After a heavy downpour, one is faced with the daunting task of moving large amount of rain water containing mud, soil and twigs. You are tempted too take out your ever reliable water pump—but wait! There are better devices to handle this kind of water: trash pumps.

Trash pumps are specially designed to handle water that contains hard and soft solids like mud, sand, soil, sludge and other suspended materials. These are heavy-duty centrifugal pumps with larger discharge opening than regular high pressure water pumps to accommodate the particulates. The deeper impeller vanes are capable of processing solids in water that would have clogged up other pump types. They can move dozens to hundreds gallons per minute.

For lighter jobs where not much suspended matter is present or particles sizes are small, semi-trash pumps, which feature smaller opening and use less power, are more suitable. But most manufacturers do not distinguish the two types, so it is imperative that you explain to the seller your exact needs.

Trash pumps are available in a large permutation of features. Some pumps have adjustable speeds that can be set by the operator while continuous duty pumps just keep on pumping at 100% duty cycle. Non-clog pumps are for fluids with fibrous or sticky texture while run-dry pumps do not require pumped fluid or external lubrication for long periods of time.

There are self-priming pumps that maintain a certain vacuum level enough to suck in fluid without external help. Others like sampling pumps have attached paraphernalia which include a control panel, back-up batteries, strainer, pressure gauge and suction. Designs include belt-driven, close coupled, plug in and portable.

Most trash pumps are used in industrial, commercial and municipal applications rather than at home. These pumps find haven in agriculture and horticulture, sewage treatment, oil and gas production, pollution control, construction, pulp and paper production and virtually in any industry or activity where sludge and/or contaminated water is handled.

So, how will you wade through these bewildering options?

You need to assess the volume you need to handle, the type of suspended material, relative viscosity of the fluids, the terrain where you will be working, and where the handled fluid need to ultimately go.

These are considerations required for your specifications which include maximum discharge flow, maximum discharge pressure and distance, inlet and outlet size and power requirement. Power sources could be from the mains (AC), battery (DC), gasoline or diesel engines.

Honda powered trash pumps are quite well-known. They come in a variety of brands like Northstar, Gorman Rupp or IPT—but they are all powered by Honda machines so they are sometimes referred to as Honda pumps. These machines can handle liquids with up to 25% solid in them. These units have quick clean-out ports, and easy to maintain and economical.

Trust them. They do a wonderful job of removing murky waters.

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