Dual purpose March Pump as a Rain Barrel Pump

nanotigerbrewer · 04-04-2010, 04:18 PM

The wife and I have recently installed a rain barrel outside our garden. To water more quickly we have decided to get a pump. I was thinking that the March 809HS would be a good option. Since I am slowly moving into all grain my thought would be to buy one pump that could be used to pump water for the the garden and wort on the weekend as well.

Should I be concerned about using this pump for both purposes? Obviously sanitizing the pump after its agrarian use would be a must, and all of this would be run on a GFCI.

Any thoughts?

**beerthirty** · 04-04-2010, 04:25 PM

I would go with the LG 3mdc( I think that is the right model) It has higher flow rates and head pressures. As for dual purpose, If you are only pumping water from the barrel you should be fine.

**Brewmoor** · 04-04-2010, 04:29 PM

I would get a whole house filtering system and pump that water right from the rain barrel to my HLT on brew day. Green Brewing.

You should be fine using it for both. Just clean and sanitize it well.

**samc** · 04-04-2010, 05:47 PM

How much hose are you going to be using? I don't think the March pump would be a great choice unless it was a short distance. You can pick up some cheap pumps that will put out a lot more pressure.

nanotigerbrewer · 04-04-2010, 06:32 PM

We are pumping to a sprinkler that is about 30 feet from the side of the building up about 4 feet of grade. My main concern is what would happen if we ran the barrel dry. Therefore running the pump dry. Does anyone have experience with burning up a pump?

**samc** · 04-04-2010, 06:40 PM

The March pump can run a bit without liquid after it was wet, but not a good idea IMO>
No way my March pump could pump water 30 feet through hose up 4' grade and produce any real kind of sprinkler action.

Go to Harbor Freight or HD/Lowes and buy a cheap pump with some oomph for the rain barrel.

**WalterAtMarchPump** · 12-01-2010, 07:18 PM

I know this may be a bit late of a reply but for anyone else considering this....the 809 would not be the best option unless you have all day to wait for the barrel to empty. I personly have the 5C submersible pump in my rain barrel at home and it has barely enough pressure to opperate a swing arm sprinkler. Keep in mind that most municipal water systems have 35+ psi. And depending on what time of day and how close to a pumping station you are you can get pressures as high as 80psi at night!! The standard 809 will only give you a max of 1.8psi the "HS" version will only give you 5 psi. The 5C submersible i use at home puts out 11psi and like i said its a bit weak to run a sprinkler. If you wanted to use any pump to run a sprinkler i would go the Harbor Freight route and make sure its a positive displacement like a diaphram or gear drive type that can generate some good pressure.

-Walter