WAYNE WaterBUG Submersible Water Pump
A very good pump for a job this is not — The WaterBUG is well made, well liked and genuinely useful — it pulls water down to 1/16 of an inch, which no automatic here can touch, and 3,699 owners rate it 4.5★. It is also not a cover pump. It has no float switch, and WAYNE's own listing says the pump should be unplugged once the water is gone or it will run dry. That is fine for a flooded basement you are standing in and disqualifying for a cover you check on Sundays.
Specs
| Switch | None — manual, must be unplugged |
| Flow at 1 ft | 1,350 GPH |
| Flow at 5 ft | Not published |
| Max head | Not published |
| Leaves behind | 1/16 in. |
| Motor | 1/6 HP |
| Cord | 25 ft |
| Warranty | Not published |
| Owner rating | 4.5★ / 3,699 |
Pros
- Removes water down to 1/16 in., far lower than any automatic here — nothing else gets a cover this close to dry
- 4.5★ across 3,699 ratings; as a utility pump its reputation is earned
- Cheaper than the Little Giant at about $139, and more versatile away from the pool
Cons
- No float switch, and WAYNE's own listing states the pump must be unplugged once the water is gone or it will run dry — which is the entire job a cover pump exists to do unattended
- Leaving it out through a rainy fall means either running it dry or walking out to the cover every time it rains
- Its best spec, the 1/16 in. drawdown, is only reachable with someone standing there to stop it
The manual-pump expectation gap, exactly as this page frames it, plus a seal that goes. On the switch: "it does not have a water sensor auto on/off feature. You plug it in, it turns on" — true, stated by WAYNE, and still the thing buyers discover late. On life: "the seal warped and it stopped working after a year and a month"; "stopped working in less than a year"; and a long-time owner's verdict — "cheap, but they used to be solid. I've owned two. The first lasted five or six years." One owner reports the low-water claim not holding in practice, left "at least 3 inches of water", and several name customer service as non-existent. One received a used unit as new.
10 critical cards read on page 1 of 12,742 ratings; a sub-two-year failure appears in 3 independent reviews, the manual-switch surprise in 2 and support failure in 2. 10/10 Verified Purchase, 0 Vine. · critical reviews read August 2026
FAQ
Who is the WAYNE WaterBUG Submersible Water Pump for?
Draining the last half-inch off a cover you are already standing next to, or any water-removal job where a human is present to switch it off.
What do owners say about the WAYNE WaterBUG Submersible Water Pump?
4.5★ across 3,699 owner ratings (Amazon, read August 2026 · global base). What owners complain about: The manual-pump expectation gap, exactly as this page frames it, plus a seal that goes. On the switch: "it does not have a water sensor auto on/off feature. You plug it in, it turns on" — true, stated by WAYNE, and still the thing buyers discover late. On life: "the seal warped and it stopped working after a year and a month"; "stopped working in less than a year"; and a long-time owner's verdict — "cheap, but they used to be solid. I've owned two. The first lasted five or six years." One owner reports the low-water claim not holding in practice, left "at least 3 inches of water", and several name customer service as non-existent. One received a used unit as new.
What is the warranty on the WAYNE WaterBUG Submersible Water Pump?
WAYNE publishes no warranty term for the WAYNE WaterBUG Submersible Water Pump — we looked for one from the maker and record the absence rather than guess. Buy it somewhere with a return window you trust.
✓ Safety: no active recall — No active CPSC recall found (checked August 2026).
Size your pool first → ·All pool gear →
Data last verified: August 2026. Ratings are real, dated reads — never scraped or invented. Full methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.