What is a Booster Pump?

Water is vital in various residential, commercial, and industrial processes. Hence, a reliable water supply is crucial for efficient operations. Sometimes, more water pressure may be required to meet the various needs. In such instances, booster pumps can help increase water pressure and maintain a reliable water supply. 

Booster pumps are designed to increase water pressure and ensure a reliable water supply. They are ideal where water pressure may not be sufficient to meet operational requirements. Choosing the right booster pump is critical for achieving optimal performance and efficiency. 

Watermainsupply is an authorized distributor of A.Y. McDonald Booster Pumps. 

 

A.Y. McDonald Booster Pump Collection

 

What is a Booster Pump?

A booster pump takes whatever water is given, whatever pressure it's given, and adds pressure to it. So, sometimes you get into people that have low-yielding wells or putting it into a cistern, well that cistern has no pressure to it. It might have two to three psi to it because it's just the weight of the water, the gravity affecting the water that creates the pressure. Well, they might need 30 to 40 psi in the house. So, what you do is you take a booster pump, pull that water from that source, and build the pressure from there.

It works just like a jet pump or even a submersible pump. It's just taking that water, sending it through an impeller, slinging it out, and creating faster speed, and then the diffuser will move it to the next stage. A booster pump can also be used on city water. People who might only have 30 psi come into their house. And that's coming into the house, and they have two stories, so for every story, you go up, you start losing pressure because gravity is taken effect of that water, so now all of a sudden you get to the third floor, and you might only have 20 psi at the third floor. So, showers aren't that good. Some of your fixtures might not work that well.

So, if you put a booster pump in, it can take that 20 psi or 30 psi coming in and boost it to 60 psi off the pump. So, now you have 60 psi coming off the pump on that third floor now you have 50 psi versus 20 psi. So, it's just more of a convenience. Seventy-five years ago, people were happy with 20 psi in the house. But as we've progressed and sometimes if you have flush valves on your toilets that are low water consumption, but they create a lot of pressure to discharge whatever they're getting rid of, they might require certain pressure that you need somebody to the showerheads require certain pressure to run.

 

So, if you have low incoming pressure, you might need a booster pump to increase that pressure or just to satisfy the water pressure that you have to help out in the house. Some people just want a higher pressure in their house, and they'll put in a booster pump to create that for themselves. It might not be necessary, but that's what they want, and you know, they can do that.

Components of a Booster Pump

It's the same as any other system. They're all basically running the same principle. You have a pump, you have a motor, and you have some kind of control. On the AY McDonald booster pump, we do have a control box on our DuMac line; it will have a pump motor, and then it has a control box set so that you can dial in your start pressure. And what it's doing is it's using a transducer to read that pressure. So, what the unit does is read the pressure as it drops. If you have it set at a start pressure of 50, as the pressure drops, it gets to 50 psi, the unit comes on. The unit will come on just like with a pressure switch on a well-system.

But the difference between the AY McDonald booster pump and a well system is that it doesn't shut off when it reaches a certain pressure. What causes it to shut off is flow. So, a flow of less than half a gallon a minute will cause the unit to go into a shutdown cycle. And that's done through magnets, two magnets pushing against each other inside the pipe. And they have just enough force against each other that it's about half a gallon a minute. So, anything over half a gallon a minute will push the one magnet up far enough to get by a sensor in the control box to let it run.

But when that flow stops, that magnet drops and that sensor in the control box will pick it up. And that will cause it to go into a shutdown cycle. The one disadvantage of our system compared to a pressure switch is it doesn't look for a high pressure. So, what can happen is if, say, you have a 52-pound boost. You have 60 psi coming into the house. What will happen is the pump is going to turn on, and it's going to run until it senses that less than half a gallon a minute. Well, if it's got 60 psi coming in, it's going to take that 60 psi and add 52 to it. So, when it goes to shut off, it's going to take that 60 plus 52, now you got 112.

So, you will have 112 psi trapped between the check valve and all your fixtures in the house. And we always want to stay below 80 psi anywhere within a system. So, with our pump, we always recommend putting a pressure-reducing valve and putting that pressure-reducing valve to where the pump will never build over 80 psi. Sometimes people will use a pressure-reducing valve, and if it's an older house with older plumbing, they might back that down a little bit farther, they might put it at, hey, you know what, we don't want any more than 65 through this house.

