Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterTop pickSturdy and efficient, this pump works quickly and leaves less than half an inch of water behind.There’s nothing particularly flashy about the DeWalt 1/3 HP Aluminum Submersible Utility Pump, but that’s one of the reasons we liked it. You don’t need to adjust a bunch of parts — you can just plug it in and let it start pumping. It handles large quantities of water, inclines, and debris with ease. The DeWalt pump consistently ranked as one of the top performers across our tests. Pumping water between two pools on a flat surface, it drained approximately 155 gallons in less than 11 minutes, faster than every pump we tried except for the Drummond model. When we dunked the pump into a 44-gallon trash bin, it proceeded to drain up a 6-foot-4 incline in less than 5.5 minutes, beating out the rest of the group. If you’re hoping to get water out of a low-lying space, DeWalt says this model can pump water up a 35-foot incline, which was the highest claim among the models we tried, though we didn’t test it to that extreme. However, since it took nearly twice as long to drain up our incline as it did on a flat surface, we imagine that it would be incredibly slow if you were to try to take it to that max. This wasn’t specific to the DeWalt model, though — almost every pump we tested saw its gallons-per-minute output cut in half once we added an incline, and all of the pump makers acknowledged that the higher you go, the slower their tools will be. When it came to suction level, we found that the DeWalt pump largely lived up to its claims, getting water levels down to about 0.3 inch on flat ground, though it left closer to an inch when pumping up the incline. The pump also passed bits of leaves and twigs through without slowing down.Its sturdiness serves a purpose. During our initial unboxing, the DeWalt pump immediately stood out from the crowd; at about 13 pounds, it weighs almost twice as much as the Wayne and Superior Pump models because of its stocky shape and cast aluminum housing. Once testing began, though, we came to appreciate its heft. When we placed the other pumps into the bin filled with water, many were challenging to stabilize. But the DeWalt pump settled without much maneuvering on our part, remaining steady even when submerged. Plus, it’s thoughtfully designed, with a 20-foot-long power cord and a built-in handle for toting the pump around.Flaws but not dealbreakersThe big size is a plus, but it won’t work for everyone. If you’re looking to squeeze a pump into a tighter space or are not comfortable lifting more than 10 pounds, the more compact Wayne pump or Superior Pump model might be a better option. The pump leaked a bit from the top. During our tests when the pump was not submerged, we noticed some water dripping from the top yellow section of the pump while it was working. However, that was not enough of a leak to make a difference in the water level around the pump. And since it was more of a dribble than a spurt, it did not splash us or create any additional mess.
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