Priming the Water Pump

spamersarevile · 2004-04-28T18:55:58+00:00

I need some help on priming a water pump at the cottage. The pumpis located about 200 feet from the lake, maybe 6 feet higher inelevation. Due to circumstances, it isn't possible to locate the pump at the lake - I've looked into this - I know pumps are moreefficient at pushing water instead of pulling water - in this case,it's just c'est la vie. My father used to prime the pump by pullingthe inlet end of the hose out of the lake, putting a ladder up againsta tree and tieing the hose to the tree, maybe 10 feet up and thenusing a watering can to fill up the hose, and when it was full,throwing the inlet back in the lake. That tree is history this year. Is it possible to fill up the hose at the pump end? There's a (screwvalve?) there (a plug that screws in just before the water line entersthe pump). Pore in the water through that valve into the hose andthen reclose that valve. Problem is while there's plenty of water at the lake, there ain't any200 feet away and that means schlepping maybe 20 watering cans one at a time to the pump and instead of filling up the hose relativelyquickly, I'd be doing it gradually, over say 1 hour. Won't some/allof that water simply run back into the lake? I could maybe get acart and lugg more water at one time, but it'd still take 3 or 4 tripsand maybe 20 minutes. Is there some way of sucking the air out of the water hose. If theinlet is in the lake, wouldn't the water then rise in the hose as theair is vacated? Every spring it's been a lot of work to get the pump working. It'snot the pump itself, just the distance involved and the impossibilityof situating the pump at the lakes' edge.Mike

Apr 28, 2004 21 Replies

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Don Young 22 years ago

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Beachcooler 22 years ago

Option one- put a check valve in the pond on the end of the suction line and only prime the pump once. Option 2- make a hand pump to suck the air out as you mentioned and draw the water up.

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