So, it is a way of controlling the pressure that the pump can build, because the pump will not shut off on a certain pressure. But then we move into the other options that we carry. So, we move into, like on our larger commercial line, then we get into a variable speed drive. So, what that does is take out the controller that we usually have. You still have a pump and a motor, but now that control has more technology. So, what it's doing is it's taking a reading of the transducer and reading the pressure. So, it's like a cruise control on a car.

You can go in and set a pressure. So, say you set it at 70 psi, and what that drive is going to do is monitor that pressure. So, as the flow goes up, that pressure will drop. So, the drive will react by slightly speeding up the motor. So, what it does is it takes that motor, and it either speeds it up or slows it down to create constant pressure and allows you to adjust if the incoming pressure changes; it'll adjust to that. If the flow changes, it'll adapt to that. So, it will always keep a constant 70 psi running through that on the outlet of the pump to keep the pressure constant throughout the building.

How Booster Pump is Controlled

A booster pump will depend on how you set it up. On our smaller booster pumps, you can have them in either flow, where it only turns off and on with the flow, or buy pressure. On the smaller ones, it's always going to be shut off by flow. With a variable speed drive, as a flow stops, the pressure will build up, the motor can slow down farther and farther, and then it hits what it's looking for, which is the hertz it's running at. So, suppose that Hertz gets to a certain point. In that case, it will cause the motor to shut down because it knows, you know, I'm not spinning fast enough to really run, so it's going to shut off and wait for that pressure to drop again. So, basically, the variable speed the motor runs at different speeds. And as a regular one, they are at a constant speed.

Submersible pumps are under pressure switch, jet pumps are under pressure switch, and our DuraMAC booster line has a regular control; they're all going to spin at 3450 rpms. So, the minute the pressure drops to that mark to turn them on, they spin at 3450 rpms. Now a submersible pump you can put on variable speed drive, there's multiple out there, there's a PID, there's the Franklin sub drives, we offer the auto drive, but it's just basically putting a variable speed end drive on the pump to regulate the speed of the motor to create different pressures.

The same thing with the booster pump; you're using a variable speed drive to speed up and slow down that motor as demand changes to create different pressures. So, you lock in your pressure at whatever you need or is adequate for your application. And the motor will speed up and slow down to maintain that pressure. It's like cruise control on your car; you're going down the highway and putting it at 70 miles an hour. Your motor will speed up and slow down to maintain 70 psi or 70 miles per hour. So, it is the same thing with the drive; it's just monitoring the pressure and speeding up and slowing down that motor to maintain that pressure.

 

Residential Booster Pumps

The residential booster pump has an inlet with a check valve. The size of the inlet is 1-inch nominal pipe size. On commercial irrigation, it is an inch and a quarter. Then, when you get up into the bigger pumps, that could be one and a half to three or four inches, depending on the pump size. If it's a duplex or a triplex, that will change because you have to have a specific size to carry a volume of water. So, it will change to supply that volume of water adequately.

The inlet is the same; you still need to have a specific volume of water getting into the pump. Because if you're trying to use 200 gallons a minute and only have 100 coming in, you'll never get 200 on the outlet side because your incoming flow restricts you. So, the size of the inlet and outlet is determined by what kind of volume it can run. So, each pump is so like on our residential booster pumps; they are good for up to 20 gallons a minute, you get outside of that 20 gallons a minute range, they don't offer any benefit whatsoever, because the pump just can't move that much water.

Commercial irrigation is 35 gallons a minute. Then we get into dual mode simplex, about 70 gallons a minute. A duplex system would be 120 on those. But then, when we get into the variable speed drives, which range from 20 gallons a minute up to 420 gallons a minute, we can run through them. So, different applications will require a different volume of water. Apartment complexes with 100 units might need a triplex unit to supply enough water. A four-plex might only take up 35 gallons a minute, which would be the max that they would ever use. It just sizes the pump according to the volume and the pressure needed. And all pumps will always be on the same; what pressure do you need, and how much volume do you need? You need to make sure you can supply the pump with that much water to get you the result you're looking for.

 

DuraMAC residential models come in three different pressures: 35 psi, 42 psi, and 70 psi. The only difference is the size of the motor: 35 psi is half horsepower, 42 psi is three-quarter horsepower, and 70 psi is one horsepower.

