Comparative Test
Water Pumps
Lifting Waters, Mostly Efficiently
If you are in one of the metro cities or Tier 2 towns of the country, it is likely that one of the
members of your family has cribbed, sometime or the other, about having to switch on and
switch off the water pump to either fill the groundwater tank or lift water to the tank on the
roof. And worse than anything else is when there is no water in the house because either
the pump could not lift it with enough pressure or crashed while performing its duty. In
many cases, that is the day when you check the brand of the pump for the second time (first
incidence being at the time of purchase).
H
ere, to figure out how top water- How We Tested?
pump brands across the country are Consumer Voice bought 13 brands of mono
performing and whose consumers are pump sets with 0.5 (½) hp capacity. These were
relatively better off, we took all pumps selected on the basis of market share and popularity
to an NABL-certified lab and put as identified through a market survey. The test
them through stringent tests. We tested these pumps followed IS 8472:2009 (pumps – regenerative
for the powers they possessed, inspected what safety or clear, cold water) standards. The motor of the
standards they followed, scrutinized their guarantees monoset pump is single-phase, and the testing
or warrantees, and found out if they actually meant has been done according to IS 8472 and 996 –2009,
what they claimed and if they really stood by their meant specifically for single-phase small AC and
promise. So, which among these are worth buying? universal electric motors.
16 •
Water Pumps
CV Recommendation KEY FINDINGS
V-Guard | CRI • In overall efficiency (high water output
• V-Guard and CRI score highest on energy at low energy consumption), V-Guard
efficiency and overall effectiveness. performed on top followed by CRI and
• CRI makes the least noise among Kirloskar.
the tested brands and has the lowest • In pump performance, V-Guard tops the
vibration. chart followed by Kirloskar and CRI.
• Most of the brands did not attain the
declared rated load of 0.37 kilowatts or 0.5
horsepower.
• Self-priming time of KSB was more than
what it declared, thereby not complying
with the requirements
Brands to Avoid • Arise, CRI, V-Guard, Lubi and KSB provide
• KSB all the labelling requirements.
Although the brand gives 24 months’ • The pumps of brands CRI, V-Guard, Sharp,
warranty – which is more than any other Ujala, Lubi and KSB are ISI-marked.
brand’s – its self-priming time is more than • KSB, Kirloskar and CRI give 24, 18 and
its declared value, and thus does not comply 15 months’ warranty, respectively, while
with the standard requirement. all other brands give only 12 months’
• Lubi warranty.
The brand scores lowest on overall • Lubi produced the highest noise levels
performance, does not have thermal (88.0), while CRI made the least noise.
protectors, and is also the loudest in terms of • Kirloskar showed maximum vibration (0.7
making noise while functioning. mm/sec) and scored the least; Arise, CG
and CRI had the lowest vibration.
Value for Money
V-Guard
MRP: Rs 4,225; retail price: Rs 2,450
What Are These Water Pumps?
Pumps that handle clear, cold
water are generally constructed as bare
pumps or monoset pumps in single
or multi-stage construction. These
pumps are self-priming, run on single-
phase electric connection, and have
pumping capacities between 0.5 and 1.0
horsepower (hp). They are commonly
used in houses to either pump water
to the overhead tank or increase the
pressure of the water on supply line.
While such pumps are manufactured in
bothorganizedandunorganizedsectors,
wehavetestedonlythepopularbranded
pumps from the organized sector.
CONSUMER VOICE NOVEMber 2013 • 17
Comparative Test
BRANDS TESTED
Rank Brand Name Model Manufacturer
1 V-Guard Neon H80 V-Guard
2 Arise Super master II Arise India
3 CRI ENR 9 CRI Pumps
3 Crompton Greaves Mini Marvel II Crompton Greaves
3 Ujala Magic Flow Ujala pumps
4 Kirloskar Jalraj Kirloskar Brothers
4 Bajaj Max Flow PX PL051 Bajaj Electricals
5 Lubi MDH 50A little master I Mira industries
5 Texmo Taro Texmo Industries
6 Sharp SP 50 Sharp Enterprises
7 Usha 2540 Usha
8 Khaitan Mini Gem Khaitan Electrical
9 KSB Hydroblock II KSB pumps
TEST RESULTS Overall
Brand Score out of 25
PUMP PERFORMANCE TESTS Efficiency, %
At rated frequency, the pump should give V-Guard 13.73 19.06
a minimum of 90 per cent of rated total head at a
minimum of 90 per cent of rated discharge. The CRI 13.66 18.97
pump should not take more than 110 per cent of the Kirloskar 13.48 18.72
declared power input at the guaranteed duty point.
