Little Giant1-A 115 Volt, 1/200 HP, 170 GPH Small Submersible Permanently Oiled Pump for Fountain, Water Displays and Air Conditioners, 6-Foot Cord, Blue, 500203

I have owned three of these pumps for use in my outdoor fountain. I run the fountain all year long through all weather conditions including the 2016 snow storm. It is a powerful, subtle pump. It's incredibly durable, reliable, and easy to clean.

Works great, my old one lasted 18 years, that hard to believe now days

Excellent pump. This pump will siphon water off an above ground pool cover when not running after a short run to prime the drainage hose. You just need a hose that will extend below the height of the cover (the closer to the ground, the better, but not too much lying on the ground as that will slow the flow and NO LEAKS as that will allow air into the hose and stop the siphon effect). Just put the pump in the water, ensure that the end of hose is below the height of the cover and turn on the pump until water comes out of the end of the hose. Allow it to run until all the air is expelled and then turn it off (takes 20 seconds or so). Water should keep draining, but at a slower rate. Since the pump is no longer running, you can walk away and not have to constantly watch the water level. You cannot leave the pump running once the water is gone, else the pump can overheat and be damaged.

We’ve used these for 40 years. The 40 year old ones still work. Enough said.

This is not a consumer oriented company. I had a little giant pump for a number of years. It worked satisfactory. Just got a new one. In order to hook a hose up to it you have to buy a separate little piece of plastic threaded so you can screw it on the pump and to a hose. Without it you can’t pump out. That costs over $20. Also my old pump had an electrical cord of ten or twelve feet. The new one is only three or four feet.If they sold tables they probably wouldn’t include legs.If you can, buy somewhere else.

I have this same motor in one of my 3-layer fountains and it's been maintenance free for 20 years. Full steam ahead.

This pump works great, except for one thing. Within an hour of starting it in 5 gallons of clean tap water, there is a scum of oil on the surface. We have been cleaning the container and replacing the water weekly for months, and the oil keeps coming back. Maybe this one is defective, but otherwise it works fine. In our use the water does not contact plants or animals - otherwise I would not use this pump.I gave two stars when I wrote the text above. I'm moving it down to one. These pumps are not supposed to leak oil. When you read the fine print of the warranty, it says the warranty does not apply if "used to pump or circulate anything other than fresh water at room temperature". That eliminates a lot of what should be legitimate uses. In my case, I am circulating clean fresh water at about 48 F. Want to have an outdoor pond? Drain your pool cover after a cold rain? Do cool-water hydroponics or an aquarium? Drain a warm hot tub? Sorry. Not room temperature.

I love this little guy! I bought it to use in my pool when it is closed up so that I can drain some water out if it gets too high. We've had the pool since 2013 and I've never had to drain any, but I came close one year and decided to get this little guy to keep in the shop just in case. Well last year was super rainy and I got to try out my Little Giant right away.Little Giant is a great description for this pump. It's about the size of a large can of vegetables. The cord is long, but not excessively long. I had to get an extension cord to get it out to the near side of the pool. I know it says not to use one, but I imagine most people are going to have to.For our purposes, I put the pump on the second pool step sitting on some bricks so that it could draw down the water without going too far.Operating the pump is a simple plug-unplug affair. There isn't a timer, on-off switch or anything like that. Also, keep in mind that the artesian effect is going to keep water flowing even after you turn it off. So if you don't want it to keep pumping out, you're going to have to remove it from the water. The pump definitely didn't have any issue pushing water up about a foot and half and down a garden hose. I'm not sure how well it works at any greater depth.In summary - I love this little guy. He saved my bacon last winter on the pool overflowing at a very reasonable price. It's a nice piece to have in the shop for emergencies.