We’re often asked which hose is best to use with a water pump, and the reality is the two main styles, Layflat Hose and Suction Delivery Hose, both have their pros and cons.
The split is also very even. Before writing this blog, we analysed our data and found that for 25mm hose options, in the analysed month, we supplied 64 Layflat Hoses and 66 Suction Delivery hoses. Almost neck and neck.
As a personal preference, I would recommend Suction Delivery Hose. It doesn’t kink, can be buried, is unlikely to be damaged, and is ideal for pumping over obstacles or up stairs.
You’re also more likely to get a higher flow rate than with Layflat Hose, as there’s less friction loss. With Layflat Hose, there’s always a little friction loss keeping the hose open.
For any fixed installation, or where you’re pumping uphill, it needs to be Suction Delivery Hose.
So, you may be thinking that’s the clear winner. But not always.
Layflat Hose is much easier to store. There have been times I’ve helped out in flood situations and loaded my car boot with pumps and hoses. Suction Delivery Hose wouldn’t have fitted. It would’ve been unwieldy.
Layflat, on the other hand, was easy to store, easy to carry, easy to transport, and significantly cheaper. Once you reach 50mm and upwards, Layflat Hose begins to make much more sense. The achievable flow rate is still high, and at this size, the hose is much easier to store.
To reduce the likelihood of kinking with Layflat Hose, certain pumps such as the Tsurumi LSC1.4S and the Stream SPK530 have a discharge hose tail that can be unbolted and turned around, allowing you to set it vertically or horizontally depending on your setup.
To further reduce kinking, or to prevent the pump from toppling over on other models, you can also purchase an elbow hose tail.
Layflat Hose is made from a soft, flat and flexible yarn-reinforced construction, making it:
There’s little point having a small, portable water pump if you need a huge space to store the hose.
Sometimes we’re asked whether a garden hose could be used, but it’s worth noting that these are usually only around 13mm in diameter. This isn’t usually recommended, as the friction loss would be significant, meaning your flow rate would be very low (if at all).
Now, everything above is discussing discharge only, that is, for a submersible pump.
If you’re looking at engine-driven pumps, these have an inlet side that draws the water in and an outlet that discharges it. You cannot use Layflat Hose on the suction side. This has to be Suction Delivery Hose (hence the name, as it can be used for both suction and delivery).
It’s common to use Layflat Hose on the delivery side. As engine-driven pumps tend to have larger outlets and higher power, it’s typical to have a short length of Suction Delivery Hose on the inlet and a long run of Layflat on the discharge.
An engine-driven pump might have just 4 metres of Suction Delivery Hose, but 100 metres of Layflat, which is far more practical when it comes to storage and transport.
You can join various lengths of hose using a hose joiner and jubilee clips.
Hopefully this helps with your decision-making. We’ve also included a video explainer below which walks through the differences in more detail.
Written By: Simon Crowther
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