BreakPoint
Random Posts (An alternate to side discussions)
@Wayne.C wrote:And as usual...when discussing Ben's garden things go downhill in a hurry.
Well then for something completely different... my most recent prepping project is a hydraulic ram pump.
It operates using "conservation of momentum" using a down hill flow of water to pump water "up hill".
The intent is to use it to harness the flow in the stream at the south end of The Ridge to supply water to the garden at the top of the hill. To date, we have resorted to three methods of watering the garden.
1) Let God water it.
2) run a garden hose through the woods.
3) man-handle buckets up the hill.
Method #1 does a great job most of the time. July and AUgust are the questionalbe months. method #2 has not been used for two years when we had initially planted the trees that will be the orchard. The run is so long and the climb large enough that I get litle water pressure. THe "self-retratcting" hoses start retracting as soon as I start the flow. By The Way, the self-retracting hose do NOT like throns and spikes and will quickly transform into a soaker hose. Method #3 has been mostly my better-half who takes on the role of water bearer.
So I need a better method to get water to the top of the hill. The ram pump does not require any outisde energy source. The efficincy is largely a factor of the ratio of drop from water source to pump to the distance betweeen the water source and the delivery point. Some back of the knapkin calculations indicate I may be able to get 750-900 gallons a day when the stream is running at 2 gal./min.
The basic operation of the pump is...
Water flowing to the pump exits through a check valve (valve to the right in the photo above) and gathers speed and momentum as the flow increases. When the flow is large enough it close the check valve (see the spurt from the right valve in the photo above) creating a water-hammer. The impulse then opens the second check valve which pushes water up into a pressure vessel. The check vale prevents backflow. Once the pump is primed it will automatically cycle and build up pressure in the pressure vessel. preliminary testing shows that it works and will run for hours provided there is a supply of water, and there is some back pressure to keep the pump cycling.
The next step is to add a manifold to allow using three pressure vessels. The additional volume will be need to drive the long distance (100' with about a 40' rise) to the top of the hill.
My eldest G-daughter has already setched out a schemes staring with a small waterfall, some ponds and watering the gardens.
SO......
Not verything goes down hill when talking abotu the garden.
Take care,
Ben
That ram pump took some effort but it pumped water up hill to my garden for the first time last night.
I had to build a collection pond
Run lines from the pond to the pump
up the hill to the garden
to get about 1/2 gallon per minute
Given the previous method of hauling the water up the hill one bucket full at a time, this is a much improved situation. Since I do most of the gardening and other work, my better half has been the one that resorted to filling buckets and hauling them up the hill. I felt bad watching her have to do that. Now she just has to start the pump, watch the bucket fill and haul it DOWN hill to the garden plots.
If I put in a couple of holding ponds at the top and some drip irigation, she will not even have to do the down hill anymore.
No fossil fuels, no fancy hi tech stuff and EMP proof solutions make me smile.
But I have to confess (don't tell anyone) I would love to add some instrumentation to the hydraulic ram pump becuase the pressure waves inside the pump that get the pump to keep cycling is something I would like to see on a LV front panel graph.
Ben
Good point on the PVC. I intend to rebuild it using iron pipe but while completing the proof of concept, I wanted to go with the quick easy light and cheap.
Re: references
I can only offer two low-res photos I took of two pages I found in a Engineering manual that was originall copyrighted circa 1850.
Ben
Quick note on the ram pump experiment.
I put it to work last night and it did its job, proviing water to The Ridge under dry conditions when the flow in the stream was minimal.
Under normal weather conditions (I do need it to rain occationally ) I should be able to hold up on the hill for about 1.5 years if we can huddle together to make it through the winters.... Not that I am antisocial by any means. 
If you are looking for me in the meanwhile you will find me tending the garden and I will see Y'all on the other side of TEOTWAWKI !
Ben
.
My sister was giving away a pond to a good home so we had to make one.
It was a lot of work but it was also a lot of good dirty fun. My better-half collected rocks and I did the digging and setting the stones. I hope to run the hydralic ram pump tonight to start the filling.
Ben
