Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

Bill Jones wrote:

> It's frustrating to see compressed air 
> pumps being sold in black boxes, indicating that they obviously work (as 
> if there were any doubt; you can just blow in it and see), but no 
> hobbyists talking about it anywhere.
>
>  
I was going to tell about an alternative power discussion group I found 
online.  I thought it was called "Otherworld" or something, but I 
couldn't find it again.  There was a guy talking about using a simple 
jet of compressed air to force water up (he only had 50 feet to go).

But what do you know?  I not only found out what my pump's actually 
called: AIR DISPLACEMENT pumps, because the air displaces the water.  
But also, here's a company called Air Well Pumps that makes exactly the 
same model that I'm building, with a simple water-level detector to 
sense when to change the 3-way solenoid valve.  This little .pdf has 
really given me some helpful tips!  They talk all about some 
non-electronic control methods, and the problems they have.

http://www.naturebase.net/pdf/projects/salinity/toolibin/airwell_2.pdf

Bill
S. Oregon coast