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  • From: "SISU!" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Ram pump rules of thumb
  • Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2006 13:15:50 -0400

That sounds good to me, Bill.
We have a dry creek that flows if we get enough rain, usually in winter
only. I have been looking on freecycle for an above ground pool to use
as a artificial pond. I don't have enough head or flow for a ram pump,
so I snagged a submersible pump on sale a few years ago that is capable
of pumping water up out of the creekbed and into such a 'pond'.

Bev

Bill Jones wrote:

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:


In the mean time, the dry took its toll on the creek. It was still
flowing but not enough to operate a RAM pump.


This is another reason to have a holding tank to feed into the
downpipe of a ram pump, besides excluding sediment and bubbles. You
can save up a day's water and just pump it once a day to the main
gravity-feed storage tank. This siphon stage requires a small
vertical drop of its own, so in extreme cases like ours, where there
is barely three feet of vertical drop, a very shallow holding tank is
in order, so as to not take up much of the vertical drop (fortunately
the problem I mentioned previously about having too slow a trickle
through the downpipe isn't likely to happen with piping of at least
1/2", so nearly always the holding tank can be just inches tall).

We have a plan to siphon water a short distance over to a small
holding tank, from which the downpipe will angle downhill about 100'
to the ram pump. It's no longer necessary for us to have a _large_
holding tank just to run the ram pump, since it's now just a winter
project, but there are too many obstructions right near the water
source, and the downpipe should not curve.

For those blessed with hilly terrain, the bottom of a storage tank
can easily be higher than the destination of the water, in many
cases, so just siphoning works for me. For those with level ground,
a small bilge pump from the marine supply will pump even dirty water
on 12V from a reasonably small solar panel (suitable for immediate,
two-fisted watering). I'm considering just digging round pits in the
ground and lining them with ordinary greenhouse plastic film, which I
find incredibly durable (when holey and scratched, the remains still
function as shade cloth for plants).

It may be a little difficult to have a below-ground tank feed a ram pump, since it's not convenient to tap from the side. But you can
just siphon (on a hill, which we can assume exists, if you're
considering a ram) to a tiny intermediate tank close by, and let the
downpipe take off from there. (Actually, the more little holding
tanks there are between the source and the ram, the less sediment
will enter it.)

I've decided on a 32' x 16' x 4' pond in the low spot where nettle
now grows. I don't think I'll let the geese in, though, if it's
supposed to water the garden, but keep it covered. They appreciate
even a small pond, and I can still siphon their waste water to real
water-lovers downhill from there, like peaches, or use the bilge pump
to move the water uphill. It's the same amount of water either way,
so why not arrange things so that the largest pond stays clean? I've
worked out the details, and our pond should provide enough water to
cover 1500 sq. ft. of beds for the summer.

Bill S. Oregon coast


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