Pumping Water With No Gas or Electric Pump

AzViper

Bronze Member
Sep 30, 2012
2,038
2,250
Arizona - Is there any other state worth visiting
Detector(s) used
Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Nokta FORS Gold, Garrett ATX, Sun Ray Gold Pro Headphones, Royal Pick, Etc.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
So your out in the back country and you have a source of water say from a stream. Without any gas power or electric power you can pump water great distances and uphill.

Lets say you have a stock tank or a tank you need to fill during the week and use the water for a recirculating system on the weekends and have plenty of water to use.

You can pump 600 to 2000 gallons of water in a 24 hour period and cost you not one dime other than building a simple pump for under $30.00 in material.

For every foot of head height you will have 7 feet of lift, higher the head the higher the lift. In one of the videos you are shown how to determine your head and your max. lift height.

In the 1st video you will see a check valve where water looks to be lost onto the ground this water could be returned to to the source or drained into yet a lower tank. If the source of water is in a stream such as the other two videos then there is no lost of water...

(From Wikipedia) A hydraulic ram, or hydram, is a cyclic water pump powered by hydropower. It takes in water at one "hydraulic head" (pressure) and flow rate, and outputs water at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate. The device uses the water hammer effect to develop pressure that allows a portion of the input water that powers the pump to be lifted to a point higher than where the water originally started. The hydraulic ram is sometimes used in remote areas, where there is both a source of low-head hydropower and a need for pumping water to a destination higher in elevation than the source. In this situation, the ram is often useful, since it requires no outside source of power other than the kinetic energy of flowing water. Joseph Michel Montgolfier invented the Hydraulic Water Ram Pump in 1796, he is best known for inventing the hot air balloon.


 

Last edited:
Upvote 0
OP
OP
AzViper

AzViper

Bronze Member
Sep 30, 2012
2,038
2,250
Arizona - Is there any other state worth visiting
Detector(s) used
Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Nokta FORS Gold, Garrett ATX, Sun Ray Gold Pro Headphones, Royal Pick, Etc.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Something that I have noticed is nobody is explaining in the videos the direction these check valves need to be positioned. So here is a simple drawing I made up that shows the direction the valves need to be in.

Htdraulic Ram Pump Drawing.png
 

UncleMatt

Bronze Member
Jul 14, 2012
2,389
2,530
Albuqerque, NM / Durango, CO
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium & Gold Bug II, Bazooka Super Prospector Sluice
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a method to pump water that uses only steam, and no moving parts...
 

OP
OP
AzViper

AzViper

Bronze Member
Sep 30, 2012
2,038
2,250
Arizona - Is there any other state worth visiting
Detector(s) used
Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Nokta FORS Gold, Garrett ATX, Sun Ray Gold Pro Headphones, Royal Pick, Etc.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Cool stuff. Thanks AZVIPER

Yeah it is cool stuff. I can see where the Hydraulic Ram Pump has many uses. Even for someone who has a stock tank on their property that's feed from a underground well. If there is a slope downhill from the stock tank and the user needs water in another location where gravity of the water from the stock tank can not put the water up and over a hill the Hydraulic Ram pump will work provided the head pressure is enough for the pump to work to the height needed to put water into the other location. It's a 1 to 7 ratio for the pump they designed. So 5 ft. of head will result in the pump having 35ft of lift. This pump would be great to have water from a stream delivering water to your camp.

For anyone wanting to build this pump I suggest that you read this article (How To Build A Hydraulic Ram Pump) Instead of using expensive brass check valves and steel fittings you can cut your cost and build the entire pump from PVC including using PVC check valves such as the valve pictured.

PVC CK VALVE.jpg
 

UncleMatt

Bronze Member
Jul 14, 2012
2,389
2,530
Albuqerque, NM / Durango, CO
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium & Gold Bug II, Bazooka Super Prospector Sluice
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There was a company that had a steam powered marine jet/water pump back a few years ago. They never did anything with the device but make it into a pump for food processing in plants. It injects steam at around 60 psi into a flow-through-cavity to move liquid through it. Objects can pass through this pump without harming it at all while it is in full operation! Sounds like the perfect dredge pump to me, especially since it has no moving parts, is very hard to damage, and is very small. I have an idea how to create the steam in remote locations too!
 

OP
OP
AzViper

AzViper

Bronze Member
Sep 30, 2012
2,038
2,250
Arizona - Is there any other state worth visiting
Detector(s) used
Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Nokta FORS Gold, Garrett ATX, Sun Ray Gold Pro Headphones, Royal Pick, Etc.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
UncleMatt,

Sounds complicated and not very user friendly. The Hydraulic Ram pump is very easy to build, easy to maintain, easy to start, and will deliver the needed water. What more do you want from a simple design that was developed 218 years ago and still in use in commercial operations today. There are a number of companies that build a more advance Hydraulic Ram pumps, but those who want hassle free (FREE WATER) from a stream this HRP does what its intended to do.
 

Last edited:

UncleMatt

Bronze Member
Jul 14, 2012
2,389
2,530
Albuqerque, NM / Durango, CO
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium & Gold Bug II, Bazooka Super Prospector Sluice
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm not sure what in my description indicated it wasn't user friendly. Small, no moving parts, only needs steam at 60psi. It wouldn't take much to make a simple tank that uses propane as a heat source. Since you don't need to generate high steam pressure, the tank can be very light. Maybe even rig up a solar reflector to save fuel, which could be as simple as a fabric or mylar reflector, and you are in business. And when I mean small, I mean a few inches in diameter and at most a couple of feet long. Also very lightweight.
 

OP
OP
AzViper

AzViper

Bronze Member
Sep 30, 2012
2,038
2,250
Arizona - Is there any other state worth visiting
Detector(s) used
Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Nokta FORS Gold, Garrett ATX, Sun Ray Gold Pro Headphones, Royal Pick, Etc.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I'm not sure what in my description indicated it wasn't user friendly. Small, no moving parts, only needs steam at 60psi. It wouldn't take much to make a simple tank that uses propane as a heat source. Since you don't need to generate high steam pressure, the tank can be very light. Maybe even rig up a solar reflector to save fuel, which could be as simple as a fabric or mylar reflector, and you are in business. And when I mean small, I mean a few inches in diameter and at most a couple of feet long. Also very lightweight.

This was the part in your description that indicated it was not user friendly. (injects steam at around 60 psi) You left the readers with the idea of using steam. Show the readers with a drawing how the system works or is this a business opportunity?
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top