About Us
The idea for the Sun Pump arrived one stormy night at my friend Don's cottage. He awoke to the sound of pouring rain and realized that, after several days of rain, there was a real possibility that his open fishing boat would fill with water and sink. With the rain pouring down and thunder crashing, he ran to the dock and hand bailed his boat in the dark. Soaking wet and cold he thought, "There has to be a Better Way"!
Don built the first Sun Pump using a bilge pump, hose, solar panel and two plastic fruit baskets tied together to create a housing. It looked silly but it worked great! He was a bit embarrassed to show it to me but I got the idea right away. I showed up a few days later with a much better prototype and after several more revisions and testing, we started production. SP-001!
Since 2009, we have sold hundreds of Sun Pumps, using only top quality, marine grade components. In 2019, I bought Don out and I continued bespoke production of the first version Sun Pump at our Baysville, Ontario location. Early in 2022, I realized that the full potential of the 1.0 version of Sun Pump was being limited by its bespoke production. I then approached Sugar Maple Capital https://sugarmaplecapital.ca and together, we contracted Axiom Audio Labs in Dwight, Ontario to design, mold, assemble and package the brand new 2.0 version of the Sun Pump. By the fall of 2023, 1,432 of the 1.0 version Sun Pumps had been built and we began shifting over to the 2.0 version. The new 2.0 Sun Pump features a small footprint, an integrated float switch/bilge pump design, pushbutton manual operation and a 12V emergency socket.
As the 2024 summer season approaches, check out the 2.0 Sun Pump and order one today! Pumps ship out weekly to most locations across Canada and the United States. "Raining in Cottage Country? Don't worry, get a Sun Pump!"
Regards, Richard Hatkoski - President - Sunpump Marine