Run water pump off long electrical run?

[MNBobcat]

I know there are charts to figure out the amperage loss on long electrical runs. I'm just curious if anyone has run a, for example, 900 foot long electrical line to a water pump? I'm thinking of pulling water from the river (it's allowed) to irrigate my yard and there is no power down by the river. I know I can size the water pump and water line to work just curious on the electrical side of things. Anyone done that? I assume it would be 220.

I'd prefer not to have to have a gas pump that would require going down to the river to start.

 

[TnAndy]

I have a 1,000 run down to my gate where it powers two 1/2hp motors. Have a 2300' run to the top of my mountain where it powers radio gear to bring internet into our valley.

So, yeah, 900' is certainly do-able......just size your wire according to the load, factoring enough to compensate for voltage drop, and go.

 

[grsthegreat]

Yes, possible. Need to know hp of pumps, 120 or 240 and starting and or running amps if noted on pump plate. Than pretty easy to figure. I doit all the time

 

[Dave M7040]

Where does your domestic water come from? Municipal supply or a well.

I have done many calculations for property owners who wanted to save $ by pumping their own lake water.

They could not pump water for anywhere close to the low cost of municipal water.

What type and size of pump are you planning to use. Submersible pumps do not like being in shallow water.

How much water and at what pressure?

Franklin electric is a major supplier of motors to the pump industry.

Dave M7040

 

[Diggin It]

^^ Yeah, even if the water's free, the electric or gasoline isn't. I gave up watering the lawn years ago. It only gets what falls from the sky. I collect some from gutters to use on plants and new trees.

 

[Diggin It]

Years back, I was reading up on ways to pull water uphill. Among all the conventional ways, I stumbled on a couple of articles that claimed you could effectively siphon quantities of water uphill over considerable distances. I never pursued it and have since forgotten the name of the process, but it seems like somebody else must be aware of it.

 

[EddieWalker]

The bigger question is how much rise is there from where the pump will be sucking the water from, and to where it will be discharging the water? The amount of lift, in feet, is all that matters with pumps. Decided on the size of a pump that you need to get the amount of water that you need where you will be watering, and then you can figure out what sized wire you will need to power it.

If you have a lot of lift, you will need a lot of power, and that can be a very expensive extension cord!!!

 

[LouNY]

If you want to skimp on wire size and find that the voltage drop is too much, you can add in an auto transformer,
or buck and boost setup.
However depending on the starting load a small 220 volt pump can handle a considerable voltage drop on startup,
specially if unloaded at the startup. If you want to run 40-60# pressure switch and the pump is having to start against the 40# load it will be a bit rougher on it.

 

[aczlan]

Yes, possible. Need to know hp of pumps, 120 or 240 and starting and or running amps if noted on pump plate. Than pretty easy to figure. I doit all the time

Yep. If you don't have the pumps yet, you need to know head (vertical lift in feet), pressure required by the irrigation system at the top and flow (in gallons per minute) required by the irrigation system.

You may be better off running a gas pump, or possibly a pair of transformers to step the voltage up from 240V to 480V at the top and then back down at the other end.

Aaron Z

 

[Ken]

Yep. If you don't have the pumps yet, you need to know head (vertical lift in feet), pressure required by the irrigation system at the top and flow (in gallons per minute) required by the irrigation system.

You may be better off running a gas pump, or possibly a pair of transformers to step the voltage up from 240V to 480V at the top and then back down at the other end.

Aaron Z

Consider Solar and 12volt dc pump .Have rancher friend that did this after thieves kept stealing his water pumps for cattle