Water pump questions

[lord groan]

1. Has anyone got one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WST-High-Qual ... 5aedb8fb06
I'ts rated as food grade and up to 100c with 3.8m head while the beige solar pumps a lot of people use go up to 105c and 2m head. I was thinking of using it to pump cold water from my rainwater butt through the wort chiller and back to the butt cos I'm now on a water meter and the idea of using that free tub of cold water sat next to my brewshed for cooling seems much more economical!

2. Has anyone tried using a pump like this as a suction device to pull sparge water through the mash bed and speed up mashing/sparging. I realise you have to avoid channeling but just wondered if anyone had tried it

cheers all!

[Blackaddler]

I was thinking of using it to pump cold water from my rainwater butt through the wort chiller and back to the butt cos I'm now on a water meter and the idea of using that free tub of cold water sat next to my brewshed for cooling seems much more economical!

It's a good idea, and similar to what I do. Although it's best not to pump back into the same water butt, otherwise the temperature of the water in the butt will rise.

If you can, get 2 or 3 of the largest water butts that are practical. I've found 200L barrels ideal.

If one is empty, pump into that. If not, just pump to the nearest drain. Mine are all full for most of the time, these days.


2 x 200L + 1 x 175L [or is it 150L?]

[neil smith]

does it get warm in summer ? if we ever get one this year that is, i use tap water through my plate chiller and put back in my hlt for next brew so no waste water.
cheers Neil

[chastuck]

does it get warm in summer ? if we ever get one this year that is, i use tap water through my plate chiller and put back in my hlt for next brew so no waste water.
cheers Neil

I guess what would bother me using rainwater from a butt is the possible contamination issue. You should see the muck that's collected in my water butt over the years, inspite of it being covered. Birds tend to sh*t all over it as well. All it takes is just one tiny leak or an unobserved faulty joint and your whole brew is wasted. I keep my hot water run-off for washing the brew kit, so in my case it's not entirely wasted.

[lord groan]

I know what you're saying Chastuck but I've pressure tested the chiller by connecting to the cold supply and blocking the outlet so I'm happy there won't be cross contamination. I'll be emptying the butt during the summer (when I'm not brewing anyway) and I'll get it properly clean then, so hopefully there won't be too much gunk building up.
Neil - I'd like to reuse the tap water in the hlt but cooling is going to use 2-3+ times the brewlength so I'll have too much, and i don't brew often enough to want to keep the water that long and still reuse it.
sorry i'm just awkward!

[Blackaddler]

does it get warm in summer ? if we ever get one this year that is, i use tap water through my plate chiller and put back in my hlt for next brew so no waste water.
cheers Neil

The water does get a bit warmer, as ambient temperature rises, but that much water takes a very long time to get warm. Even during the hottest spells, the temperature difference is large enough to get wort down to between 30C-40C reasonably quickly, although it does take a bit longer. I then switch to pumping ice cold water from my Maxi 310 chiller, to get the wort down to 20C.

I use a copper immersion coil, and there's no risk of contamination of the wort. Pump is a Stuart & Turner RG550.

[greenhouseuk]

I bought one of these.

edited!

Actually this seems to work well in the same way that many of you use the solar pumps, by which I mean it will pump effectively if it is positioned directly beneath your lauter tun or kettle. It is entirely ineffective if you want to create a vacuum to siphon you wort or water.

I will need to re design my 3 vessel setup to incorporate this but otherwise I think this could be a cost effective bit of kit....