We will always be in a single phase until we get into the variable speed drives and the booster pumps. And the other difference between them is that it's going to be a different horsepower, a different pressure, but to create the different pressure, so the 35 to the 52, you're adding an extra stage. So, now you're creating more. So, each time you add a stage, you add more pressure. So, the reason why we have the three different models is that it doesn't shut off on the pressure, so it's not looking to build a certain pressure, we don't want people to buy the 70-pound boost, and they have 50 psi coming in, because what they're going to have to do is you're going to have to take that 50 psi and put a pressure reducing valve, reduce it down to 10 and then bring it back up to 80.

So, with the different models, what we can do is if you have 50 coming in, we would go with the 35-pound boost, you put that pressure-reducing valve on, you'd knock it down to 45, and then you have a nice constant incoming pressure. Because the more you reduce down your incoming pressure, you start restricting the flow. And we never want to limit the flow too far because all of a sudden, you might have seven gallons a minute coming in, and now you restrict it down to three gallons a minute, well, you might need that extra volume on the other side. But you're never going to get it because you're restricting it down through that pressure-reducing valve.

On the unit on that 70-pound boost, the only time we ever recommend the 70-pound boost is for someone that is pulling from a lake or pulling from a cistern where they're coming from a static source. We usually don't recommend that unit for anybody with pressurized water just because it will build 70 psi. So, getting to that 80 is real quick. And again, we never want to go over the top of 80 psi anywhere in the system.

 

Scenario: Somebody already has 50 psi coming in and wants to buy a 35 psi model, but the 35 psi is not in stock. Can they use a 52 psi model?

 

Solution: They need to reduce it down to 28. We're always going to recommend that you reduce it to under 80. Suppose you recommend the 52-pound boost, and they put that in and don't reduce it. In that case, something will happen in the piping in the wall or something, and they will go after whoever recommended it to them. That's why we always recommend the pressure-reducing valve.  

The only time you wouldn't need one is if you're pulling out of a cistern tank because you'll never have tremendous pressure coming in; it's always going to be a minimum of two to three psi, and that is it. But I'm always going to recommend a pressure-reducing valve. Because if something goes wrong, and they put in 50 Pound boost and they get 60 psi coming in, and now they're at 112 and something happens where a hose breaks in their basement or something from the washing machine, they're going to go to the insurance company and the insurance company is going to be trying to figure out where the problem came in.

So, first, it's going to the plumber, and the plumber is going to say, "Hey, this is recommended by A.Y. McDonald." Then they're going to come after us looking for money. So, we're always going to recommend that pressure-reducing valve. You can do the 52 on that application, but that pressure-reducing valve has to be knocked down to 28 psi.

 

Scenario: Can they use a 70 psi model?

 

Solution: A pressure-reducing valve, most of which only goes down to 25 psi. So, finding one that'll go down that far might be challenging, and then you start restricting that flow too much. So, many times, I don't make that jump. You know, usually, I see the world has changed a lot in the last two years in terms of supply and demand. So, sometimes you're trying to make do with what's available. But sometimes, there are always consequences for everything you do. So, if you go from a 35 to a 52, there will be consequences because now you have to reduce that incoming pressure down, which in turn could affect the flow rate that you get into the pump. So, there are always consequences for it. Can it be done? Yes. Is it recommended? Probably not. Will it work more than likely?

You know, it's weighing the pros and cons of it, but the 70-pound boost going down that far, it just gets real tricky. You know, the better option would probably be, instead of the 70-pound boost, maybe moving into the light commercial irrigation, like a 40-pound boost. It has the capability of pushing more volume, but as long as you're staying within the parameters of what's coming in, you're not trying to use more than what you're getting into it, then you're fine.

There are other options that we can consider. A lot of times, when people are looking at a 35, they're not going to go to the 70-pound boost because you jump from a standard 115-volt outlet to a 230-volt outlet. And that does change the dynamics. You have to get an electrician involved to drop a 230-volt outlet for you versus having just your standard outlets all over your house.

The tank size of both residential and light commercial booster pumps is two gallons. And since the unit is shutting off on flow, we don't need a large tank. So, if you had a pressure switch involved on, say, even like the residential pump, so it's producing 10 to 15 gallons a minute, you'd probably need a 50-gallon tank there, you know, pressurized tank because it's looking for pressure at that. If it's on a pressure switch, it's looking for pressure to shut off. So, anytime it would get to 50, it would shut off.

