Know your water pump materials

Depending on the type of job at hand, it's critical that your electric water pump is composed of the correct materials. Corrosion can occur in a number of ways while an electric pump is in use, so it's of the utmost importance to choose the right pump materials for the right job. 

Absolute Water Pumps offers a wide variety of electric pumps suitable for nearly any application. This post will discuss the various materials which you will often find in pump housing and impeller components, and the applications in which they are used.

Cast iron is the most common housing material that you will find when looking for electric pumps. This is often because cast iron is a relatively low-cost metal when it comes to productions, but for more demanding applications, cast iron construction, especially in the impeller, can lead to shorter pump lifespans. However, cast iron housings with bronze impeller components can be a great and cost-effective combination. See below for more details about bronze electric pump components.

Stainless steel is corrosion resistant and is often recommended for use in pumps that need to be useable for a number of non-flammable liquids. Electrically powered sump pumps, high volume centrifugal pumps, and submersible pumps are often composed of stainless steel housings and driver hardware when they are rated for trash, sewage, solids, or non-flammable chemicals pumping tasks.    

Of the common housing and impeller materials that you typically find in electric water pumps, bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) may provide the best combination of cavitation resistance, cost, abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance for pretty much any water, trash, solids or other non-corrosive pumping jobs. Pumps constructed in bronze are great in seawater and warm water environments. There are some situations in which brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) pumps are more corrosive resistant.  

Aluminum is lightweight (close to a third of the weight of steel) and easy to cast while also providing decent durability and corrosion resistance. Aluminum pumps are often helpful in applications where a highly portable pump is required for tough jobs.

More dangerous, corrosive, or flammable applications require special alloys. In some lower-power applications, plastics can be used instead of alloys, but they have a lower pressure limit.

I hope that this post has been helpful in informing you of the advantages and disadvantages of various materials and that this will help inform your choice in electric water pumps.