Advice on water-pump

Fulano2

Bronze
Jun 5, 2011
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Europe
So we finally have water (sometimes) from the "street". My cuestion is, as I was checking on Amazon, what kind of pump would be wise to connect. I mean to strong, would that have the hazard of running dry?
Some advice please..
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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You mean to " pull" more water from the street ?
If yes, 
Then its small pumps, called ladronas or something like that here. Cheap stuff, works fine. Obviously nothing like a water pump used to "circulate " water in your house.
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
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Cabarete
Yes, they're small pumps - maybe 1/4 hp(?). Easily held in one hand. Here in the Cabarete area Pedrollo is one of the more popular/recommended brands. They can be found in almost any hardware store. Mainly used to fill up the tinaca.
 

Fulano2

Bronze
Jun 5, 2011
3,287
621
113
Europe
Yes, they're small pumps - maybe 1/4 hp(?). Easily held in one hand. Here in the Cabarete area Pedrollo is one of the more popular/recommended brands. They can be found in almost any hardware store. Mainly used to fill up the tinaca.


That's it, for the tinacos..
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Those Pedrollo pumps are great little pumps, mine has been in use for over 15 years.

The fun part will be to have it turn on and off with the availability of water coming in from the street and when the tinaco is fill.

I built my own control box with indicator lights and using float switches, relays and delay timers to control the pump´s operation.

Water was only available mostly during the night, got tired of being up all hours of the night monitoring the water flow.

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windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
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As SantiagoDR points out, the trick will be hooking it up to detect when there is water available and when water is needed to avoid that hazard of running dry and potentially burning out the pump. A pressure switch is available that will turn off the electricity if there is no water, but in your particular application I am not certain how it will work. This is a common issue here, so someone will know the specifics for what you want to do.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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Ok, i didnt get that he wanted to pump water up into tinaco.

This is how I do it.

Water flows into house plumbing AND tinaco ( when street water is on, the water gets " pushed " up into tinaco ).
OR
The water flows into a ground cistern.  Then, when needed, i pump the water into house plumbing AND up into tinaco. Depending of the size of house, # of bathrooms, etc..... a ladrona will not suffice. I use a " real" water pump. ( 1.5 or 2 hp, i think ).

What the ladrona is used for is too " steal" more than the fair share of street water.
I have a seprate mains entry for the pool. Typically when  i need water for the pool AND the street water is on, i can than plug in la ladrona, to augment the flow of water. So yes you need to always check so it doesnt run dry.