Whether in a small-town residential neighborhood in the American Midwest, or on a million-acre cattle ranch in Australia, end users have been benefiting for 25 years from an efficient, unduplicatable line of the SQ, SQE, and SQFlex solar-powered submersible pumps from Grundfos Pumps Corporation.

And while the electronics and remote-monitoring capabilities have evolved through the years, the core competencies of this line of pumps remain the same.

“We don’t rest on our laurels,” says Tom Drew, Grundfos’ Global Business Development Mgr. – Solar. “We have upgraded the electronics of this product line and to streamline their controls for simple and easy installation. Through the years, we have extended our range of products with more features, including constant pressure monitoring. We focus on staying current with technology, but many of the built-in features were already innovative two decades ago. We try to stay ahead of the curve, but for the most part, this product line was already cutting edge when it was released 25 years ago.”

A Water System That Solves Problems

SQ Success Story

In a farming community just outside the Houston area in Dayton, TX, Robbie Eshee, President of R&D Water Wells, has firsthand experience providing efficient and reliable water solutions for his customers using the Grundfos SQ Pump for nurseries, farms, or for simply watering residential lawns.

“The Grundfos SQ pumps outperform any other brand,” Eshee says. “They are flawless and a lot lighter and easier to handle than other options. That allows us to get more jobs done more efficiently. At the end of the day, that’s a big money saver.”

Eshee says the best part of the Grundfos SQ pumps are the safety features, which include a soft start system, overload protection, and dry run protection. “The reliability factor alone makes this the best choice for me,” he says. “We pull out multiple 4-inch pumps daily, but we rarely must pull an SQ pump out of the ground. I don’t have to worry about it, and the homeowner doesn’t have to worry about it for years to come.”

At only three inches in diameter, the Grundfos SQ submersible pump is extremely compact and ideal for small or restricted wells. In addition to the features and benefits shared with the renowned SP submersible pump, the SQ offers many motor protection and wear-reducing features that makes it the obvious choice for groundwater pumping. It is suitable for domestic or small waterworks and small irrigation systems.

Features include:

• The SQ motor is protected against over and undervoltage, and voltage fluctuation generally
• Soft start ensures a low starting current with a smooth and steady acceleration
• Low ampere usage makes it possible to reduce the size of the power line
• The SQ pump is factory pre-set based on minimum power consumption, and dry-running protection is activated 40 seconds after power is connected to allow priming of the pump

SQE Success Story

Misty Quabner experienced severe damage and loss of her 100-year-old family home during the 2021 River Fire wildfire outbreak in north-central California. A nearby canal was compromised, which meant the property had no access to clean water following the catastrophe.

Government piping provided a temporary solution of raw irrigation water. However, a new water well was required to obtain a new building permit, and funding was a challenge. Grundfos partnered with the local trusts, a nonprofit organization, and local pumping service to provide the Quabner family with a sustainable water solution. They not only restored their access to clean water but also renewed their faith in the kindness of others.

Through a grant, Grundfos installed a fresh water well using a robust SQE water pump system that for the Quabners’ and their community, was life changing and allowed them to rebuild their home.

“We are so grateful to Grundfos, the Water Well Trust, Connecting Point, and Peter’s Well Drilling and Pump Service for giving us back our most basic need: access to clean water. It feels like a fresh start, a new chapter in our lives,” Quabner says.

The Grundfos SQE is the only pump on the market fully equipped with built-in electronic controls which allow for advanced computer-controlled performance and state-of-the-art protection features that include sophisticated diagnostics. The motor design is a Variable Speed Drive which electronically changes the pump speed to match demand to provide the comfort of constant pressure.

Features include:

• Push button pressure setpoint adjustment
• Low well water indicator
• Pump running indicator
• Keypad lockout
• High-quality stainless-steel pressure sensor
• Built-in diagnostics

SQFlex Success Story

Darrell Ferguson of Ferguson Water Well serves customers in oil fields, ranches, farms, and residential homes throughout Edna, TX. His company uses the Grundfos SQFlex to fulfill water needs for the small community of 6,000 people.

“The use of solar pumps has really picked up in the last 15 years,” Ferguson says. “In the areas where electricity is not readily available, the solar pump provides an efficient way to get access to the water, especially for the cattle.”

