A similar question was posted on here about 1.5 years ago, but it didn't really address the safety aspect. I want to make a simple play sink for my kid that recirculates the water (to save on water waste). I don't want to use gravity fed or some other manual method because part of the purpose would be to free me and my wife up to do other things. If we have to keep refilling a resevoir or something that won't be ideal.

At first I was looking at a basic submersible fountain pump from Lowe's but then I got worried about the safety of this, being that its plugged into the wall outlet. So now I have been looking at battery powered pumps. I have found one that uses two AAs here:

https://www.amazon.com/TeraPump-TRH...child=1&keywords=trha01&qid=1595278048&sr=8-2

This pump does not submerge the motor housing or the batteries, so I am figuring its probably fine. In the event of a malfunction, my understanding through research is that 2 AAs would not produce enough current to hurt a person, but if the pump circuitry contains a capacitor this could potentially contain enough energy to do some damage.

Could anyone offer any clarifying info on whether there are any reasonable safety hazards concerned with the above pump?

 

The only danger I can see would be getting squirted in the eyes.

 

Welcome to AAC!

I don't want to use gravity fed or some other manual method because part of the purpose would be to free me and my wife up to do other things. If we have to keep refilling a resevoir or something that won't be ideal.

These children can't be taught how to transfer water from one container to another?

Could anyone offer any clarifying info on whether there are any reasonable safety hazards concerned with the above pump?

No risk from a low voltage battery operated pump. If the pump is meant to be submerged, it could burn out if operated too long without transferring water.

 

I have used a submersible aquarium pump to supply cooling water to my bench/pedestal grinder. They are safe, IMHO, so long as the kids don't try to plug them into the wall.

Of course, nothing is 100% safe for children. My younger brother plugged a bobby pin into a wall socket when he was about 2 y.o. That was more than 70 years ago. We have made advancements, but NOTHING is childproof.

 

I did this for my granddaughter there are 100s of 6v diaphram pumps on ebay for aquariums. They'll run for several hours on a 5v USB powerbank and dont mind running dry. Just fit undersink with a 2L softdrink bottle full of water as a reservoir - fed the waste back into the bottle, put the pump feed using 4mm tubing through side of bottle and sealed with silicone sealant, then ran tube up the side of the spout (as this was solid on her play-kitchen) held in place by some heatshrink (but rubber bands would do). I fitted a momentray push-to-make switch into the sink top.

 

What if the kids decide to stick the tubing up their noses?

 

Then they get a nasal washout, though my grandchildren aren't that stupid!

 

It's not stupidity; it is being a child who is uninhibited by what society may think.