With our residential booster shutting off on flow since it doesn't look for pressure, that tank is mainly there for the initial startup. When it first kicks on, there is an inrush of flow going through, so that inrush starts flowing through the house real quick. And if it didn't have the tank, what would happen is it would slam around in there, so that pressure tank gives it a place to grow into so you don't get a water hammer throughout the house.

So, it kind of works as a water hammer arrester, but it also provides a little bit of storage for when the ice machine kicks on. If someone fills up a glass of water, the pump doesn't have to come on to satisfy that demand. It just pulls from that tank first.

Difference between Residential and Light Commercial Booster Pump

What is the difference between the residential model and the light commercial model?

The size of the inlet changes just a bit to accommodate the higher volume; the pumps can handle 35 gallons a minute on the light commercial versus 20 gallons a minute on the residential. And then on the light commercial, you get into everything that will be 230 volts, and then you have the 40 psi and 62 psi and the 78 psi pounds boast. So, you get into a one horse or a horse and a half—but the dynamics of the pump change just a little bit to create that extra flow. But when you make that extra flow, you also have to increase the motor size to keep that pressure availability to increase that pressure.

You know, but if you look at them, you'd never know—they are very similar, and their operating methods are exactly the same. It's just the power supply and how the pump is designed to carry more volume.

So, the only difference between a residential booster pump and a light commercial booster pump is the size of the inlet, which is changed, and the power requirement is two 30-phase. Then, the dynamics of the pumps change just a little bit, just how much volume they're trying to carry, and they both have a two-gallon perimeter tank.

 

Both pumps function the same way, and the controls work the same way. The difference is that one control takes 115 volts, and the other takes 230 volts.

E-Series Residential Booster Pump

Where does the E-Series booster pump come into the picture? What is the difference between the E-Series and the residential model?

The E-Series is more of a stripped-down model. We removed the control on the light commercial and residential models. On these models, you can control when the pump starts, so you can control the pressure that it starts at. On the E-Series, you're basically dummying down the control a little bit, so the control is going to work on flow—its main form of activation is going to be flow.

Anytime more than half a gallon minute of flow, the unit will kick on; less than half a gallon minute of flow, it shuts off. There is a safety device on there for if, say, you don't have enough flow and you're pulling out of a cistern tank, so there's not enough pressure to activate the pump. There is a pressure sensor, a hob-style pressure sensor, set at 30 PSI and will kick the unit on if the pressure drops. Because if you had the E-Series and it only worked on flow and, say, you had a small leak in, then you're pulling off a cistern. You had a small leak or a faucet that slowly drips a toilet that slowly runs water all the time; what would happen is all that pressure would drop off, and then the unit would go kick on. There's nothing there to move that magnet to activate it.

So, anytime the pressure drops to 30 PSI or less, the unit will activate, recharge the line, and then wait for that flow to start up again. That's the main thing: It's a hob-style pressure switch versus a transducer. A transducer is going to read a DC current and give you an actual reading and the pressure.

So, the way it starts, the tank goes to a half-a-gallon tank. Since it is going starting on flow, we don't need a store that pressurized water as much. So, it still just gives it a little place to as a buffer when it first kicks on, and then the warranty changes. So, the warranty goes to a one year versus a three year on that light commercial irrigation and the residential.

The warranty is shorter, which just helps to bring the cost down to make it a little more affordable for specific applications. Many people will have them installed and never touch them again so that the E-Series might be the best option for those using them. They usually need them when they take a shower.

The one disadvantage of the E-Series over to the DuraMAC is that if you use a sink in your bathroom, they tend only to pull about 30 gallons of water, so they will often not activate the pump. So, if you're on a third or fourth floor, it might be an issue. If you're just on a, you know, you might never notice it anyway because you're just washing your hands; you don't need the pressure, but most of the time, people notice pressure in the shower. So, the unit itself will—anytime the shower's running, it will come on and run during that shower cycle, so they'll notice the pressure difference there.

However, it still functions the same way, shutting off on flow. You're still going to need that pressure-reducing valve to activate it or to ensure that it doesn't overpressurize anything. And we only offer that in the 35 and the 52 pounds boost.

The residential and light commercial booster pump works on a flow and pressure switch. You can set it either way. If you turn the dial to zero and hit reset, it will go into flow mode. So, it'll only come on when you use more than half a gallon a minute of flow.

