It can easily pump uphill any water that gets to the pump, but in this pic, the pump inlet is below the pool surface and fed by the weight of the water column above the inlet. The pump will easily pump uphill any water that is fed to it from an uphill inlet, but it can't suck water uphill TO the pump from an inlet with piping higher than the tank water surface unless a siphon action is first established.Originally Posted by David - WI