Advice on pump(s) for a water butt

[Dr Jacoby]

I'm planning to set up a water butt in the back garden to supply the water for chilling my wort. The butt will be at least 5 or 6 metres from my boiler (maybe more) and I want to divert the water back into the butt if possible (I'll be using a pub chiller to cool the water down just before it goes through my copper immersion chiller).

I reckon I'll need a decent pump to handle the distances involved. The ones I've seen in woodies look pretty weak (i.e. 1 litre per minute). Do you have any recommendations?

Also, would I maybe need two pumps - one for each leg of the journey? Or would one pump be able to push the water through the chiller and back into the butt over that kind of distance?

I don't need the pump for sanitary transfers by the way. Any advice would be much appreciated 

[Dr Horrible]

You won't need two pumps - just one properly sized one should do it, at a guess I would say a pump with about 1 bar (10m) head.  I'm guessing you've been looking at the fountain pumps in Woodies - they're not great,  you should look for the ones designed for use with a water hose to spray the garden, I think they've got a Hozelock one that you drop into the water butt but I'm not certain of the head.
I picked up a centrifugal 'garden' pump in Lidl a few weeks ago that would be perfect for the job for about 60EU.  I don't think it's in stock right now, but they regularly have it on offer, so it's only a matter of time before it's back in again.

[Dr Jacoby]

Cheers for the response. I've seen the Lidl pumps before all right but wasn't planning on getting a water butt at the time. I'll keep my eyes open for one.

[Rossa]

I've a lidl submersible pump and it does the job. 3 year gaurantee too.

[Dr Jacoby]

Cool. I've been doing some searching online and found some nice options

[CARA]

Brenmurphs pumps are cheaper than lidl but the lidl down here in tipp still has those beefy ones if you want me to get one for you?

[Dr Jacoby]

Hey Declan. Cheers for the offer but somebody I know has donated a pump so I'll give that a go first.

[Will_D]

And I know the whereabouts of 24 Chuggers!

Seriously though:

A "solar pump" will probaly do the job.

Brens Chinese 4 bar 4L/min pumps for about a tenner are the dogs!

For a wort cooler a Chugger is OTT but don't tell my Misses - that was his excuse "for when the water meters kick in"

[brenmurph]

Diaphram pump. Dont get caught out. Lidls submersible pumps i expect would struggle. Mine wont pump though 25 mtr garden hose. The diaphram pumps from china are fantastic and reach 100 psi and 5 litres a minute ideal if pumping a distance through small bore pipes or vertically from water butt to ur attic tank for flushing toilets. See if willd has the link handy

[Rossa]

The lidl pump I have pumps through 20m of copper plus about 10m of hose and I'm sure another few metres of connections. It is an animal! (I'm not sponsored by lidl, yet).

[brenmurph]

Can u post pic rossa and spec if u can? See if its same or similar to mine. Mine used for water butts but its down to a trickle after 25 mertes garden hose

[Chacmool]

Those Chinese pumps sound like they would do the job for me. Does anyone have a link or any info on where I could get one?

[Rossa]

Can u post pic rossa and spec if u can? See if its same or similar to mine. Mine used for water butts but its down to a trickle after 25 mertes garden hose

I have the manual somewhere. I'll try dig it out for you.

[Rossa]

How's this Bren ?

[LordEoin]

I find that reliability is more important than speed and power for a good butt pump.
You want to be able to pump that butt all day long when required.
Nothing more disappointing than when the butt pumping stops abruptly.
You need to make sure that your butt has a good tight seal also, otherwise you're likely to get a leak and when it is turned on it could shoot out down your legs, and even making a right mess of the curtains and floor. in that case you may need a butt plug until you can fix the it. Lubricate your butt plug well to ensure it goes in all the way and to get a tight fit.
Don't forget to use a filter too. Without protection you could end up with all sorts of nasties in your butt!