Water pump advice needed

[Angeldon]

One of our boundaries is a small river which I use to water the garden. I have to climb down the bank and would like to get a pump to make the job of filling my watering cans a little easier. Can anyone please recommend a suitable pump hand or electric.

[Alison]

I'm pretty sure it's illegal in the UK to do that unless you either own the watercourse or have an abstraction licence.

[starloc]

I got my well pump in Bulgaria but this will do the same job , depending how deep the drop is this will pump upwards 5 meters, but much further in the tube not going upwards, connect hose long enough for the whole garden to it..... and an extension cable and lop it in the river, no need for a watering can, just a long hose, there are cheaper ones if you dont need to lift 5 meters

HARDCASTLE STAINLESS STEEL ELECTRIC SUBMERSIBLE PUMP FLOOD/DRAIN/WELL/POND WATER | eBay

I wouldnt know if its legal or not to take the water, I know everyone does in Bulgaria.....on a hot day tubes run all over the place across roads even as people save the well water and use the river instead

If you cant get the electric there, a handpump will not be easy to find and i think would be dangerous to use, but you can get petrol powered ones, but the noise may drag peoples attention, the electric ones make no noise

[Angeldon]

Thanks Starloc, this sounds exactly what I'm looking for - petrol wouldn't be a problem as we have no close neighbours but I feel happier with electric.

I'm pretty sure it's illegal in the UK to do that unless you either own the watercourse or have an abstraction licence.

It's not illegal, as a riparian owner you're permitted to extract 20 cubic metres which is around 4.5 thousand gallons per day - I've never needed to exceed that yet!

[starloc]

If you can, it may be easier to get a few sprinklers and spread them out on pipes, and run the pump to soak the whole lot for a few minutes

[Angeldon]

That's a great idea, anything for an easy life - what type of hose do you use? I've read that normal garden hose won't fit the pump.

[DannyK]

You'll need to check pump specs. Draper will take 25mm or 32mm

[Bill HH]

Taking water from a natural source can have a lot of problems due to blockages. So be prepared to be constantly cleaning filters. I have a hozlocx pump which is submeresd in a water butt which fills from my house roof. It pumps up my steep garden to fill another butt which then disperses down soaker hose to water my beds. The pump is brilliant but does need cleaning fairly regularly.

[roitelet]

If you can get a dirty water pump it will reduce the times it needs cleaning.

[Stan79]

I have a solar pump that works great in a muddy, silty stream. No blockages that i know of to date. My original idea was as Bill says - use the pump to fill a water butt then use gravity and the pressure of the water in the water butt to irrigate the garden / plot.

I got it off the Primrose website. Main thing to look for is the head height it will push the water up...