The motor should not get overloaded in the Arise 12.8 17.75
operating head range of +- 25 per cent of rated head Ujala 12.33 17.12
at rated voltage when the supply frequency is within
Lubi 12.14 16.86
the limits (+- 3 per cent of the rated frequency). The
maximum allowable current should be 1.07 times of CG 11.96 16.54
the declared full load current.
Bajaj 11.91 16.54
u Rated Total Head Texmo 11.88 16.50
The total head is the sum of the static head and Usha 11.07 15.37
the friction head. All the brands passed in the rated
total head. Sharp 9.49 13.18
• Kirloskar scored highest points; KSB and Sharp KSB 9.45 13.12
scored the least.
Khaitan 9.37 13.01
u Rated Discharge
All the brands passed in the rated discharge u Rated Input Power
(output water per second). Input power should not be more than the declared
• The highest score was obtained by Kirloskar and value by the manufacture. All brands passed this
the lowest score by KSB. test.
18 •
Water Pumps
u Rated Current 5 mega ohm at 500 volt DC.
All the brands passed in the rated current as • Theobservedvaluesofinsulationresistancebefore
measured value was lower than the declared value. andafterhighvoltagetestinallsamplesweremore
than 5 mega ohms. So, all brands scored same
u Load Test at Duty Point(Input Power) points.
During the load test, most of the pumps did not
attain the declared rated load of 0.37 kW or 0.5 hp. u High Voltage Test
After temperature rise test, 500 V AC current was
u Overall Efficiency applied for one minute between windings and frame
The pump set runs for years and remains in use to check if there was any flashover.
almost every day. For a pump that is of the capacity • All the brands passed in this test.
of half or one horsepower, power consumption can be
substantial. Overall efficiency of the tested pump sets u Breakaway Torque
varied from 9.37 per cent to 13.73 per cent. Higher Minimum breakaway torque should be 30 per cent
efficiency is considered better in terms of higher of full-load torque.
water output with low power consumption. V-Guard All brands conformed to this requirement as
performed on top followed by CRI and Kirloskar. specified in the Indian Standard.
• Khaitanscoredthehighestforhavingmaximum
ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE TESTS torque.
u ‘No Load’ Test • Arise and Texmo scored the lowest for having
At a rated voltage, the no-load wattage was comparatively less torque.
measured.
• The lowest no-load wattage was found in CG, u Pull-up Torque
making it the top scorer. Minimum pull-up torque should be 20 per cent of
• The highest no-load wattage was found in Usha full-load torque. It should be sufficient to accelerate
and Khaitan, making them bottom scorers. the motor under the burst condition of voltage
and frequency for which the appliance has been
u Insulation Resistance Test designed.
Insulation resistance between all windings • All the brands conformed to this requirement.
combined and the motor frame shall not be less than • Sharp with maximum pull-up torque scored
highest.
u Pull-out Torque
The highest torque that the motor can develop
while running at rated voltage and frequency is called
pull-out torque. The minimum pull-out torque should
be 150 per cent of the full-load torque.
All brands passed the test as they all met the
minimum standard requirement.
• ThetopscorerinthistestwasArisewithmaximum
pull-out torque.
• The lowest score went to CG.
u Moisture-Proof
Pumps are expected to be resistant to moisture to
a certain level.
• All the brands complied with this requirement
when tested as per the laid-down requirement.
