An irrigation pump moves water from a borehole, dam, river or tank to sprinklers, drip lines or a pivot at the flow and pressure they need. Get the size right and every row gets its share; get it wrong and the far end stays dry or pipes burst. The pump can be a submersible in a borehole, a surface centrifugal pump at a dam, or a solar pump for remote lands. This page covers the kinds, how to size them to your system, filters and power, and what to send for a quote.
Borehole, dam, river or solar
- Borehole: a submersible borehole pump sized to the yield. Good for vegetable gardens and orchards on plots.
- Dam or river: a surface centrifugal pump on a base close to the water, with a short suction pipe and a foot valve. Suction lift is limited to about 7 to 8 m in practice, so keep the pump low.
- Solar: a solar pump that fills a tank or dam by day, which then gravity feeds or is boosted to the lands.
Sizing to sprinklers, drip and pivots
Add up the flow of every sprinkler or dripper that runs at once: that is the flow the pump must give. Then find the pressure they need at the furthest point, and add the height and the friction in the pipes. Drip lines need lower pressure but clean water; sprinklers need more pressure; pivots need high flow and are usually sized by the pivot supplier with the pump. Splitting the land into zones that run in turn often lets a smaller pump do the job. Size the pump for the largest zone, not the whole farm, and make sure the water source can keep up for the hours you irrigate each day.
Filters, pressure control and power
Dam and river water carries sand, algae and leaves, so a screen, disc or sand filter protects drippers. A pressure tank or a variable speed drive keeps the pressure even as zones open and close; see pressure tanks. Farms often use three phase power for larger pumps; smaller plots run single phase. Ask for dry run and surge protection in the control panel, especially in Highveld storm areas. A timer or irrigation controller can start the pump and open the zones in turn, so watering happens early in the morning without anyone standing by.
Smallholding gardens and comparing quotes
For a veg garden or small orchard, a single phase borehole pump feeding a tank, with a small booster to the drip lines, is a common setup. On farms, larger borehole or dam pumps run straight into the mainline. Larger water use for irrigation may need to be registered or licensed with the Department of Water and Sanitation: check before you plan. Compare quotes on the duty point, the pump type, the filter, the controls and what pipework is included. Ask too where spares and repairs come from, since a pump that stops in a heatwave costs a crop.
What to put in your request
- Water source: borehole, dam, river or tank
- Area to irrigate and crops grown
- Sprinklers, drip lines or a pivot
- Distance and height from source to lands
- Single or three phase power, or solar
Irrigation Pumps for homes, farms and businesses
- Homeowners: a pump feeding garden sprinklers or drip lines from a borehole or tank
- Smallholdings and plots: a pump for the vegetable garden, orchard and paddocks
- Farms: three phase dam, river and borehole pumps for sprinklers and pivots
- Complexes, estates and body corporates: pumps for communal gardens, verges and sports fields
- Offices, shops, hotels and lodges: irrigation pumps for golf courses, lodges, schools and nurseries
- Factories, plants and depots: pumps for landscaped grounds and reuse water at plants
- Mines and quarries: pumps for rehabilitation planting and dust control on site
- Municipalities, schools and clinics: irrigation for parks, sports fields and community gardens
- Contractors and drillers: irrigation installers sizing and fitting pumps for clients
Frequently asked questions
What size irrigation pump do I need?
Can I irrigate straight from my borehole?
Is a solar pump enough for irrigation?
Do you design and install irrigation systems?
Irrigation Pumps by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg