Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Battery powered pump for water hose

Hey everyone. New to the forum, but been following Bob/The Pond Boss quite a while. I tried to do a quick search to see if this has been asked and maybe I’m impatient but I didn’t immediately find this specifically discussed.

I’m looking for a battery powered pump that provides decent pressure and that is mobile, that I can use with a hose that will pump pond water that I can use for washing my piers/kayaks/pond prowler off.

What would be a good option for this? I have 4 pier locations and would like to move it depending on where I’m operating out of.

How about a boat 12 volt bilge pump and put clips on the wires to clip to a battery??

I have had good luck with the cheap 1100 GPH bilge pumps at Amazon. I wired in battery clips and just attach them to a deep cycle battery. (I think they are only $15, so I always have a spare on hand just in case you wear out the one you are using.)

I use them to transfer water from a tote on my trailer to the supply totes for the drip irrigation systems for the trees at my farm.

They work well for high volume/low pressure applications. I am only "elevating" the water by about five feet. I did test a brand new pump with a piece of PVC pointing straight up. The pump could lift fluid 10' but that was probably getting close to the max.

These pumps WILL NOT provide pressure. They will easily rinse off your kayaks like using a garden hose with no nozzle, but with a little less volume. You cannot add a nozzle and expect to spray off your kayaks.

That is my 2 cents worth. The cheap pumps are typically centrifugals. To get pressure, you probably need a different type of pump - which will necessarily be more expensive.

Good info guys. I don’t need much pressure but yes enough to rinse mud and pond weeds off. I’d prefer to not have to lug a huge /heavy battery around with me from pier to pier but I could do it. If I could keep everything under about 20 lbs total that’d be ideal but I’m not sure that’s possible.

Just a thought and I don't know if it'd burn out the bilge pump or not. Try it with the battery from one of the rechargeable drills.... Might be 14v or more but the pump will spin faster, I don't know how long the battery would last, nor how hot it would get. BUT it sure wouldn't weigh 20#!!!

Put your deep cell battery on a 2 wheel dolly. Better yet, mount everything on a dolly you can just move from one local to another. How about one of those 12 volt battery boosters for jump starting a car? They have a handle for carrying and clips already for your bilge pump wires.

Not a bad idea . I had someone else tell me a washdown pump is actually what I probably want.

Washdown pump (RV or boat applications) with a built in pressure switch is the better route for higher pressure applications and they usually have the hose threads already on them. They won't handle trash in them very well so be careful where you place the intake.

Right , good point thinking I could build a little metal cage out of hardware mesh or something similar that I mount to the piling just below the water line to keep it neat and free of bigger debris

I would do that, but wrap it with fiberglass window screen. I would raise it up out of the water when not in use because algae will grow on it and clog it if left in the water.

Can someone send me pictures or links to these things yall are using? I am trying to finda good pump system to pull water out of the pond for animals.

Search something like "solar pump systems for livestock".

That is a pretty mature field with lots of businesses offering products. Many systems even have the panels charge a 12V battery so the water pump will even operate through a stretch of cloudy days. That would also give you juice for a washdown pump.

OTOH, running an armored cable or electric line in a conduit starts to look pretty good for all of the things you can run at your dock or in your pond!

Does it have to be battery power? There are a lot of very small gas powered pumps out there now.