People use it mainly if they do leak somewhere in the house: leaky faucet or toilet. They don't want that unit turning off and on periodically throughout the day, so they'll go into a flow mode to stop that because the tank can empty out. However, the leak can still occur because you still have pressurized water from the city. Everything is fine, but turning on the shower or whatever will activate the pump. Then you'll have pressure more significant pressure again. But most of the time, people will use it in a pressure mode because they don't want to. Number one, there is a little delay in flow mode until that gets activated.

And number two, they don't want that big drop. So, what'll happen is when you first turn on the shower, that tank's holding pressure, that tank will empty, and then it has to wait for the flow to start going by that magnet to activate it. Well, you might go from 70 PSI down to 30 PSI before it activates. So, now you go from 70 to 30 and then 30 back up to 70, where if you're in pressure mode, as soon as it sees 60 PSI, it goes from 70 to 60 and then back up to 70. So, you don't get that large swing in pressure back and forth.

The E-Series will strictly be on flow or down to 30 PSI before it kicks in. So, sometimes, even the E-Series has only a small tank, so flow starts up pretty quickly on those, and they will activate right away.

 

Dual Mode Simplex & Dual Mode Duplex Booster Pump

What is the dual mode simplex commercial, and what is the dual mode duplex commercial model?

The only difference between the two is the number of pumps. The simplex is a 20-gallon pump tank; it functions just the same as the light commercial irrigation and the residential model. It works on pressure, so it will activate anytime the pressure drops to that predetermined point. The difference is that the dual-mode simplex and duplex will shut off at three gallons a minute. Anything less than three gallons a minute will shut them off.

So, basically, with those, we're just taking that same unit that we've already talked about and increasing its size. The simplex can carry up to 70 gallons a minute, and the duplex can carry up to 120 gallons a minute.

So, if you're in a factory or an apartment complex, depending on how much volume you need, you might have to go from a simplex to a duplex to carry that. The other nice thing about the duplex versus the simplex is you might get by with only needing one pump but the duplex will give you a backup pump just in case. So, if something happens to that main pump, one of the controls, or something on that main pump, you always have a backup.

It can be set up as totally redundant, with two pumps, each satisfying the demand, so you have a backup just in case something happens to one. It comes on a skid with a tank and everything mounted.

Everything's ready to go. It comes preassembled, so all you have to do is hook up water and bleed it out, change the dial in the setting, change the tank pressure, and go away.

Size of tank

There is a 20-gallon tank on those. Depending on the unit itself, the simplex might have an inch-and-a-half inlet, and the duplex might have a two-inch inlet. The duplex does come with a header, so one port in will feed both pumps.

In the duplex model, there are two gauges and two control units. So, when you set those up on the duplex, you'll set one pump as the lead, and the other pump will be a lag. So, what you're going to do is if you want the pressure to start at 60, you're going to set the main pump that you want to be the lead, you set it at 60. So, anytime the pressure drops below 60 PSI, the pump will kick on and do what it needs to do. What you do is on the second pump as a lag pump, you will set that 10 PSI less than the lead, so if the lead's at 60, you'll set the lag at 50.

And what'll happen is if that lead pump can't keep up, the pressure's going to drop down to 50, and at that point, it's going to kick that second pump in. So, now that the second pump will kick in, they will work in tandem to move that water.

And then after they hit three gallons a minute, they're both going to shut off and then wait for that pressure to drop again. What people will do is they'll set those up as a lead-lag, and then every 30 days or so they'll go down and they'll switch the pumps. So, they'll take the one that was at 50 and move it up to 60, and the one that was at 60, push it down to 50 and change which one's lead, which one's a lag to give them even wear. Many times, what would happen is if you always leave the one pump as a lead and the second pump is a lag, the one pump might wear out, and the second pump hardly has any use on it whatsoever. So, it gives them even wear and ensures that everything works correctly between both pumps.

And there could be situations where both pumps are working in tandem. If you're using a large volume of water and one pump can't keep up, it will cause that pressure to drop down to the set point. That second pump will kick in, and then they're just both running until they sense that less than three gallons a minute of flow, and then that's what'll shut them off.

Then they go back to their regular waiting for the pressure to drop to one, and that one will activate. If the pressure drops even further, then the second one will activate. They don't communicate with each other, they don't do anything, and you know, they don't, as pressure goes up, one doesn't shut off. If they both come on, they're both going to run until there's less than three gallons a minute of flow, and at that point, that'll cause a shutdown.