It offers a wide range of voltage, which allows it to provide more water in the morning as well as later in the evening. Even on a cloudy day, the SQFlex produces more water than any other pump.

“With the SQFlex, you can start at a lower rpm, which helps protect the motor,” Ferguson explains. “Motors will accept whatever power is provided, so they can operate at multiple voltage ranges. They can also be set to run only on the panels. When it’s cloudy, it only requires a small generator to run on full power. There is a wide range of availability of flow rate, which comes in handy for the ranchers. It takes no external boxes to operate it. You just put the pump in the well, and there is nothing else to wire.”
The small diameter allows it to fit inside a variety of wells. Even in a low yield well, the dry running sensor provides another layer of protection. Homeowners can also take advantage of a variety of tax incentives that can offset the cost of solar installation.

The SQFlex solar pump system from Grundfos is a revolution in remote water supply that is sought out due to its ease of installation and versatility. Designed for maximum reliability, maintenance-free operation, and the flexibility to adapt to virtually any application, SQFlex provides water wherever necessary and whatever the local conditions with 11 different pump models that cover a wide range of heads and flows to allow pumping at extended depths (820 ft) or at high flow rates (80 gal/min) or anywhere in between, depending on the requirements.

Ideal for most pumping systems, SQFlex Solar provides a reliable supply of water whenever the sun shines. It is extremely simple to operate with minimal moving parts and no maintenance—just clean the panels periodically.

Unduplicatable Success

The SQ, SQE, and SQF line of submersible pumps was introduced 25 years ago with unduplicatable success. These pumps can be used for single family dwellings, and nearly any residential and light commercial application. The SQ and SQE pumps are appropriate for residential applications, irrigation water, water transfer, and livestock watering.

The SQE is a variable speed pump with multiple features, including the electronics to control constant pressure. All models, the SQ, SQE and SQFlex, feature a small 3” diameter that is as groundbreaking today as it was two decades ago.

In areas where installation cost can be more sensitive, it costs less to install this line of submersible pumps because a 3-inch well can be drilled more economically that a 4- to 6-inch well.

The built-in features such as permanent magnet motors, soft start, and dry run protection are standard on all the models. The SQE pump is popular for residential water applications in which water pressure is an issue. A homeowner may have a child in the bathtub, a parent watering the yard, and the dishwasher running all at the same time. However, there may not be enough pressure for all three tasks to happen simultaneously. With the SQE product line, this issue is eliminated. Efficiency is achieved due to the constant pressure and the built-in electronics.

With the SQFlex, the solar panels can be connected to a DC-rated on/off switch and then connected straight into the pump. If the user’s application requires a little more complex operation. The Grundfos CU202 control can be installed to enjoy a wider flexibility of features such as preconfigured popular programs like tank filling, multiple input/output ports a built-in timer for irrigation. If an upgrade to the software is ever needed, simply download to the mobile app and connect to the equipment via Bluetooth.
Drew says the options of use are endless.

“With the SQFlex solar version we have solved problems all over the world,” he says. “We have had great success replacing old windmills, for example. There are a small handful of people that still work on those and service them, but it’s dangerous and the technology is outdated. We have tens of thousands of these applications where we take the windmills down and decommission them. The three-inch SQFlex pump goes right down in the well. They can take down the old windmill and it becomes a very simple, cost-effective solar pumping system.”

Grundfos also installed SQFlex pumps on a million-acre cattle ranch in Australia where there is no electricity for miles. The robust solar pumps provide a perfect off-grid opportunity to use solar to power the system.

Drew says after 25 years of use in the field, the SQ line is tried and true.

“It’s tested. It’s proven. It’s innovative, and it has not been duplicated,” he says. “It’s the most efficient pump that you can install for the homeowner.”

Through the Grundfos Foundation, the Grundfos Pumps Corporation has an initiative to provide safe drinking water by 2030 to the more than 300 million people worldwide who do not have access to clean water. A portion of the proceeds from all purchases of Grundfos Pumps is donated to this initiative.

Author Bio:

Michelle Segrest has reported on the pump industry for three decades. She is president of Navigate Content, Inc. For more information about the information in this article, please contact Tom Drew at tdrew@grundfos.com.