Pumping Water to a Sluice

There are motorized pump units that can pump enough water to satisfy the needs of any size of sluice box. A medium sized-sluice box can generally be fed with a wide range of water supply by using a small and economic pump unit. Sluicing with a water pump is very popular among the miners at a small scale, because it allows putting a sluice in an optimum position for production purposes (close to where you are digging).

Sometimes grounds with gold contents gold miners want to exploit are not very near the water. In these cases, pumping or siphoning water to the sluice allows miners to move their boxes to better positions as they make progress with the bed. This allows continuing with an optimum production all the time instead of carrying the material each time farther as progress is made while it takes it away more from the source of water that provides the creek.

The size of the pump and the engine will depend much in the size of the sluice box that is being used, on how far is it from the source of water to be pumped and how much water will be necessary to elevate until reaching the place of work. The elevation of the place of work that is above sea level and room temperature can also affect the performance of the engine. The majority of people who deal with mining gear has the specifications of all the variety of pump units and will be very happy in looking for the best equipment that complies with his requirements.

When pumping water with a hose into a sluice box, it is generally necessary to hae a type of “water spreader” to regulate the distribution of water to the head of the sluice box.

A sort of water spreader can be built by using a short 2 inch-long PVC tube. An end-cap can be used o close one of the sides of the spreader and the other can be closed with an adapter that will be connected with a spear hose. One can make some holes in straight line spreader long. These holes should be separated between each other by an inch and the holes be something like 3/8 inch each, or larger depending of the volume of water that is needed. The water spreader can be stapled to the head of the sluice if you wish to have it permanently or could be fixed using a heavy rubber bungee cord if only temporary.

One of the reasons for using this kind of water spreader is that it works very well and does not pester the operation. Another reason is that the holes can be adjusted to the direction in which the flux of water flows through the box. Sometimes, it will be necessary to completely shut the upper part of the sluice so that the water pumped only has a direction where to flow. If you are in the field and have at hand a coffee can, you can also use it as a water spreader by only making a hole near the upper edge so as to pass the pumping hose through it. The can is used with the upper part upside down with the hose stuck in the hole in the can. The hose can be tied or taped to the outer side of the can to secure it. Small cans of coffee are useful for the purpose when used with medium-sized sluice boxes. You can also nail the can to wooden pieces that will transversally cross from side to side the upper part of the can.