I bought a pump like this from TS years ago. It was great and would actually pump up 6 or 7 feet and worked for several years. Util I let it run dry and it melted. I bought this one and it won't pump anything unless it is practically submerged first. I have primed it with a hose first and it takes a few tries before it actually pumps. I have watch water sitting in the clear hose and not being sucked in because there wasn't enough water pushing on it. It is basically slightly better than syphoning.