Irrigation pumping · Mallorca
We are Joaquín and Juan, and in irrigation we do the core: the well or cistern pump, the pressure set, the isolating valves, the main pipework, the main and safety valves, the controller and the electrical board that drives it. The drippers and sprinklers in the garden are your gardener's job — we make sure the water arrives with pressure, on its own and without surprises.
Pump, pressure and automation · Electrical board included · We speak Spanish, English and German
What we do:
What we do not: drippers, drip pipe and garden sprinklers. That is the gardener's job.
What we do
Everything from the water source to the distribution by zones. The final garden network, no.
Submersible or surface depending on the well, with a level probe so it never runs dry. We work with Ebara, DAB and Grundfos. If your pump shows a code on the display, here are the DAB Esybox Mini 3 error codes, explained one by one →
If the irrigation is weak or the zones do not open properly, it is nearly always pressure. We size the set and the expansion vessel for the flow you actually need.
The main pipework and its distribution, the isolating valves and the main and safety valves, plus the zone programmer and its wiring. Zone valves, depending on how the system is laid out, we fit into the pipework ourselves. We install Hunter and any other brand, with surge protection.
Protective devices, RCD and proper wiring. It is where we find the worst work: pumps hanging off a garden socket with no earthing.
The pump runs on sunlight and may need neither batteries nor grid. The tank stores water for later irrigation; savings are calculated from flow, head and the cost of the alternative.
The pump that will not start, the pressure switch that sticks, a flat vessel or the controller a storm took out. We look at it and tell you what is worth doing.
To keep it simple
We say it up front because it saves everyone time: JSL does not install the final garden network. No drippers, no drip pipe, no sprinklers and no runs through the beds. That is your gardener or landscaper, who also knows what each plant needs.
Ours is the core and everything before it: where the water comes from (well, cistern, mains or tank), what moves it (pump and pressure set), how it is distributed (the main pipework, the isolating valves and the main and safety valves), how it is automated (controller and probes) and where the power comes from, with its board and protective devices. Zone valves, depending on how the system is laid out, we fit into the pipework ourselves. It is the part that breaks down, the part that uses electricity, and the part that has to be done properly so the garden does not run dry in August.
If your gardener is already on site, we coordinate with him without any trouble: he lays the network, we do the machinery and the electrics.
How it works
A lot of people call asking for "a pump" when the problem is three steps further down the line. This is the full path the water takes in an irrigation system in Mallorca, so you know what we are talking about and where your fault actually is.
The water comes from a well, from a cistern or tank, or from the mains. On a country property it is usually a well; in a house with a garden, a tank. Each source calls for a different type of pump and different water treatment.
From a well you draw with a submersible pump; from a surface tank, with a surface or multistage pump. It always goes with a level probe or float: if the well drops and the pump runs dry, it destroys itself in minutes. It is the most expensive failure and the easiest to avoid.
The well pump does not irrigate directly: it fills the cistern. That way the irrigation does not depend on what the well is giving at that moment, and the pump works in bursts and at the hours that suit — which is exactly what makes solar-powered irrigation possible.
Out of the cistern the water only has whatever pressure gravity gives it, which is hardly ever enough. The pressure set, with its expansion vessel, provides the bar the emitters need to open properly. If the irrigation "runs weak" or some zones pull and others do not, look here before anywhere else.
Well water carries sand and particles. Without a disc or screen filter at the head, that sand ends up in the solenoid valves and the drippers and blocks them one after another. It is the number one reason a new system starts failing after two summers.
Before distributing, we fit the main valve, the safety valve and the isolating valves that let you shut off by area. That is what allows a fault to be repaired without leaving the whole property without water.
The main distribution in PVC or polyethylene, buried, running to the boxes where the valves sit. Properly sized: a pipe that is short on diameter is pressure lost for good.
The controller (the programmer) is the brain: it opens and closes each solenoid valve by zone and at the times you set, with low-voltage wiring out to the boxes. You irrigate in zones because hardly any system has the flow to water everything at once. Here we fit the programmer, the wiring, surge protection and the board.
Out of each solenoid valve runs the zone line: drippers, drip pipe or sprinklers, depending on what is planted. That part is not ours, and it is better that way: whoever looks after the garden knows what each plant needs. We hand over the water with pressure, filtered and at the right time.
Stored water, solar energy
On a property with no grid nearby, or with an expensive connection, direct solar pumping can reduce generator or grid use. A few panels run the pump with no batteries: when there is sun it pumps and fills the tank; then you irrigate by gravity or with the pressure set at whatever time suits you.
Savings against a generator, diesel or a grid connection depend on flow, total head, solar hours and the cost of each alternative. We install it mainly on inland properties — it is set out on the page about solar panels in Campos, where pumping for farmers' wells is everyday work — and it can be combined with self-consumption for the house.
Frequently asked questions
No. Drippers, drip pipe and sprinklers are your gardener's or landscaper's job, and we say so plainly so as not to waste your time. Ours is the core: the pump room, the pump, the pressure set, the isolating valves, the main pipework and its distribution, the main and safety valves, the controller and all the electrical work that drives it. Zone valves, depending on how the system is laid out, we fit into the pipework ourselves. We coordinate with whoever looks after the garden without any trouble.
Yes. It may be the capacitor, pressure switch, expansion vessel, blocked impeller or electrical board. On a DAB Esybox set, the display narrows it down: BL means no water, EY indicates cyclic starting—often a small leak rather than the pump—OC is motor overcurrent and PB is supply voltage outside tolerance, a useful clue on long rural lines in Mallorca. We test both the pump and its electrical supply.
It is the programmer that opens and closes the solenoid valves by zone and at the times you set. What fails most is the solenoid valve itself, the buried wiring and the surges from summer storms, which take the controller with them. We fit the programmer and the protection, and leave the board in proper order.
Yes. We fit a submersible or surface pump depending on the well, with a level probe so it never runs dry, the tank or cistern, the pressure set and the board with its protective devices. It is one of the things we do most on inland properties. One figure that saves disappointment: a surface pump has a suction limit of 8 metres (DAB catalogue), so on deeper wells — common inland in Mallorca — it simply will not work and you need a submersible. The DAB Esybox Diver goes down to 12 m with IP68 protection. That is why the first thing we ask is the depth of the well and the water level in summer, which drops here.
Direct solar pumping can work without batteries or a grid connection, but it does not mean zero cost: there is investment, maintenance and the flow changes with irradiance. For a Mallorca property we size the pump from total head, daily m³, PVGIS solar hours and tank volume; stored water then allows irrigation outside daylight hours.
In Mallorca we work with Ebara, DAB, Grundfos, Espa, Pedrollo, Lowara and Wilo; controls include Hunter and Rain Bird. The model is sized rather than chosen by brand alone. DAB catalogue references are: Esybox Mini 3 up to 4.8 m³/h and 55 m, Esybox 7.2 m³/h and 65 m, and Esybox Max 17.4 m³/h and 96 m. Maximum flow and maximum head do not occur together, so we check the curve at the real duty point.
Yes, we work across the whole island, and country properties are where we install the most pumping. We look after you in Spanish, English and German, and reply within 24-48 hours on working days to arrange the visit. You can see our work and customer reviews on the JSL Google Maps listing →.
Tell us what you have installed and we will tell you what it needs.
