Selection Guide

Clean water or solids: choosing between the B, K and L series

Last reviewed

Most pump selection goes wrong in the same place. A duty point gets written down as a flow rate and a height, a model is picked that meets both on paper, and nobody asks what the water is carrying. The pump then blocks, or wears out early, or never reaches the head it was bought for.

This guide covers the decision that comes before flow and head: whether you are pumping clean water or water with solids in it, and what that rules in and out. Every figure below is taken from the published specification tables for the eBORA B, K and L series.

Ask what the water is carrying before anything else

Solids handling is a physical clearance, not a filter rating. It states the largest spherical particle that can pass through the impeller and casing without jamming. A pump rated at 44 mm will pass a 44 mm stone; it will not screen out a 60 mm one, it will block on it.

That makes it a hard constraint rather than a preference. If the water carries material larger than the rating, no amount of extra flow or head capacity compensates — the pump stops. Conversely, a clean-water pump asked to handle silt and gravel will not merely underperform, it will wear its impeller clearances open and lose head over a season.

So the first question is not how much water, or how high. It is whether there is solid matter in it, and how coarse.

Clean water, high pressure: the K Series

The K Series carries no solids rating at all, which is a design position rather than an omission. Its three models are built for clean water where the requirement is pressure: total heads of 85 m on the K300, 140 m on the K150 and 145 m on the K200.

Flows run from 850 m³/hr on the K150 to 2,300 m³/hr on the K300. That combination — high volume and high head together — is what the range exists for, and it is only available if the water is genuinely clean.

Typical duties are booster and transfer work, clean-water dewatering from a settled source, and any application where the pump sits downstream of screening or settlement.

Solids in suspension, high volume: the B Series

The B Series is the range for dirty water in quantity. Its six models span 245 to 3,350 m³/hr and pass solids from 44 mm on the B100 up to 124 mm on the B400 — coarse enough for construction spoil, pit water and storm debris without a separate strainer stage.

The constraint is head. The B Series operates in a comparatively narrow band, from 42 m on the B400 to 60 m on the B150. If a duty needs more than roughly 60 m of total head, the B Series is out regardless of how well the solids rating fits, and the choice moves to the L Series.

Sewage-impeller options are available where the material is stringy or fibrous rather than granular — sewage, organics and rag will bind a standard solids impeller that would pass a stone of the same nominal size.

Solids and high head together: the L Series

The L Series covers the case the other two ranges cannot: real head with solids still present. Total heads run to 295 m on the L295, and every model retains a solids rating, from 19 mm on the L110 and L125 up to 64 mm on the L250.

The trade is flow. The range spans 112 to 1,258 m³/hr, so it does not reach the volumes the B Series delivers. The L295 produces 988 m³/hr at 295 m of head in a single stage, which matters because reaching that head by staging pumps in series introduces intermediate seals, couplings and service points that a single stage does not have.

The trap: the biggest pump is not the most capable one

Within the B Series, the highest-flow model is not the highest solids-handling model. The B500 delivers 3,350 m³/hr and passes 79 mm. The B400 delivers 2,218 m³/hr and passes 124 mm.

If the water carries coarse material, the B400 is the more capable pump despite moving a third less water. Specifying on flow alone selects the B500 and produces a pump that blocks on material the smaller unit would have passed.

Where the ranges genuinely do not overlap

Some duty points are served by one range and nothing else, and the arithmetic makes that obvious once the tables are read together.

A duty of 2,300 m³/hr at 85 m of total head is met by the K300 and by nothing else in the catalogue — the B Series tops out near 60 m of head, and the L Series tops out at 1,258 m³/hr of flow. That duty is therefore available only if the water is clean. If it is not, the requirement has to change: screen the water upstream, split the duty across multiple pumps, or accept a different operating point.

This is worth establishing early. A duty that only a clean-water pump can meet, on water that is not clean, is a specification problem rather than a purchasing one, and it is cheaper to find before an order than after.

Check total head, not vertical distance

Total head combines the static lift with the pressure lost to friction in the pipework. A duty quoted only as a vertical distance understates the real requirement, sometimes substantially on long runs or small-bore pipe.

This is the most common reason a pump that met its specification on paper fails to deliver on site. Where the discharge run is long, the friction component can exceed the static lift.

Suction lift is not a differentiator across the eBORA range: all models self-prime to 8.5 m, so the pump can sit above the water rather than in it, and no foot valve or vacuum assistance is needed to start or restart. What does change with model size is port diameter — 100 mm on the B100 through to a 500 mm inlet on the B500 — and that has to match the pipework, or the connection throttles the pump.

The three ranges side by side

SeriesWaterCapacityTotal headSolidsUse it when
B SeriesSolids in suspension245 – 3,350 m³/hr42 – 60 m44 – 124 mmHigh volumes of dirty water at modest head: construction dewatering, pit water, stormwater and flood response.
K SeriesClean water only850 – 2,300 m³/hr85 – 145 mNot ratedHigh flow and high pressure together, where the water is clean or has been screened and settled upstream.
L SeriesSolids in suspension112 – 1,258 m³/hr115 – 295 m19 – 64 mmHigh head with solids still present, including single-stage duties that would otherwise need pumps in series.

Common questions

What does solids handling actually mean on a pump specification?

It is the diameter of the largest spherical particle that can pass through the pump without blocking it, set by the clearance between the impeller and the casing. It is a physical dimension, not a filtration rating — the pump does not remove anything larger, it jams on it.

Can a clean-water pump handle occasional silt?

It will pass fine silt, but abrasive material wears the impeller and casing clearances open over time, and a centrifugal pump loses head as those clearances grow. Where solids are expected rather than incidental, a rated solids-handling pump is the correct specification.

Which eBORA series reaches the highest head?

The L Series. The L295 reaches 295 m of total head at 988 m³/hr, in a single stage. The K Series reaches 145 m on the K200, and the B Series operates between 42 and 60 m.

Which eBORA series moves the most water?

The B Series. The B500 delivers 3,350 m³/hr, though at 79 mm solids handling rather than the 124 mm of the smaller B400.

Do I need a foot valve or priming equipment?

No. Every model across the B, K and L series self-primes to 8.5 m, so the pump can be positioned above the water it is clearing and will prime and re-prime without external vacuum equipment.

How do I work out my total head?

Add the static lift — the vertical distance from the water surface to the discharge point — to the friction loss in the pipework, which depends on pipe diameter, length, fittings and flow rate. If you send us the layout and the duty, we will calculate it as part of sizing the pump.

Not sure which range fits your duty?

Send us the flow, the total head and what the water is carrying. If you are not sure of the total head, describe the layout and we will work it out.