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12V pump for a water butt during a hosepipe ban

Updated: October 2026

A 12V pump for a water butt is often the thing you buy in a dry summer, when the outside tap is off limits and the butt is full of rain. The pump can move that stored water. It cannot turn a ban on the company's supply into a free pass, and it cannot lift water from the bottom of a tall butt if you stand it too high. The twelve listings are on the [12V pressure water pump comparison](/hub/garden-watering/12v-pressure-water-pump). The Products Compared editorial team checked the UK listings and the 2026 undertaker notices on 20 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

A 12V pump for a water butt is often the thing you buy in a dry summer, when the outside tap is off limits and the butt is full of rain. The pump can move that stored water.

Our top picks

LumaBrite LumaBrite (BDE00120101)

Best overall

LumaBrite LumaBrite (BDE00120101)
9.4/10about £62.99
View offer
Seaflo Seaflo (SFDP1-012-035-21)

Best value

Seaflo Seaflo (SFDP1-012-035-21)
9.0/10about £23.99
View offer
Pindex Pindex (11201007)

Alternative

Pindex Pindex (11201007)
8.4/10about £24.69
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.The ban is about the undertaker's water
  2. 2.Suction is about a metre and a half, not 70 m
  3. 3.What this set can and cannot spray
  4. 4.Do not join the butt to the mains

The ban is about the undertaker's water

A temporary use ban under the Water Industry Act 1991 restricts specified uses of the company's water. The Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 says that drawing that water from a container through a hosepipe can still count. Filling a butt from the mains with a hosepipe, then pumping it out, is not a loophole. Stored rainwater is the case the 2026 notices still allow. South East Water's Sussex restrictions, updated 9 October 2026, say a hosepipe on a water butt is not restricted, and that you cannot fill that butt from the mains with a hosepipe. Thames Water, South West Water, Anglian Water and Affinity Water say a hose on rainwater in a butt is still allowed, and that mains water stored for later hosepipe use is not. Your own company's notice wins if the wording differs. Not every supplier is listed here.

Suction is about a metre and a half, not 70 m

The pump sits beside the butt, not in it. The washer kit is not waterproof. The inlet hose and a strainer go into the water. The motor stays dry, wet end down if you mount it vertically. VerRich and VeYocilk say 1.5 m of suction. The Seaflo says 4 feet, about 1.2 m. The 11.3 L/min Pindex says 1.8 m. If the water surface is further below the pump than that, it will not pull. The VeYocilk also prints 98.5 ft and 70 m. Those are not the suction lift. Keep the suction hose short. A loop above the pump holds air and the prime fails. Prime and the fuse are on the install page.
LumaBrite LumaBrite (BDE00120101)

Testsieger

LumaBrite LumaBrite (BDE00120101)
9.4/10about £62.99
View offer

What this set can and cannot spray

About 4–6 L/min will feed a watering-can filler, a seep hose or a short hose with a gentle rose. It will not run a sprinkler the way the outside tap did. Seaflo reviewers use a garden hose from butts, at 4.3 L/min and £23.99, with 625 reviews. The 3/8 inch barbs are not garden-hose thread, so you need an adapter and often PTFE tape. The washer kit at £24.69 includes a 6 m hose and a gun, claimed at 1–7 L/min, if the pump stays dry beside the butt. Reviewers say the gun is weak. It is not a pressure washer, and a rainwater rinse is still not a powerful jet. The 20.8 L/min Pindex can ask for 12 A. A bucket versus a camper is on the shortlist.

Do not join the butt to the mains

The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, Schedule 2, stop rainwater sharing a mains pipe. United Utilities says a check valve is not the separation. A mains top-up needs a Type AA or AB air gap, so the rainwater cannot be drawn back into the drinking supply. Teeing a 12 V pump into an outside tap is the thing not to do. A pump that only leaves the butt, through its own hose, onto the soil, is the allowed shape. Call a fitter if you cannot see a physical air break. None of these listings prints a WRAS number. Fittings, once you know the flow, belong on the buying guide.

Common questions

Is a pump on a butt allowed during a hosepipe ban?
On the 2026 Thames, South West, South East and Anglian notices, a hose on stored rainwater in a butt is still allowed. The ban is aimed at the company's water. The Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 still counts if that company water was only parked in a container first. Read the notice named on your bill. A supplier not listed here may word the exception differently.
Can I fill the butt from the mains first?
Not with a hosepipe while a temporary use ban covers that use. South East Water says you cannot fill the butt from the mains with a hosepipe. Affinity Water's July 2026 notice forbids mains water stored for later hosepipe use. Rain that fell on the roof is the stock these exceptions describe. Once the ban is lifted, the company's own rules on filling containers apply again.
How high can the pump sit above the water?
About 1.2–1.8 m on the listings that print a suction figure: 4 feet on the Seaflo, 1.5 m on VerRich and VeYocilk, 1.8 m on the 11.3 L/min Pindex. A 70 m or 98.5 ft line on the VeYocilk is not the height you can suck. Set the pump beside the butt, not on a high shelf, and keep the inlet hose short and free of air loops.
Can I drop the pump into the butt?
No. The washer kit says it is not waterproof, and the diaphragms are the same kind of dry-mounted pump. Put a strainer on the inlet hose and lower that into the water. Submerging the motor is how a leak reaches the electrics. A purpose-made submersible butt pump is a different product from every listing in this set.
Will 4 L/min run a sprinkler?
Not in any useful way. A 4–6 L/min pump will feed a short hose, a rose or a seep hose from rainwater. Seaflo reviewers use it that way from butts and still call it short of powerful. A sprinkler sized for a mains tap needs more flow than these small diaphragms list. The higher-flow pumps in the set move more water and draw more amps, and they still are not mains pressure.
Do I need a filter?
Yes. Butt water carries grit, pollen and sludge. VerRich recommends an 80 mesh filter and does not include it. The Seaflo's listing does not print a strainer in the box. REEPLAR and the larger Pindex pumps include one. Clean it when the flow falls. A strainer does not make the pump waterproof, and it does not raise the suction limit.

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12V pressure water pump buying guide for UK listings

How to install a 12V water pump: fuse, prime, mount

Sources

Public UK sources for hosepipe bans, rainwater and mains, and electrical safety. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines in this comparison. This is not a lab test.

  1. Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, Schedule 2 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010, article 3 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. Anglian Water temporary use ban notice, 17 July 2026 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. Thames Water temporary hosepipe ban (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. United Utilities — rainwater and a mains top-up (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. OPSS — Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Barrons — 12 V water pump for a caravan (retrieved 22.10.2026)