How To Use Water Pump. Comprehensive Guide

Knowing how to use water pump is easy, and you only need to understand four steps. However, it would help if you also distinguished the differences in using a water pump for gardens and vegetable patches versus smaller gardens and potted plants. Remember that your plants’ water system should always be operating smoothly to ensure that your plants receive their water requirements consistently.

Regardless if you’re watering in the greenhouse or outdoors, the water pump is one of the most common watering systems. While the greenhouse provides an optimal growing environment, the success in the production lies with water supply. Additionally, water supply takes on irrigation, growing media preparation, cleaning, pesticide application, and even evaporative cooling. 

How To Use Water Pump. Comprehensive Guide

How To Use Water Pump For Beginners

You only need four steps to use a water pump, but you must know the difference between using pumps for gardens or vegetable patches versus smaller gardens and potted plants. Additionally, identify the differences between water pumps and pumping systems to choose the ideal one for your area and plants. 


For gardens and vegetable patches

A pump that is ideal for gardens and vegetable patches is an irrigation pump. You can use a rainwater tank, lake, or well as the source of water, and you don’t have to worry about the slow drawing of water even if it’s far due to the pump’s design. The distribution of water among the plants is reliable, and you can choose to do it above or below the soil. 


Guide for using water pump in 4 steps

For the usage of a water pump to be efficient, consider the size of your area, how far it will be from the water source, flow rate, and plants’ needs. Afterward, choose the ideal irrigation pump and do the following four steps:

  1. Connect the pump to the water source using a spiral hose with fittings securely
  2. Place the filter to the suction tube to ensure that there will be no impurities that can damage the pump
  3. Connect the delivery port with fittings and check the connections to the outlet pipe
  4. Prepare or prime the pump by filling it with water to purge air from the pump


For small gardens and potted plants

While an irrigation pump is suitable for gardens and vegetable patches, you might have a smaller area, and an irrigation system is unnecessary. You can use a pump that comes in the form of a backpack sprayer instead of a watering can. This will save you time because of the larger water tank that reduces refills while also having a better flow rate and power output. 

If you don’t want manual intervention, use a drop water pump with an automatic timer to do the watering for you. This system is relatively easy to assemble, and you can do it yourself, especially for a small garden. Use a combination of drip emitters on a timer for an inexpensive yet efficient way of automatic watering


Types Of Water Pumps For Garden


Submersible vs superficial

You can classify water pumps into submersible and superficial. The two differ in the way they extract water from a source. With this in mind, surface extraction is best if your source is close to the garden or if it’s from the bottom of a well.

On the other hand, you can opt for a more complex submersible pump if your source is deep at around 80 meters. Generally speaking, a common water source for greenhouses would be submersible centrifugal pumps, and if this is the case, the only maintenance is cleaning the parts. Disassemble the pump and clean the valve, screen, and motor lead wires to maintain water flow and pressure, especially if the water you’re using is high in chemicals, particulates, or iron. 

Additionally, the pressure switch is also at risk of getting burnout and arcing, so check that part as well. 


What Are Pumping Systems?

Later on, it would be best to understand the different kinds of pumping systems for possible troubleshooting. For example, you should ensure that your source provides clean water to avoid damaging the pump using vortex or vibration to suction water. However, if you’re using a centrifugal pumping system, pollution on the source shouldn’t be a problem at the expense of more complex installation. 

You might also consider choosing between dependent, autonomous, and gasoline feeding methods for the pumps. Gardens and greenhouses typically use drip irrigation, so a dependent power source should suffice. However, you can save effort by using autonomous or gasoline power systems if you are willing to increase costs. 



The system you’ll choose for the water supply plays a significant role in your plants’ productivity. Therefore, learning how to use water pump is a mandatory skill for every gardener. The steps are relatively simple in which you connect to the water source, filter the suction tube, connect to the delivery port towards the outlet, and prime the pump.

It would be best to choose the appropriate water pump for the greenhouse, garden and vegetable patches, and small gardens and potted plants. Greenhouses work best with submersible centrifugal pumps, while an irrigation pump is suitable for vegetable patches. On the other hand, smaller areas or potted plants can do well with a backpack sprayer or a drop water pump.


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