Long Distance Sap Pumping

[wurmdert]

I know I have seen others on here in the past that pump sap long distances with submersible well pumps. I need to pump about 2000ft and about 200 ft up in elevation. I know that the bigger well pumps will easily pump over 200ft straight up out of the well but not sure over distance. Any info will help in how head pressure and distance effect sub. well pumps. Thanks.

[spud]

I use a Goulds booster pump. I pump sap 3800 feet at an elevation difference of 256 feet. It pumps 20 GPM. They cost about $1000 at CDL.

Spud

[steam maker]

Spud im gonna guess that pump takes 220 volts to run it rite? Could a generator run it? Or do u rig it to a float and have it go on and off automatically

[spud]

Yes it runs on 220. I do not have a float switch hooked up to it. I have a 3500 gallon tank in that pump house so I just check it a few times a day. I am not sure if a generator would run this pump. You could ask you're maple dealer.

Spud

[themidnightsapper]

Do you know the type/size of line you will be using for the 2000 feet and the gallons per minute you may want to pump?

[ennismaple]

The only tables I have handy are for Copper pipe but plastic would be similar

You have the following head loss per 100 feet of pipe with a flow rate of 20 USGPM:

1" = 30ft
1.25" = 9.7ft
1.5" = 4.2ft
2" = 1.2ft

Example: A 2000 foot 1.5" pipe would have (2000/100)x4.2 = 84ft head loss plus 200 feet of vertical hill to pump up = 284 feet total head the pump must overcome.

If you only have 300 taps you may only need to pump 300 gallons at a time (1 gallon per tap per day). No point oversizing the line and the pump to get it all to the camp in 15 minutes when it'll take you hours to boil! A 5 GPM flow rate would probably be OK - meaning it takes an hour to get it all pumped up. A 1" pipe would only have 2.5 feet of headloss due to friction per hundred or 50 feet over the distance = 250 feet total head. 250 feet of head means the pump would need to operate at 250 x 0.433 x 1.0 (assuming sap = water for specific gravity) = 108.25 psi at the pump to have zero pressure at the far end.

A 1.25" pipe would have 0.83 ft head loss per hundred = 16.6+200 = 216.6 = 94 psi at the pump to get 5 GPM out the other end.

[wurmdert]

Im still in the planning/brainstorming mode to do this install for next season. The potential looks like about 3000 taps so I will need a decent size like and GPM output. My plan is to pump from a tank/pump house at the base of the ravine and pump up to road access to another tank house where I can load and transport to sugar house but any input and ideas i greatly appreciate

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

I have a woods that is 2300 taps. I pump 300 feet in elevation, and 3000 feet in distance. I use a 1hp well pump. It takes 150 psi, and pumps 7.5 gpm. I have a tank at the bottom with a float that kicks the pump on, and a solenoid valve that opens and drains the line back to the tank so the pump line doesn't freeze.

[S.S.S]

What size line do you use?

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

I use a 1-1/4" line. 200 PSI rated at the bottom. Then 160 PSI rated. The pump line does hold a lot of liquid, and every few days I haul up what is in the pump line just to clean the tank out.