Now, let's move up to the variable speed drive ones on the variable speed drives, like the duplex units on the VFDs. They will communicate with each other. So, if one pump doesn't need a run, it will shut off and wait until the pressure drops far enough to require that second pump again.

Duplex commercial models only comes in 230 single phase.

 

Dual Mode Modular Booster Pump

 

What is dual mode modular booster pump?

It is the same as the simplex and duplex– the same pump, motor control, and everything. The only thing it does is it takes out that skid and it takes out the tank and the plumbing for it. So, some people might want to adapt it to their existing system. They might already have a tank and don't need to replace it so that they can plumb this in. It will work the same as a simplex, but they can plumb it into their system to give them a boost. So, it's the same pump motor control flow switch there.

So, if you look at it, you can see the components; it's all built-in. The only thing we do differently on the simplex is we have the tank, the skid, and the plumbing from the tank to the outlet there. But outside of that, they're the same. They do the same thing; there's no difference between the way they function or what they can do overall; it's just with the modular; you just don't have the tank and the skid involved in the plumbing.

 

Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) Booster Pumps

AY McDonald offers  small VFDs, which are one and a half to three horsepower. They're usually smaller in volume, so they can handle 20 to 40 gallons per minute on the simplex and 40 to 80 gallons per minute on a duplex.

Then, the larger models go from 3 to 10 horsepower on the motors, and the pump ends. They function the same, and they do the same thing, but one is just smaller; it uses a Yaskawa micro-drive, whereas the larger units use a P1000 Yaskawa drive. But with that, everything gets bigger because you're moving more volume of water or creating higher pressures. You know, so it just covers a large gamut there for units that, because you want to size them properly, you don't want– if you oversize them, what can happen is the pump won't function properly because it doesn't need to spin as fast.

So, you might not get into its optimal work zone because what you're trying to do with a variable speed drive is One nice thing about a variable speed drive is your power consumption is reduced because the pump doesn't need to run at full speed all the time, it only needs to run at partial capacity to meet your demand. So, if you don't size it correctly, what you're doing is you're taking away if you size it too small, where that motor has to run at full speed all the time anyway, and it's either a waste. You're not gaining anything by having the variable speed drive and not saving any money.

On the contrary, if you size it too big, what can happen is that the motor only has to start at a certain frequency, so at a certain speed. If it doesn't have to run at that speed, then it just shuts off. So, that unit would be turning off and on to hit that mark you're looking for.

So, if you have a unit that will produce 80 PSI but you only need 10 PSI a boost, it's probably the wrong unit. You probably want to go to a smaller unit with a smaller motor, which has to run at a slightly higher speed to achieve your desired goal. Number one, it's going to save energy because every time a motor starts, that's when it uses its most energy.

So, it's going to take less energy, number one, to start the motor, but to keep it running is going to be more economical than constant start and stops out of it. 

1710 Vs. 1706 Models VFD Booster Pumps

What is the difference between 1710 and 1706 model booster pumps

That goes into the pump end itself. The pump end might be changing to create different flows or different pressures. So, on the 17103 V 20, that's good up to about 20, its optimal running range is about 20 gallons per minute. It can create up to 103 PSI. The 17062 uses a larger pump end so it can carry more volume.

That one can carry out 80 gallons a minute, whereas the 17103 can only carry out about 25 gallons a minute. Depending on your application and how much volume you need, different models will be available to meet various demands on pressure and flow. So, it's trying to find the right fit for what you're trying to create for extra pressure and the flow you're trying to move through.

And that's why we have the difference. They might be the same horsepower, but what the pump end is trying to create on that 17103 is only a horse and a half, whereas the 17062 is a three-horsepower motor. Because you're moving a larger volume of water, it takes more energy or more power to move that larger volume of water, so that's why it has a larger motor on it.

So, the 1706 is the bigger one. It can move more volume but not as much pressure. It's only a 62-pound boost max, where that 103 can give us 103 pounds of boost, but it can only move out to 25 gallons a minute. So, with that one, that might be for a coffee shop or something with a larger volume. Still, they don't need the large unit to, you know, they don't need 80 gallons a minute; they might only be running 20 gallons a minute.

So, it's a little more, it's smaller, it's more economical, and it's probably about half the price because you do have a smaller motor, pump, and drive. So, it's just kind of finding. They're all designed to meet different applications. They all do the same thing: They monitor their pressure and speed up and slow down the motor. It's just trying to find the right unit to meet the demands that the customer needs.

