Which pump type is described as drawing water by suction without requiring the suction supply to be pressurized?

• A. Centrifugal Pump
• B. Vertical Turbine Pump
• C. Submersible Pump
• D. Prefabricated Pump

Answer: (B)

Suction head is supplied by the environment the pump is in, not by an externally pressurized suction line. A vertical turbine pump is installed in the well with its intake at depth, so the water column above provides hydrostatic pressure that pushes water up the discharge line. Because the pump is drawing directly from the well and lifts the water through multiple stages, no externally pressurized suction supply is required. This setup is exactly what allows the pump to draw water by suction without needing a pressurized suction source.

In contrast, surface centrifugal pumps typically rely on priming or an external suction head from a pressurized source to start pumping, while submersible and prefabricated units don’t fit the description of using hydrostatic pressure from a well’s water column to eliminate the need for pressurized suction in the same way.