Pond pump in cold creek

[BrewingChip]

Hey everyone,

I am currently living at a home where I am unable to connect my wort chiller to a sink or hose like I’ve done in the past. There is a creek that has clean, fresh water at a nice current (in Northern Michigan). I would like to brew but want to make sure I can chill the wort in an effective manor post boil.

Would it be possible to find a cheap pond pump, place that in the creek, and somehow connect that to my wort chiller, with the runoff water going back into the creek? I am not the best at improvising but am willing to try anything that isn’t expensive. Does anyone have any guidance on what to do or how to make this happen?

Thanks!

 

[Deadalus]

A pipe or hose could be inserted in the stream and run to a bucket or larger container downhill and you could put the pump in that. You could then pump the water out of it. If you only let the water flow into the container while chilling, it wouldn't be much time that the water was diverted. The excess water in the container would flow back towards the stream, either as runoff or through the ground. You'd need to fill up the container faster than the pump. If you wanted to be particularly neat about it you could pipe the excess water from the container back to the stream.

A little fancier would be to put a float valve on the container to shut the water off if the container fills up too fast. Then it wouldn't overflow.

 

[BrewingChip]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a specific pond pump? I think it might be easier for me to get something cheap, submerse it in a large cooler I have, and fill that cooler with cold water from the creek. And then having the excess water run back into the creek.

 

[day_trippr]

To pick an optimal solution you need to know the head height or lift. Reputable pumps will provide throughput vs lift graphs or tables. The rest is distance and hose diameter, with shorter and wider working in the pumps favor.

fwiw, I have the 1000 GPH version of this pump and you can see from the head vs throughput chart height matters a lot

Cheers!

 

[Deadalus]

You could think of the pump choice in two parts. First, think of having the pump and container in your house. What flow rate pump do you need to chill with. Simply imagine the pump level with the boiling vessel. Then, based on geography, can you get that flow rate of water from the stream to your container at the house elevation. The pond pump itself isn't pumpinq water from the stream. It's just gravity. There's friction inside the pipe so depending on the length of the pipe and how far up slope it draws from the stream will determine if you can get the water to your house as well as a flow rate to the reservoir. You would want to know that rate before deciding on a pond pump. If your house is far from the stream and the topography kind of flat, it might not work cheaply. It might be cheaper to just tee off a supply line if possible. Although it's an interesting problem to consider.

 

[Red over White]

To pick an optimal solution you need to know the head height or lift. Reputable pumps will provide throughput vs lift graphs or tables. The rest is distance and hose diameter, with shorter and wider working in the pumps favor.

fwiw, I have the 1000 GPH version of this pump and you can see from the head vs throughput chart height matters a lot

View attachment 810526

Cheers!

I will give that exact pump 5 stars. I use those pumps under vacuum in our machines at work. We have beat the brakes off of them for years and they still keep ticking. Two thumbs up for sure

 

[day_trippr]

Good to know
Fwiw, I use that pump to recirculate beer line cleaner through all six taps from QDs to spouts in parallel on my keezer. I tried a much lower capacity version but it just didn't have the grunt - that beer line resistance we all count on to tame a keg so it doesn't blast beer out of the faucets really works against pumps. So, a totally different application from what the OP is looking for, but I will say it hasn't let me down...

Cheers!

 

[Teufelhunde]

I use a pond pump submerged in a cooler full of ice water. It pumps the ice water through the chiller and then the returns goes back in the cooler. Takes me about 20 minutes to go from boil to 75F. I then use the water in the cooler for cleaning water, and after used for cleaning, it gets dumped on the wifes roses (except for the first couple of gallons with all the PBW and sugar in it). So basically, I get three uses out of the same water.....

It does take a good bit of ice. I fill/empty into plastic bag my fridges icemaker 6 or 7 times, storing it in my porch freezer, until I have a brew day.

 

[BrewingChip]

I use a pond pump submerged in a cooler full of ice water. It pumps the ice water through the chiller and then the returns goes back in the cooler. Takes me about 20 minutes to go from boil to 75F. I then use the water in the cooler for cleaning water, and after used for cleaning, it gets dumped on the wifes roses (except for the first couple of gallons with all the PBW and sugar in it). So basically, I get three uses out of the same water.....

It does take a good bit of ice. I fill/empty into plastic bag my fridges icemaker 6 or 7 times, storing it in my porch freezer, until I have a brew day.

Good to know! What pond pump do you have? I would rather not pay much for one. I’ve seen some that are $20-$30 but don’t want one that’s going to be ineffective.

 

[Teufelhunde]

This is the one I use:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHS8QXW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[IslandLizard]

This is the one I use:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHS8QXW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Will that pump enough water through a 30' or 50' copper immersion chiller coil with 1/4" ID?
Some coils are even narrower.

Has anyone ever verified the alleged GPH that's typically listed, even more so through a garden hose?
IMO, too many sound too good to be true, similar to listed output wattages on amps.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Here's another idea, start with a larger diameter pipe in the bottom of the creek(say 3 or 4 inch), then step it down to a smaller diameter, then step it down again, and keep doing it until you get to the size of your delivery line, this should build up pressure at each step down

 

[PCABrewing]

Hey everyone,

I am currently living at a home where I am unable to connect my wort chiller to a sink or hose like I’ve done in the past. There is a creek that has clean, fresh water at a nice current (in Northern Michigan). I would like to brew but want to make sure I can chill the wort in an effective manor post boil.

Would it be possible to find a cheap pond pump, place that in the creek, and somehow connect that to my wort chiller, with the runoff water going back into the creek? I am not the best at improvising but am willing to try anything that isn’t expensive. Does anyone have any guidance on what to do or how to make this happen?

Thanks!

Not trying to be a wet blanket but you might want to check with MI DNR to see if it is legal to draw from that stream and potentially return heated water to it.
I know in some areas that is regulated.

But if it works it sounds like a nice idea.