The tank of these booster pumps will always depend on the volume of water they're using. One application might only use 20 gallons a minute, whereas the next application might use 70 gallons a minute. So, that tank size is going to change. It will run about 20-25% of the overall water volume. So, if we have a unit running 60 gallons a minute, we will need about a 12 to 15-gallon tank to satisfy that because you're letting the pump speed up and slow down.

So, the pump is doing what it needs to: keeping running and boosting pressure, so it's never stopping. The nice part about a variable speed is that you'd need a smaller tank because the tank's just there to store a little bit of pressurized water and to flatten out the peaks and valleys of the pressure as the pump speeds up and slows down. It just gives it a little place to absorb.

What could be situations where you need more pressure and less water?

If you're trying to get water up to a sixth floor, it's a tenant, and they have horrible pressure there. So, they put one of these because they don't– they only need 15 gallons a minute. Still, they need the pressure to overcome gravity to get them a higher pressure up on the top because, for every 10 feet of elevation, you lose 4.3 PSI. So, if you go up five floors, suddenly, you're losing 20 to 25 PSI because of gravity. So, now you have to try giving them some more pressure to give them a better outcome at the top.

They both have anywhere from an inch and a-quarter to two-inch inlets.

It's an inch and a quarter on the smaller ones. A duplex system, it's a two-inch, and then when you move up into, like the 17062, the larger units that are 80 gallons or above, they get into a two-inch, the duplex would be a three-inch, and then if we get into a triplex, we get into a four-inch header on them. So, because you're carrying a larger volume of water, you need a bigger pipe to be able to satisfy the demands of the pumps.

 

What is a Multi-Stage Booster Pump? What is a Variable Speed Booster Pump?

So, multi-stage is in the pump. So, the pump has multiple stages in it. So, if it only had one stage, it can only create, say, 20 PSI but two stages now, it can create 40 PSI, you keep adding stages. The more stages you add, the greater the pressure it can produce. You know, but with that, the more pressure you try making at that volume, the horsepower has to change because you need more horsepower to create more pressure at that flow.

So, that's where the multi-stage comes in. So, it means there are multiple stages inside that pump and multiple impeller diffuser stages inside it. The variable speed is because of the drive. The drive is speeding up and slowing down that motor to create and maintain that pressure, so if all of a sudden, you're only using five gallons a minute, the motor doesn't have to spin as fast at five gallons a minute as it does at 20 gallons a minute to maintain 60 PSI. So, as the volume goes out, that motor gets faster and faster to keep that pressure constant.

And it's more economical to use electricity because when a standard pressure switch is set up, that pressure switch hits its mark. It engages that motor, spinning at 3,450 RPMs, using 17, say 16 amps. In contrast, at a variable speed, it might only be spinning at 2200 RPMs and using 10 amps. So, your power consumption is reduced because it's only satisfying the small demand. Still, with a pressure switch, it doesn't know that there's any demand difference. It just knows that "The pressure dropped, I come on. Pressure reaches a certain point, I shut off," and then it'll keep turning off and on throughout that cycle. With a variable speed, it can turn off and on all the time; it can turn on and run through that whole cycle at a slower speed to satisfy the demand instead of having to turn off and on.

It'd be like in your car, say, you're taking a trip, and every time you get to a stop light, you shut the car off. As soon as the light turns on, you floor it until you get to the next stop light or until you get to 60 miles per hour.

So, every time you get to 60 miles an hour, you let off on your foot, drop down to 50, and floor it again. So, if you do that, you're using more energy instead of it's easier to maintain a speed than it is to get up to the speed. So, if you're fluctuating slightly, you're not using as much energy as you are going from 0 to 60, 0 to 60 all the time.

The 1706 model has TL on it; what does TL mean?

TL is Trusdale. They both should be. All the booster pumps are certified to NSF 61 and 372, and Trusdale is the governor of the laboratory that certified him to that.

Because that does come in quite a bit, people need to, you know, they want it to be certified to NSF 61 372. That means that there'sthere are no harmful chemicals that could be running into the water. That might get into somebody who might be consuming the water, and that could be a carcinogen or something that could be harmful to their health.

 

Triplex Booster Pump

What is the difference between a triplex, a duplex, and a simplex?

