gauge if its overheating. If it is warm or hot you need to get water moving through it to cool it down, but other than the overheating/cavitation concern there is no problem with occasionally stopping the flow through a centrifugal pump. Cavitation sounds like rocks inside the pump. Note: a blocked suction strainer/intake can cause a similar problem. I have this same pump. I reduced the factory 2” National Pipe Thread (NPT) outlet to 1.5” National Standard Thread (NST aka Fire Hose thread) since I have several sections of old fire hose I can run directly off that. You can buy the reducer I mentioned and even a reducer from whatever you need to Garden Hose (GH) thread from a good pipe and irrigation supply company. Good luck!

[ryanroberts]

Most of these pumps have a drain plug that is 3/4" threads on the bottom of the pump. Get yourself a 3/4" brass garden hose adapter and thread it into that hole, now you can just plug your garden hose in right there. To plug the hole later you can just use a standard garden hose cap with a washer. (Even if you don't hook a hose here I prefer to install a nice brass garden hose cap instead of the plastic POS it comes with)

Also a great place to attach a cheap pressure gauge, if you're interested.

[stevekrewson]

Thanx for the vid. I just picked up the same unit the other day for a brush fire set-up and have used it to water a newly grass seeded area in my woods the other day. It worked awesome! Before I started it, I left the sprayer open a bit and hurried over to it after staring because I wasn't sure what would happen because I didn't see any way for pressure to relieve. Your bid answered that for me and a few of your commenters explained really well. Thanx again!

[Leletsimaliza]

Thank you so much man i am using it in my garden. Again thanks for your selflessness ❤

[juanfranciscogomezmarquez]

I passed up your video so many times. Been rattling my brain searching for bypass. I actually put a line exiting the pump back into tote with its own valve to shut on or off when needed. Just now I said "let me check this dude out". Great video. Props to you. Thanks.

[alanhowarth]

Thanks heaps man. Like you, I searched YouTube for this scenario and your's answered my question. Al, from Down Under 👍

[patrickw]

Great video....been searching for the same question for months now. Found this after a long search. "Centrifugal pumps do not require a relief valve. When the spray boom or gun on a centrifugal discharge is shut off, and the pump continues to run, the liquid internally bypasses without damaging the pump as long as a vent line is in the system."

[colelovelace]

Thank you for the video. We have a local bike park with a well and you just saved us a ton of money.

[jessemcclanahan]

Great video I just got me a trash pump been in storage for 10 years I cleaned the carburetor and it fired right up ! Good job!!

[peachsncream]

We are strange animals aren’t we ? I don’t know why my first reaction , was to think …big deal, you turned a water pump into a water pump …. what the heck is wrong with me ? You are doing what I am not ….living of grid 👍 and doing things I wish I had the self motivation to do . THANK YOU FOR SHARING 👣🦘 keep it up Brother . To the other people who’s first reflexive though is to complain about stuff …. Hold on tight to your - oblivious - selfish ignorance- of your own negativity . Because it suck’s to be a self reflective person who occasionally gets glimpse of themselves . Being self reflective can be a very unpleasant journey.

[detectingohio]

Your 3/4 pvc thread is MIP thread which is different that hose thread which is the reason it leaks you can buy a brass adapter to go from MIP to hose at home depot for around $7 and it will thread into your 3/4 female adaptor and eliminate the 2’ of 3/4 pvc👍🏻

[timbenware]

That's for the video. I was looking at this very same pump for the exact same usage. Now I know it will work.

[SJ-gjmx]

That was the most helpful video I found on youtube.

[aaronkalahar-_-_-]

Gonna try this out, will comment later with updates!

Great video!

[rickbarclay]

I didn't know, either, Justin, and your great video answered my question. I have two 7 hp trash pumps, and I was wondering/hoping that they might be adaptable for irrigation. I'm subscribed.

[williesimpson]

That’s Great; I’ve been thinking about this … I’ve got a heavy sludge trash pump; I wanted to make a nozzle that blows goop material like heavy bodied coatings. So, I’m going to try it. Thank you for your video❤

[armstrongmakwala]

This is the information I was looking for. Awesome video

[jessefarrar]

Your awesome! Thank you. I am about to do this right now!!!

[danssv]

Really nice, I converted mine to 40mm cam lock fittings and 40 mm Canon sprinkler and it works great.

[noneyour]

the pump needs water flow to not overheat, on my setup i use a 3/4 relief valve, same as i use on my deepwell home water system, at about 80-85 psi it opens, on my home sys it keeps the captive air tank from overpressuring should the elect switch stick, on the pump setup it allows water to recirculate while the nozzle is closed, keeping the pump cool. my pump is a fire pump, twin impeller, at 90% throttle it will charge a 1 1/2, and a 1 in fire hose at approx 125 psi, if i close the nozzle while using i have to keep water moving, or risk destroying the pump seals. hope this helps