What makes a pump non-potable exactly?

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Neil Gunton

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Hi, I hope this isn't a completely stupid question, but I can't get any answer from the manufacturer, so I'm turning to the community.

Basically I am looking at a Wayne PLS100 lawn sprinkler pump to potentially get water for drinking from the creek below our yard in the event of an extended natural disaster (mainly I'm concerned about earthquakes around where we are, services could be knocked out for weeks or months).

I am looking at this pump:

https://www.waynepumps.com/product-selector/lawn-pumps-portable/pls100

This one has everything I want/need, in that it is relatively cheap, lightweight, portable, and runs off standard 110 voltage (I would be running it from a Honda EU2000i). I wouldn't be needing to run it 24/7, just at times to fill a tank or (maybe) provide pressure to a hose for fighting fires.

The only thing is, this pump is "not rated" for potable water. So I tried calling Wayne to ask them what it is exactly about this pump that makes it not suitable, but they just kept saying the same thing over and over in different words - i.e. it's just "not suitable". It became obvious that it's just a matter of legal liability, they cannot give me any information at all that might lead me to believe that I could use it for potable water under any circumstances.

Ok, so now this makes me really curious. What does this pump introduce into the water that might be harmful, if anything? Or is the "non potable" rating simply due to the fact that this pump has a certain price point (around $160) and they have positioned it in such a way that they don't want it competing with their other products that are "rated" for potable? In other words, is it just a marketing delineation? Or is there some actual potentially harmful substance that's introduced into the water during pumping? I would be filtering the water after pumping, through multiple ceramic/carbon filters, and treating it with calcium hypochlorite. I asked the guy if the pump had lead in it, he did say no, but he wouldn't tell me if there were possibly other chemicals that might be present in the plastic parts that could leach into the water. I am aware that some plastics are safe for potable water and others aren't (I learned that when researching buckets). Apparently they use chemicals for the manufacturing process to release the bucket from the mold. Is that pretty much the possibility here? And if so, can anyone tell me what those chemicals might be, and if they are something that would be taken out by a good ceramic/carbon filter system? I would be using a Monolithic bucket filter, followed by the bleach treatment, and then another treatment with a Katadyn Gravidyn gravity bucket filter.

Please tell me if I'm being stupid by even considering this, or stupid for thinking it might be a problem.

Or, if you have any knowledge of alternative pumps that would suit my purpose, I'm all ears. It has to run off 110v due to the little generator, and preferably be lightweight and portable. We live about 200 feet from the creek, and about 10 feet above it.

Thanks!

Neil
 
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ThirdGenPump

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The simplest difference is the manufacturer has to pay to certify a pump for potable supply. To pass the certification process each component that comes into contact with the water has to meet requirements. This requires they be made from specific plastics or metals.

A non-potable pump could meet the certification requirements but the manufacturer might not have gone through the effort of certification.

A non-potable pump might expose the water to heavy metals like lead or plastics that are carcenogenic. They could also use more porous parts that are succeptable to bacteria contamination.

Probably won't kill you. There may be concerns with long term exposure.
 

Valveman

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That pump is made out of the same materials that potable water pumps were made out of for a hundred years. After California started their Prop 65 thing the federal government followed right along. Now those materials are all of a sudden no longer suitable for potable water, even though people have been living to 100 drinking water from those pumps. They want to blame high lead levels like happened in Flint on the lead in the plumbing, instead of the incompetence of the government officials who pumped caustic water down those pipes.

Now they not only have to change the materials the pumps are made of and use less robust and problematic materials to make pumps, valves, pipe, and fittings, but they have to pay to get each model certified by an "independent third party".

So the price difference between that pump and the one made for potable water is what excessive government regulations are costing you for every item you purchase. And it doesn't make it any safer. The testing companies will cut out a piece of the metal or plastic the pump or valve is make of, grind it into a powder, then dissolve the powder in acid to see if ANY traces of ANY material on the list shows up.

I submit that if it were made out of pure lead and you ground the entire pump or valve into powder and dissolved it into the amount of water the unit would handle in it's lifetime, I would drink that water everyday of my life without a problem. It would be so diluted in all those millions of gallons of water it wouldn't hurt a thing. And the reality is there is only a small percentage of lead in good brass, and over it's lifetime there would not be a teaspoon of metal erode into the water, not the entire pump. This would make it extremely dilute.

The problem is the kind of people who make these new rules, are also the people who do the water testing and decided to let caustic water flow in Flint. That caustic water scoured the patina from the inside of the pipeline and not only dissolved the lead in the pipes, but also scoured everything else the pipes are made of into the water. But lets not look at what really caused the problem, lets pass it on to the manufacturers. Then the manufacturers pass it on down to the consumers and the general public pays the price, as usual.
 

Neil Gunton

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Thanks for the replies. Interesting. So, basically, valveman, you think I have nothing to worry about, which is encouraging. I'm open to other input, but unless anyone is saying that "if you drink water that has passed through that pump then you are going to get cancer and die, filter or no filter" then I guess I won't worry overmuch about it. Especially as it's just for emergencies anyway, and so would likely be used for a period of weeks rather than months, I would think. Where we are, in the Willamette Valley, I am mostly concerned with a major fault rip on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which would likely throw services out for some months. However we are in Albany, very near I5, and my assumption is that if a 9+ earthquake hits here, then yes, lots of bridges down, roads out, services out etc, but also... every piece of heavy machinery in the country is going to be headed our way the very next day. I'm figuring I5 will get cleared for basic transportation of emergency vehicles within a matter of a couple of weeks. I can't see total cutoff from all help lasting longer than that... I mean, 100 miles inland, everything will be normal. So I'm trying to plan for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, without any outside support. My stored water can last that long, probably, but I'm also thinking about neighbors, who aren't prepared and will probably come asking me. So the creek is a distinct possibility for getting used before the water trucks start appearing in the neighborhoods. But it certainly won't be a long term situation, I think.

The pump might also be useful for providing some pressure to be able to run a water hose in the event of a fire, which is quite a common occurrence after earthquakes. With no mains water pressure, even what you can get from this little pump might be better than nothing. I have a couple of 100 foot 3/4 inch hoses for getting water from the creek to the house.

The creek is pretty dirty water. It is seasonal, so slowly gets smaller as summer progresses, and the water is very murky. I plan on putting the foot valve inside a 5 gallon bucket (union junction through the lid). Drill lots of holes around the sides of the bucket, and wrap in window screen material to keep the larger stuff out that might damage the pump's impeller.

This prep stuff is kind of addictive. I'm not a doomsday prepper by any means, not concerned with the end of the world or fall of society etc, just a large earthquake, which I think is a reasonable possibility around here. It's also fun thinking about all the little things that you take for granted in everyday life... like water pressure, electricity, fresh food etc.

Anyway, thanks again.

Neil
 
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Valveman

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Thanks for the replies. Interesting. So, basically, valveman, you think I have nothing to worry about, which is encouraging.

Yeah in the 60's pumps were made completely out of red lead brass, hung on galvanized pipe, used asbestos coated wire, filled with oil, and even had capacitors with PCB's down hole. NONE of us would be alive today if the things the government said would happen actually happened. I am all for doing things the safest way possible, but we have just gone completely over the top crazy.
 

MichaelSK

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Speaking from a health care perspective: developing fetus and children are much more sensitive to lead intake than we "old folks." If I had a young family, and wanted to save "a few bucks," I think I would save my money elsewhere...... The criminal incompetence at Flint will have an impact for many decades - the children and unborn were impacted...... Of course, you have to consider the chemistry of the water and how it interacts with the materials of construction.....
 
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