It's just trying to; depending on how much water you're trying to move, as the water volume goes up, you might need a second pump to help out the first pump to get to that volume. So, a triplex would be for people who are using high volumes of water. Depending on the pump and the pressure, you might have to move up into a triplex to be able to meet the demand that they're looking at.

The triplex is, we can do on, like, the average 150 PSI boost, you can run out to 240 gallons a minute. But it might be like a high rise that needs 400 gallons a minute or a condo complex with multiple buildings feeding off this one pump; they might have to carry a larger volume of water that they're trying to boost. So, they want one pumping station that can take care of that, and that's where you, depending on the volume of water, will depend on the amount of pumps you need. So, as the volume goes off, the amount of pumps you need increases.

Sometimes, people will go if they might only need a duplex, but they will order a triplex because that gives them a backup pump. So, two pumps only need to run at any time, but that third pump is always there to give them that backup in case one goes down. Then, they have that third pump there to kick in to take care of the water volume.

One thing that the duplexes and the triplexes do is in the programming of the drives; they communicate with each other and will change which one's the lead. So, every 24 hours, they change which one's the lead and which one's the lag. So, they will stagger and rotate their self on which one's becoming the main pump every day. So, you get even wear throughout the pumps, and you don't have to worry about one pump being overworked and the other never doing anything. So, they will go through and take care of their selves to make sure that they all have even wear.

Commercial buildings are not capped at 80 psi. Hence, the 104 psi or 150 psi boost on commercial model works for commercial buildings because you often have steel piping with those, so their pressure ratings are different. But a lot of it gets into whatever the city code is. You always have to follow the city code. Still, yeah, much time, everything in those buildings are designed to– because if you're trying to go up 15 floors that's going to be just to get up the 15 floors, you're going to need 65 PSI just to get the water to the 15th floor.

Well, now, you need another 50 PSI at the top floor, and then you have to create 110 PSI to get the water at a 50 PSI boost. So, when you get into commercial buildings, some of that does change, it all depends on the piping. But a plumber or an installer should know what the capabilities of that facility are because they're all going to have to. There are certain codes and stuff they have to meet to get all that.

 

What situations will you use your dual-mode duplex or simplex versus variable speed?

You can use the dual mode—and it's almost to the point where I don't even go into the dual mode because we do have the smaller variable speeds now. Those just came in about three years ago, and price-wise, the smaller variable speeds are pretty close.

So, for the money, for a couple of $100 more, you are better off with the variable speed. You get more flexibility with them. The dual mode is something that, in some cases, is a little more economical. On the higher volume stuff, it's a little more economical than variable speed, but for the most part, it's just finding the right fit. There are only a few applications where the dual-mode duplex is a better option. But it was something that was there before we had the variable speed line, and it's still a popular item.

But if I were choosing, I would go with the variable speed because you have more flexibility and control. You don't need that pressure-reducing valve because you're not worried about a higher pressure, and you can control the overall outcome on a variable speed where you can't on that dual mode.

 

Can the dual mode can be replaced by the 17103 or 1706 model?

It depends on their application, their pressure, and what they're looking to do. Each application is going to be different from what we recommend, and we're just trying to optimize the running speed and the total outcome. Sometimes it gets into, "Hey, we're putting in a unit, but we're going to expand in the next year or so." We will try figuring that out to accommodate that expansion. But yeah, the variable speed is a better choice than the dual mode. Still, there are applications, such as specific apartment complexes.

You know, the dual mode is perfect for what they need. They need a 44-pound boost, and we'll handle it. It's $2-300 cheaper than a variable speed, so. There are applications where it does still work, but for the most part, that small variable speed, when we brought that in, was taking up some of that niche that the dual mode had.

 

Between the dual mode and the variable speed, the power requirement is what? 230 single phase for the dual mode and 230 3 phase?

In the variable speeds, we get into three-phase availability, wherein the dual mode is only single-phase. So, there are some applications where people have three-phase in, and that's what they want to use because three-phase is a little bit more economical to run than single-phase.

 

Conclusion

Selecting the right booster pump is critical for your residential, industrial and commercial application. AY. McDonald offers wide variety of booster pumps to satisfy your needs. With more than 100 years in business, AY. McDonald is one of the lead pump manufacturer in Unites States.

Reach out to sales@watermainsupply.com or call 281.516.8166 for all your booster pump needs