What is a Water Booster Pump?

Booster Pump System A water booster pump is a kind of centrifugal pump which is used to boost the pressure of water in a pipeline that is already moving from one place to another.

For example, water coming in from the cities water supply into an apartment building may only be at 30psi. In a typical 7 story building 30psi is not enough to provide water to the upper floors. Therefore, a booster pump is needed to increase the pressure so that the top floor has adequate water pressure.

Another example is when a building has a roof water tank that supplies water to it’s tenants. In this case you will need a booster pump to keep the tank filled. If we looked at the same 7 story building with incoming water pressure at 30psi, the tank would never get filled because there is not enough pressure to overcome gravity.

Something else you should know about roof water tanks is that, if it is not raised high enough, the tenants on the top floors will have inadequate water pressure. The reason being is that as water falls from the tank, through the pipes, it picks up speed due to the gravitational pull. In many cases the water hasn’t gained enough speed to raise the pressure high enough for the top floor. In this case a booster pump is needed to increase the pressure for the floors that are affected.

How Does A Centrifugal Booster Pump Work?

These pumps rely on one or more impellers to increase water pressure.

The way it works is, the impellers pull water into the pumps intake and disburses it at a higher pressure (speed) through the discharge. The more impellers a pump has the higher the pressure will be.

You will see pumps referred to as single-stage or multi-stage pumps.

A single-stage pump has one impeller and a multi-stage pump has 2 or more impellers.

Single-stage pumps are used when you need to boost the water pressure by just a small amount.

Multi-stage pumps are used when you need a larger increase in pressure (more than what a single-stage pump can deliver).

When Are Booster Pumps Needed?

To move water up a hill.
To feed a boiler system.
To increase city water supply pressure.
To supply water to the top floors of your facility.
To provide high-pressure for cleaning and spraying.
To water crops on farms.
To increase pressure after installing a backflow prevention device (BFP).
To increase pressure for your fire sprinkler system or fire hose.
Generally speaking, anywhere higher pressure is required.

Here at Pro Pump we repair, replace, install, retrofit, maintain and sell booster pumps and booster pump systems with control panels.

To learn more give us a call and one of our experienced technicians will answer your questions.

You can reach us at (212) 981-1150 or (718) 249-2325.