Site Drainage Pumps

Site Drainage Pumps

If you work on a construction site, you will have probably come across a site drainage pump. These are generally used for the removal of unwanted clean or dirty water, usually rainwater from foundations, or even flood water from a large area.

When digging trenches on a construction site they can flood. Construction sites are often waterlogged due to a high-water table, or heavy rain which prevents work progressing. A site drainage pump could also be used in the construction processes for basements or underground car parks where the water level needs to be reduced. On-site flooding and unwanted water often delays work, incurring cost. Site drainage pumps can also be used to drain a large site or area which has been flooded. They are specially designed to be hard wearing and reliable.

There are several different variations of water pump depending on the location of the water, how much water needs to be removed, and how quickly it needs to be removed. It is paramount that a reliable, high quality pump is used. If a site is flooded or at risk of flooding, a site drainage pump can be used to pump water away and help protect against flood damage.

Generally, site drainage pumps can deal with dirty water and have high flow rates to ensure the site is drained quickly and effectively. Our range has been selected by industry experts and are intended for site drainage. Other pumps may become clogged and quickly fail with the demands.

As you can see from our website there are Petrol, Diesel and Electric pumps available. Here’s a quick guide as to what pump you might need for site drainage.

Submersible Site Pumps:

A site drainage submersible pump is perfect for the quick drainage of problem water as it can simply be plugged in (either 110v or 230v) and turned on. These pumps can be used inside or out as they run on electricity and don’t emit fumes from petrol or diesel engines.

Submersible pumps are available in automatic or manual versions. If you need the water keeping at a minimum level and don’t want to monitor the pump you can use an automatic pump, which is left turned on and will turn off and on as required. This is a big advantage with electric site drainage pumps as automatic models can be left unattended; turning themselves off and on as required.

TheTsurumi LB Submersible Site Pumpis our most popular site drainage pump and is the industry hire standard. These pumps are incredibly hard wearing and have excellent durability against operator abuse. They are ideal for site drainage. If you need a pump with a very high flow rate, the HD15 Submersible Site Pump can pump up to 830ltr/min, which means even large sites can be drained effectively. The HD-15 can handle solids up to 9mm, so any small stones, git or debris will not damage the pump. Smaller pumps are also available.

Petrol/ Diesel Engine Driven Site Pumps:

These are for use outside only as they are engine driven and emit fumes. 

Petrol/ Diesel pumps are commonly used within the construction industry as they can be used in remote locations, where electricity is not available. They can be used anywhere outdoors as they are self-sustained running on their own engine. The pumps are ideal for use on construction sites, or even for draining areas behind a cofferdam.

The Honda WB20 is one of our most popular pumps, and is widely used by water companies and the Environment Agency across the U.K. It is an affordable engine driven pump that has a high flow rate of 600 litres per minute and will pump up to 79,000 litres on a single tank of fuel.

Engine driven pumps are not submerged in the water. You simply place the suction hose in the water (keeping the pump away from the problem area) and the delivery hose can be positioned several metres away.

Some of our Engine Driven Site Drainage pumps are specifically designed to pump ‘trash’ water. Trash pumps are ideally suited to applications where the site water has solids contained within it. Centrifugal trash pumps are frequently used in construction, hire fleets, drainage, utilities, and more. These tend to have very high flow rates as they are powerful to move any solid that they pick up.

These are engine driven pumps so cannot be used indoors as they emit exhaust fumes. They come in both petrol and diesel models.

Engine driven trash pumps are hugely popular with utility and construction companies due to the fact they can be transported and used in remote locations. For some of the larger, trollies are available for transporting them. Pumps can also come with protective frames so limiting any damage to the engine.

Unlike submersible pumps, the engine powered models can’t run constantly as they will eventually need refuelling.

Diaphragm Engine Trash Pump

Unlike centrifugal pumps, diaphragm pumps have automatic priming. The Drymax Engine Driven Trash Diaphragm Pump is an automatic-priming pump with electric start and is perfect for pumping site sludge, mud, sewage, sand and solids up to 40mm. Due to the size and weight (94kg) this pump has its own wheels and towing handle for easier transporting. An excellent feature of Drymax pumps is that no priming is required; they can also dry-run indefinitely.

How to Choose a Site Drainage Pump:

• What power source is available? (i.e. can you have an electric pump, or does it need to be engine driven)
• Is an automatic pump required? (If yes it must be electric)
• How large is the site? This helps determine what flow rate is required.
• What is the water quality like? Clean, Dirty or Trash?
• What is your budget?
• Inside or outside use (Engine driven pumps cannot be used inside)

At Flood Protection Solutions Ltd we loaned an engine driven pump to a local Scout Group with a flow of around 800 litres/minute to help drain a site where volunteers were installing drainage pipes. The pump worked very well, and this project highlighted how effective water pumps can be for site drainage. It enabled the project to continue through the winter when it would have otherwise have had to be put on hold for months. We are proud to have helped support this local group.

If you are unsure what type of pump you require we are here to help, Contact Us.