Message Board - Cricket: Water pump

Remember I posted about taking water from the Thames? Well I've applied for the forms and have spoken to the local environment agency.
Fairly straightforward, don't need an extraction licence as long as I don't take more than 20000 litres a day out and obtaining permission to put a pipe/ hose under the towpath should be ok.
But I need a pump that can suck it out from the river , I spoke to one major manufacturer, Clarkes , who recommended one that us about £220 but they said we would need a small generator to run it. Not only for supplying power but to enable the pump to draw water from the river
Has anyone any experience of this?
Or how much such a pump would pump out an hour?
Couldn't find that info on the website although it dies state the power of the pump which I can't remember just now

Barry i hav just ordered a pump to suck water from the tank that feeds the astro pitch on a site i look after, so basically the same thing, we do however have power available nekt to the tank, to get the right pump, you need to find the flow rate and pressure required to run whatever sprinklers you have and at what distance they will be from the pump, the supplier will then be able to spec the right pump ours has cost around 400 quid

Unless you can use the generator for other things why not by a water pump with an engine attached.

Andy I have no idea what flow rate I need. Currently I just whack the hose and away I go.
Don't think we can get power to where it will be so a generator probably will be required anyway

A few thoughts which may or may not be helpful. During the last drought the water board allowed me a dispensation of 5 cubic metres a week to water the square. They considered that adequate to keep the grass alive but not necessarily to allow the usual work to be carried out. I had to use it between 9pm and 6am. I was also told when at one time there was a problem with the water flow rate that they were obliged to supply me with a minimum flow rate of 6 litres per minute which sounded rather low to me. When it comes to pumps a small petrol driven pump (cost £200-£300 depending on engine) gives a quoted flow rate of 125 litres per minute and 8 metre suction. Fine for hoses ? but not sure about travelling sprinklers etc. A final thought on generators in that all electric motors take approx 6 times the stated running currrent to start, especially under load, and you will need a big enough generator to cope with that or risk stalling it all the time when first staring the pump. To add to the problem long lengths of cable produce significant volt drop on motors and being an inductive load as the voltage goes down the current goes up. It would probally be nicked round here anyway.

Yes mate, theft could be a problem, we ve just had two new plants dug up and stolen! Scumbags.
But I think a generator would be a must.
As usual, when you get down to it, things are never that simple