Attwood 4140-4 WaterBuster® Portable Pump, Submersible, Battery Powered, 200 GPH, 42-Inch Hose, 5 ¼-Inch Diameter

I needed something like a bilge pump to drain the dirty water out of the bottom of our huge Intex pool; there's only so much that will drain from the pool's drain opening, so we're always left with a few inches of standing water that needs to be removed before we can fill it with clean water. In the past, I've tried using our small shop vac, but I had to stop constantly to empty the canister. I wasn't looking to spend a lot of money, so this portable water pump seemed like it was exactly what we needed.I was surprised at the compact size of this item when I opened the box, and admittedly, I was doubtful as to how well it would work. Keep in mind that we had a lot of leaves (and grass and dirt) mixed-in with the standing water in our pool, but I gave it a shot, anyway. Wow...was I surprised! It took a while, but we really did have a lot of water to drain; when it became clogged with leaves (you can tell by the gurgling sound it makes), it was easy to remove the plate on the bottom and unclog it.I also like the fact that the drainage tube is clear -- you can look at it from a distance and see that it's draining, as opposed to getting right on top of it to check. With all of the organic debris in that water, the tube itself didn't get clogged at all, which in itself, is a testament to how well it works. It's also worth noting that the drainage tube can be connected to a garden hose (we used a short one); this was another bonus for us because the hose had to be long enough to extend up and over the sides of the pool.The only improvement I would make as far as the design is that it would be nice to have both an intake hose and an outtake hose; we still needed to use the shop vac for the little puddles of water that were too shallow for the portable pump to drain -- if it had an intake hose, I could have used it like a shop vac that doesn't need to be emptied. Also, there are other things you might like to drain that the WaterBuster pump won't fit into (I tried it with our stand-alone ice maker that needs to be drained when cleaning and such, and it wouldn't fit inside).All in all, I'm very glad I made this purchase; it was worth every penny. This is a handy little item to have around!

Update: 8 years later (time flies), and this pump (plus a lot of carrying buckets back and forth) mitigated disaster yet again. My main sump pump failed this time causing water to backup in my basement, and this ran like a champ for the better part of 2 hours clearing the water while waiting for an emergency plumber to arrive.I bought this after my Sump Pump discharge line froze over the winter and I struggled with a manual siphon + buckets to empty my window well before the house flooded. A few nights ago the (same) pump burnt out during a rainstorm and I had to enact my 'emergency plan' to clear out the water.This pump worked perfectly. It takes a couple of minutes for it to completely fill a large contractors bucket (5 gallons I think?). I filled up 4 of those before my window well was cleared without any issues. The pump moves the most water when fully submerged, losing speed when the water level gets down to a few inches.The hose that comes attached to this pipe is relatively small, but uses a standard fitting. In my case, I connected it to an old washing machine hose to give it sufficient reach. The pump was sitting at the bottom of my window well, with the hose coming up and through the window, and the extension going down to a bucket on the floor (several feet below).Once the pump gets started in this configuration, it is aided by the siphoning effect. In fact, if you turn the pump off, water will continue flowing, albeit at a significantly slower rate.I can't attest to how this pump might perform if pumping entirely up, versus my simpler case of pumping up a foot and then down.My only complaints about the pump are:- It can be difficult to unscrew the top to install or change the batteries.- There is no battery-charge indicator. I plan on erring on the safe side and put in fresh batteries after each emergency use (and hope I don't need to use it for a long time but remember to check the battery in a few years to ensure it doesn't leak).- The power button would be better situated on top. When submerged and out of view, it can be tricky to find the button by feel.- Given the implicit siphoning action when turned off, it would be nice if a valve was included to stop the water flow (ie: when changing buckets). I will be picking up a cheap valve when I have a chance to keep with the pump.