A rainwater harvesting setup is only as useful as the pump that empties the tank. The tank stores what falls on your roof; the pump is what turns that store into usable water at the hose, sprinkler or trough. This page is about choosing that pump. We are pump specialists, so we focus on getting you the right pump for the job rather than selling tanks or off-the-shelf kits.
Collecting and using roof water has gone mainstream. Here is why, and what the pump's job actually is.
Rainwater harvesting has taken off for three reasons. Collecting roof water is not abstraction, so it needs no Environment Agency licence (see our guide to water abstraction licences). The updated SuDS national standards now treat rainfall as a resource to use on site. And UK weather keeps swinging between drought and downpour, as we cover in El Nino, extreme weather and water. All of which means more people with a full tank and a need to pump from it.
The pump sits in or beside the storage tank and lifts and pressurises the stored water on demand, sending it wherever it is needed: a garden, polytunnel, sprinkler line, livestock trough, washdown point, or a building's non-potable supply such as toilet flushing. The right choice depends on how the water is drawn off, whether on a float, on a tap or trigger, or fed to sprinklers. The three pumps below cover almost every rainwater setup we are asked about.
Three pumps cover almost every rainwater setup; match the pump to how you draw the water off. For the wider choice, see our well and borehole pumps too.
See all irrigation pumpsBuilt for rainwater and clean water; runs submerged in the tank or dry-mounted as a surface pump. Add the floating suction set to take the cleanest water from just below the surface. Our first choice for most setups.
Electronic, on demand: it starts the instant you open a tap or trigger and stops when you close it, like mains pressure. Ideal for hose use, washdown and hand watering.
Float-switched high pressure for sprinklers and open irrigation drawn from a tank. A simple, strong fit for garden and farm watering.
A quick decision guide, where these pumps shine, and when to bring in whole-system design.
Rainwater pumps earn their keep anywhere there is roof area and a use for the water, but they are particularly powerful on farms and rural sites. Large barn and shed roofs collect serious volumes, and there is constant demand for crop irrigation, livestock water and washdown. A pump on a barn-roof rainwater tank turns runoff into a free, licence-light supply through the dry months. The same approach suits gardens, allotments, market gardens, polytunnels and commercial sites. If your priority is moving water off a site rather than storing it, see our drainage pumps guide instead.
We supply the pump. If you need the rainwater harvesting or drainage scheme itself designed, sized and taken through planning, that is the job of our sister company, FPS Environmental Ltd, a drainage and flood-risk consultancy within the FPS Group.
For example, a livestock barn near Cambridge with a 107m² roof needed a drainage solution that disposed of no water off site. FPS Environmental designed a rainwater harvesting scheme, sizing the tank to store the 1 in 100 year (1% AEP) storm plus a 40% climate change allowance, with excess draining to a soakaway, and secured planning permission from the lead local flood authority. Read the livestock sustainable drainage case study. Once the scheme is set, we will get you the pump to match it.
For most setups the Umbra Pompe Acuasystem 2AL is the natural choice, built for rainwater and able to run submerged or surface mounted with a floating suction option. The Divertron starts and stops automatically as you open and close a tap or trigger. For sprinklers or open irrigation from a tank, the APP MVH-10 is a strong fit.
We specialise in the pumps rather than tanks, filters or complete kits. If you need a full rainwater harvesting or drainage scheme designed and approved, our sister company FPS Environmental can do that, and we will supply the pump to suit it.
Yes. The APP MVH-10 suits sprinklers and open irrigation, while the Divertron is ideal for a hose or spray trigger because it starts and stops automatically as you open and close it. Both deliver pressure from stored rainwater.
No. Rainwater you collect and store from a roof is not abstraction, so it needs no Environment Agency licence. Taking water from a borehole or watercourse is different and can need a licence above 20,000 litres a day.
Tell us your tank, how the water is used and where it has to go, and our engineers will point you to the right pump. Most stocked pumps ship the same working day on orders placed before 2pm.
