The pump body should not bear the weight of the inlet and outlet pipelines and valves. Therefore, supports must be installed for the pipelines before the pump inlet and after the pump outlet, aiming to avoid the need for temporary supports when the pump is removed.

The suction pipeline should be as short as possible with minimal bends (use long-radius elbows when bends are necessary), and sudden reductions in pipe diameter should be avoided.

The diameter of the suction pipeline should not be smaller than the pump's suction inlet. When the pump's suction inlet is horizontally oriented, an eccentric reducer should be configured on the suction pipeline. When the suction pipeline enters the pump from top to bottom, a bottom-flat reducer is preferred. When the suction pipeline enters the pump from bottom to top, a top-flat reducer is preferred. When the suction inlet is vertically oriented, a concentric reducer may be used. If both the pump inlet and outlet are vertically oriented, verify whether the distance between the pump inlet and outlet is greater than the pipe spacing after the reducer. If not, an eccentric reducer should be used with the flat ends facing each other.

The suction pipeline should have a slope of approximately 2/100. When the pump is located below the water source, the slope should direction should be toward the pump; when the pump is above the water source, the slope should be in the opposite direction.

If an elbow must be installed in front of the suction inlet of a double-suction pump, it should be installed in the vertical direction to ensure fluid enters the pump evenly.

A check valve should be installed on the pump's discharge pipeline to prevent material backflow when the pump is stopped. The check valve should be placed before the shut-off valve. After shutdown, the shut-off valve should be closed to prevent long-term pressure damage to the check valve disc. For reciprocating pumps, vortex pumps, and gear pumps, a safety valve is generally installed on the discharge pipeline (before the shut-off valve) to prevent accidents caused by overpressure (gear pumps usually come with built-in safety valves). The discharge pipeline of the safety valve should be connected to the suction pipeline.

The piping for the suction inlet of an overhung centrifugal pump should allow convenient disassembly and repair of the impeller.

The exhaust pipeline of a steam reciprocating pump should have minimal bends and no valves. A drain pipe should be installed at locations where condensate may accumulate. For large exhaust volumes, a silencer should also be installed. Exhaust steam should be discharged to a safe outdoor location. The steam supply pipeline should have a condensate drain pipe before the steam inlet valve to prevent water hammer in the cylinder.

Steam reciprocating pumps, metering pumps, non-metallic pumps, centrifugal pumps, and other pumps must be equipped with filters at the suction inlet to prevent debris from entering the pump.