DIY 12 Volt On-Demand Water Pump System

I camp a lot, and I tend to camp in remote areas that do not have facilities such as water, electric, or bathrooms available. When I am not actually camping, I like to spend time building 'toys' for camping.

When I am camping, water is very important. Many times I bring water with me in a storage tank, jugs, or buckets. Sometimes water is available from a spring or stream.

Although I can do all my cooking, cleaning, and bathing with water from a bucket or tank, it is much more handy to have a source of pressurized water, it's also fun to build a system to provide that water...

I could of just taken a 12 Volt On-Demand Water Pump and attached an inlet hose and an outlet hose, but where is the fun in that...

This instructable will show you what I built. It is certainly not the best or only way to do it, but it is what I did & I find it quite handy at the campsite. Hopefully this will give you a couple of ideas for your own water pump system.

For my system, I wanted to be able to pump water either from a bucket or an outside source such as a tank or stream.

I decided that I would mount a pump onto a lid of a bucket.

I made a plywood lid for a bucket by cutting out two circles, one slightly smaller than the inside of the bucket, and one slightly larger than the outside of the bucket. I then glued and stapled the two circles together and I had a nice solid surface to mount my pump and plumbing to.

After making the lid, I was ready to mount the pump.

At first glance, the lid seemed like it provided so much room for the pump, however, like all real estate, it shrinks pretty fast when you start putting things on it...

Carefully decide where you want to mount your pump, trying to take into consideration plumbing, connections, electrical, etc...

I use PEX for almost all of my plumbing. I used to use copper, but I like PEX better because it can handle freezing, and it is cheaper than copper...

For my water system I wanted to be able to pull water either from a bucket or from an outside source such as a holding tank or stream. To accomplish this, I will install a hose connection on the bucket for the outside source, and a siphon pipe for pumping from the bucket. In the last picture you can see the line under the bucket lid. If the valve is open (as in the picture) and the valve on top of the bucket is closed, then the pump will draw from the bucket. If the valve is closed and the valve on top open, then it will draw from another outside source... Note to self, do not leave both open or water will be everywhere.

I could of used a bypass valve which would of only allowed water to come from direction, However I needed this pump the day I built it, so i did not have time to order one. If you want to use a bypass valve check out a plumbing or RV store... They are commonly used for bypassing hot water heaters when winterizing them.

Here you can see the valve that is used to allow water to be pumped from an outside source such as a holding tank or stream.

It is a standard valve with a hose thread. In the picture I have an adapter attached since the hose coming into my pump from my supply tank is a male end...

On the pressurized side of the pump I installed a pressure gauge, mostly just for my own amusement, and the outgoing hookup.

I used a quick-connect cam-lock fitting so that I could have my pump hook up to a variety of hoses quickly and easily.

I could of just hooked the wires up to a battery, but that would of been entirely too simple!!!

I ran the power through an electric box with a receptacle and a switch.

The receptacle has a plug in it in the first pic. This plug has a jumper wire from one side to the other. I call that the key. with it removed the pump will not work. The purpose is to allow me to control the power remotely from the pump, if I take the key out, and turn the switch to on, i can have a remote switch away from the pump. You can see my remote switch in the last picture.

Because I may pump water from a spring or stream, I would prefer not to get sediment into my system, so I added a water filter to the system.

This filter is simply a house water filter and I added a male and female hose fitting to each side of it...

So what did I end up with....

One overly complicated bucket with a pump on top of it!!!

There are many ways to use an on-demand pump. This was the way I did it.

I ended up with a pump that can pump from a bucket or any other exterior source simply by switching a couple valves. It will pump out to a variety of sources. It produces 45 psi of water pressure, and now I have running water when camping for all my dish-washing and showering needs..

Thanks for taking the time to look at this instructable, and please check out my other instructables.

Have a great day and check back to see what I post next ;)