water hauling system

[cory100]

We have been building our place over the last year and are about ready to wet the plumbing. I am looking for suggestions on people with experience transferring water from a vehicle to holding tank. At our old place we had a submersible pump and garden house. Trying to figure a more convenient solution. What I am thinking is some sort of self priming pump anchored to the wall inside. Pipe connections would be placed in the sidewall or floor of house connecting the holding tank to the transfer tank. Anyone know if a pump could self prime and pull water like that? The transfer tank in the truck will be aproxx. 10 feet lower than the holding tank (10ft. head) and will run approx. 25 feet between both tanks. Any and all suggestions welcome.

[swapdonkey]

the pump will self prime if the tank in the truck is higher then the pump. They make some nice tranfer pumps that are fast and should push the head that you need. It will say on the pump what it is rated for.

[Amigo Will]

If you can put about five pounds of pressure on you discharge tank it should work.It take .433psi to move water 0ne foot in hight so 5psi should cover your ten foot of suction head needed

[blybrook]

If the pickup tank is higher then the holding tank, I'd go with a self priming pump like the miners used to use. Cannot remember the exact name of the pump right now, but will see if I can find it and will edit this post.

Personally, I use a 1.5" discharge hose and quick drain the tank from my truck into the holding tank. Ran PVC, insulated, across the bottom of the crawl space ceiling joists and out past the edge of the house. I just hook up and open the valve. 350 gallons drained in about 30 minutes or less.

[blybrook]

Ok, I guess I missed the edit deadline, I am thinking of a "ram" pump. Some details are found at http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/equip/ram.htm There are different models, but it may be too slow to get your transport tank dry in negative temperatures.

[dkwarthog]

You didnt mention if you have power but, one potential idea would be an 12 volt RV pump. The flow rate is not terribly high, but they are positive displacement so will draw good suction and you can hard mount it with leads and alligator clips to the truck battery to run it. That is how I used to do it and it works good but is a little slow. You can also use the same pump as a pressure source to your inside system from a gravity storage tank. Just run a crossover manifold on the suction and discharge with some ball valves to switch from "unload" mode to "supply" mode...

[Michael]

We just use a 'trash pump'. Quick disconnect on the outside of the house with a pipe to the pump, then a hose (or pipe) from the discharge side to the top of the holding tank. Takes 350 gallons out of the back of the P.U. poste haste.

[akfishnut]

What Kind Of Power ?

You don't mention what kind of power you have ? 120V or 12V
If you have 120V I would mount a standard sump pump in the tank and run a hose with outlet out the top. It will last forever and is very cheap to purchase. If you have 12v, I would explore the use of a marine washdown pump system.

[alaskapiranha]

Easy Running Water

Had no electrical power but I used the "Women, run down and get more water"

[hotcity2]

I do haul my water also. I have a 1000 gal tank in my basement and have a 300 gal haul tank. I use a honda transfer pump. It takes about 10 min to pump a 300 gal tank dry with a 2" hose...cost a bit more than most posting here but fast. It also runs on gas.. so no electric required.

[CaptNemo]

Be careful.

5 psi on a 55 gal drum (or any container the same size) is about 2000 lbs of force trying to get out. CN