CONSUMER VOICE NOVEMber 2013 • 19
Comparative Test
PERFORMANCE SCORES
Brands → V-Guard Arise CRI Crompton Ujala
Greave
Test Parameters ↓
Warranty, months Weightage 12 12 15 12 12
MRP, Rs ↓ 4225 3530 3304 3700 3200
Retail price, Rs 2450 2430 2700 2857 2476
General Quality Tests 11 10 11 9.7 9.24 10.47
Packaging quality 2 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.7
Labeling/Marking 4 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.54 3.77
General construction 4 3.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 4.0
Material of construction 1 1 1 1 1 1
Pump Performance 55 45.41 43.22 43.46 42.62 41.67
Total head 5 4.55 4.27 4.36 4.43 3.05
Discharge 5 4.09 3.76 4.31 3.68 4.22
Input power 5 3.81 3.45 3.15 4.02 5.0
Current 5 4.18 3.84 3.23 4.05 4.99
Overall efficiency 25 19.06 17.75 18.97 16.54 17.12
Load test: efficiency 5 3.09 3.15 3.07 3.41 2.82
Hydrostatic test 2 2 2 2 2 2
Self-priming time 5 4.63 5.0 4.37 4.49 2.47
Electrical Performance of 32 27.18 26.34 26.66 28.4 27.37
Motor Part
No load test 4 3.33 3.57 3.62 3.91 3.61
Breakaway torque 3 1.92 1.80 2.05 2.03 1.93
Pull-up, pull-out and 6 4.78 5.04 4.86 4.33 4.59
starting torque
Noise and vibration 4 3.26 3.65 3.67 3.63 2.97
Insulation resistance and 3 3 3 3 3 3
high voltage test
Moisture and leakage test 6 5.98 5.98 5.98 5.98 5.99
Temperature rise 6 4.91 3.3 3.48 5.52 5.28
Overall Score (rounded
100 83 81 80 80 80
off )
Ratings: >90: very good*****, 71–90: good****, 51–70: average***, 30–50: poor**, < 30: very poor*
20 •
Water Pumps
OF DOMESTIC PUMPSETS (0.5 HP)
Kirloskar Bajaj Lubi Texmo Sharp Usha Khaitan KSB
18 12 12 24 12 12 12 12
3028 3700 3750 2940 3200 3150 3480 3430
2250 2450 2800 2571 2300 2700 2600 2800
8.28 9.47 9.7 10.31 11 10.7 10.24 10.7
1.2 1.7 1.7 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.7
3.08 3.77 4.0 3.31 4.0 4.0 3.54 4.0
3.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
43.51 42.07 41.69 39.98 37.21 39 36.46 34.18
4.72 4.25 4.01 4.0 4.42 4.41 4.53 3.93
4.05 3.83 3.57 3.83 3.29 3.78 3.87 2.99
3.91 3.81 3.91 3.71 2.95 2.9 2.95 4.14
3.68 4.13 4.18 3.5 3.65 3.01 2.8 4.0
18.72 16.54 16.86 16.50 13.18 15.37 13.01 13.12
3.08 3 2.89 2.96 3.4 2.8 2.73 3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3.35 4.51 4.27 3.48 4.32 4.73 4.57 1.0
26.63 26.67 25.73 26.8 27.75 25.23 26.9 28.37
3.62 3.23 3.44 3.86 3.33 1.66 1.86 3.77
2.06 2.05 1.98 1.82 2.33 2.84 2.99 2.29
4.71 4.69 4.48 4.67 5.73 4.75 4.86 4.88
2.86 3.39 2.74 3.57 3.35 3.35 3.22 2.86
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
5.98 5.98 5.98 5.98 5.98 5.98 5.98 5.98
4.4 4.33 4.11 3.9 4.03 3.65 4.99 5.59
78 78 77 77 76 75 74 73
CONSUMER VOICE NOVEMber 2013 • 21
Comparative Test
u Leakage Current Test • CRI and Arise scored the highest in both the
Leakage current shall not exceed 3.5 milliamps parameters.
