On Jun 8, 11:39*pm, "Dave" wrote:
"rb" wrote in message

...

If I have a 1.5hp swimming pool pump, can it work OK as an above ground
pump
on sprinkler system?

I would guess not. *While both pump water, the purpose of both is totally
different. *I suspect the GPM rating of a swimming pool pump would be way
below that required of a sprinkler system pump, even if they have the same
HP rating. *After all, the swimming pool pump is just circulating, not
moving water from point A to point B.

Every water pump moves water from point A, through the pump, to point
B. In the case of the swimming pool pump, it moves a lot of water,
from the skimmers and drain, through the filter, and back via
mutltiple return lines.




*Don't need a high GPM rate to
circulate water, DO need a high GPM rate to irrigate something.

A pool pump needs to be able to turn over the total volume of the pool
in a reasonable amount of time, to ensure that it stays filtered,
chlorine is evenly distributed, etc. Hence the pumps ARE high volume
and a pump like he's talking about is capable of on the order of 75 -
100 gallons/min. That is more than most residential wells systems
can supply.




However, if you've got a spare swimming pool pump (that you'll never need
for any other purpose) and you need a replacement pump for a sprinkler
system on the cheap, there is probably no harm in trying it out. *At worst,
it won't work...or it might burn out the swimming pool pump. *So I'd only
suggest you try it if you've got a spare pump that you don't mind ummmm,
burning out. * *-Dave


There are many unknowns here that make giving an answer impossible.
An obvious big one is where is the water coming from? A pond next to
the pump or 100 ft down a well? How many GPM does the irrigation
system need? If the source of water is reasonable, it would seem
that a pool pump could be used. A remaining question would be how
efficient it would be to run compared to a pump ideally suited to the
task.