PUMP DEVICE

The present invention relates to a pump apparatus for pumping a liquid, and more particularly to a technique for removing foreign matters contained in the liquid when an impeller catches on the foreign matters. The pump apparatus includes: an impeller (1); an electric motor (7) configured to rotate the impeller (1); an inverter (14) configured to drive the electric motor (7); a current measuring device (15) configured to measure a current supplied to the electric motor (7); and an operation controller (17) configured to instruct the inverter (14) to cause the impeller (1) to perform a foreign-matter removing operation including at least two of: an intermittent operation that intermittently rotates the impeller (1) in a forward direction; a reverse-rotating operation that rotates the impeller (1) in a reverse direction; and a forward and reverse inching operation that rotates the impeller (1) in the reverse direction and the forward direction alternately and repeatedly.