(RMS) when a voltage equal to 1.1 times the rated • Lubi had the highest noise level (88.0) and
voltage is applied to the motor. Kirloskar the maximum vibration (0.7mm/sec),
• All the brands met this requirement. and both scored the least.
u Temperature-Rise Test GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Temperature rise of motor at rated voltage and at u Construction
reduced voltage was measured. The observed values To check if the construction of the pumps was as per
were found to be less than the maximum specified the relevant Indian Standard, pumps were evaluated on
in all the samples. Hence, all bands passed the test – the following parameters:
lower temperature rise is good for better performance Mounting |Thermal protector | Earthing | Type of
of motor. enclosure | Method of cooling | Provision of handling
• For temperature at rated voltage, the top scorer • Bajaj, CRI, CG, V-Guard, Kirloskar and Lubi did
was CG and the lowest was Arise. not have marking which states that thermal
• Fortemperatureatreducedvoltage,thetopscore protector is provided. The rest of the brands
was of KSB and the lowest was of Arise. scored full points as they complied hundred
per cent with the required standard.
u Noise Level and Vibration Measurement Test
The noise level was measured at a distance of one u Hydrostatic Test
metre around the motor with rated voltage applied To check the robust construction of the pump
under ‘no load’ condition. casing, it was tested to withstand the shut-off pressure
• The lowest noise level was of CRI. for at least 15 seconds.
• The lowest vibration was measured in Arise CG, • All the brands withstood the test and scored
CRI and Texmo. same.
22 •
Water Pumps
u Self-Priming Test • The highest scorers were Arise, V-Guard, Sharp
Self-priming time is the total elapsed time and Texmo, followed by the rest in cardboard
between starting the unit and the time required to boxes and Kirloskar in the last with a mere poly
obtain a continuous flow through the discharge pipe. wrap.
The self-priming time is checked against the declared
time by the manufacturer at a minimum static suction u Marking
lift of three metres. There are no major discrepancies as far as required
• Self-priming time of KSB was more than marking information is concerned. V-Guard, Arise
the declared value, not complying with the and Usha give detailed information on installation,
requirement. It scored the lowest. operating, trouble shooting and after-sales service in
• Arise scored the highest for having the least self- their manuals.
priming time. • Mostbrandsprovidedanoperatingmanualand
a warranty card. Kirloskar had not provided the
PACKING AND MARKING operatingmanualbutawarrantycardwasgiven.
u Packing • KirloskaralongwithCromptomGreaves,Texmo
While some pumps came in thick cardboard and Khaitan did not share details of power input
packing with thermocol protection, some only had a and self-priming time.
basic cardboard cover and one just came wrapped in a • Texmo along with Bajaj and Ujala have not
poly cover. Hence, the ones in the cardboard box and mentioned their direction of rotation.
thermocol protection obtained most points.
REACTION OF MANUFACTURERS
Brand, Company Manufacturer’s Comment Voice Society’s Reply
V-Guard, Pull-up torque is 27 Our test lab has confirmed 21
V-Guard Industries Ltd
Khaitan , i) Marking observations mismatch i) Typographical errors, duly noted
Khaitan Electricals Ltd and updated
ii) Results of total head and discharge
overall efficiency are higher by 15 per ii) Our test lab has re-verified
cent to 25 per cent of reported values and confirmed the results as reported
Kirloskar , Queried on test results, especially Reply sent as per comments received
Kirloskar Brothers Ltd marking observations, and sent their
test data on some parameters
Crompton Greaves, Queried on test results, especially Reply sent as per comments received
Crompton Greaves Ltd marking observations
The Social Focus
Water pumps are high power-consuming devices and are increasingly being used for domestic purposes.
Most of the domestic power is generated at thermal power plants. These plants burn coal and emit harmful
gases including carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Hence, lesser the consumption
of domestic power, lesser will be the environment degradation.
One of the purposes of this test by Consumer Voice is to ensure that manufacturers of water pumps
will make extra efforts in making these energy-efficient. This will be our and their small bit towards
energy conservation and environment protection – which is also an important agenda of governments
and citizenry across the world.
CONSUMER VOICE NOVEMber 2013 • 23
