We Found Water For The Pond - Hydraulic Ram Pump

If you don’t want to buy all the individual pieces for your own ram pump like we did, you can buy an already assembled pump on Amazon with the link below

[HometownAcres]

If you don’t want to buy all the individual pieces for your own ram pump like we did, you can buy an already assembled pump on Amazon with the link below

[wintersplumbing]

Thanks for mentioning us! We are very happy that your pump is working and were more than happy to help you.

[greggwilliamson]

When I built my first ram pump (about 20 years ago) I used a small pressurized pump tank with a bladder. It made the pump cycle about three times faster and thus pumped more water.

[amaker]

You may want to consider a splash rock in the pond, so the constant drip of water doesn’t erode the sidewall.

[tenfeetwanderers]

Over time the ram pump can cause cracks in your connections due to the harsh stop/start of the ram. We found that swapping to a bunyip pump (made in Australia) that the water flow was a lot more progressive, and less harsh on the pipe and connectors.

[steveguzy]

Nice work Adam. To get more water you may want to consider a second ram pump feeding the IBC tote.

[kevinfox]

You're storing your water in a 1 ton container, connect it to a small turbine down at the pond and generate some electricity to store in a battery. Use an automatic syphon on the top tank to harness all that energy in one go, which should cycle twice a day at your present flow rates. You can also add a funnel at your creek intake to Increase the flow and resultant which will become more productive. In winter you should scale up to meet your domestic needs. Well done

[JCWren]

I'm thinking your outlet pipe to the pond could easily handle double it's current flow, maybe a little more. Put 2 or 3 more ram pumps feeding the IBC tote, an overflow pipe that returns water to the creek (basically just dump it out a few feet away), and with the head pressure from the IBC tote, you'd easily be more than doubling your flow, and only for the cost of 2 or 3 more ram pump assemblies. The siphon idea a couple people have mentioned is also intriguing, and pretty easy to test without disassembling much of the current set up at the IBC tote.

[joshbehrns]

I spent 8 years as an irrigation technician, you might want to re dig up where you crossed the driveway put in 3" pvc then put your 1" line through the pvc, the pvc will be a sleeve and help from crushing/poking holes in your poly line

[richardross]

Nice video. Setting it up so that the outflow pipe is continuous from the pump to the pond should work fine and increase the flow a bit. I don't think that you will get a siphon condition anyway because the flow isn't enough to fill the outflow pipe. My Dad first encountered a hydraulic ram pump in 1929 when he was a kid at Boy Scout camp. He was fascinated by it so then he researched about them. He taught me about them in the 1950s and then I learned again in the 1970s from Mother Earth News Magazine. Adding a little more weight to the overflow check valve should increase the flow. Good Luck, Rick

[SpicerDesignsLLC]

I never new that pump existed. Pretty amazing. Great solution for extra water to the pond.

[DYIIdeas]

I would love to see the comparison in water quality in your future video. How fun !

[jda]

That's cool these things have been around for a long time. My parents bought a farm in so. indiana in the 60's it had a big spring and the neighbor used those pumps to pump up to his house uphill all the way about 300 feet. He called them ramjets and had about 5 or 6 of them they were made of cast iron and had a check valve made of brass. I wish I had one of those old ones just for memories.

[alansummerscales]

Remove the ibc and run the pipe all the way, that will reduce your effective head and the ram will pump faster. More water.
If it siphons and stops the pump then put a valve on the hammer check valve, so once running you can syphon all the way.

[chrisartman]

Hi Adam, great video. I have a smaller ram pump, 1/2”, I use to irrigate my garden with. I fill a 55 gallon drum that then overflows back to the stream. I use a battery powered automatic ball valve to supply my drip irrigation. Unfortunately my little creek won’t support a larger pump, but it still works. I initially I built a 1” drive/1/2” out pump that works in the spring, but I don’t have enough water flow in the summer to run it. You were correct about the air in your driveline when you started. Also no discharge back pressure will effect it. You can throttle closed on the discharge valve until the line is filled. Then open up the discharge valve. Mine is all plastic accept for the swing check. Also I have my check valves swapped from your positions. I didn’t have to modify the spring check valve to make it work. After four summers, I’ve just have to replace the swing check valve every year. I’ve never checked my flow, but it’s a pencil stream. My issue is that I’m only lifting the water about 10’. So for it to work properly, I have to keep the discharge valve throttled. In my driveline, I put a bucket as a silt trap in addition to the intake screen. I put the water in bucket about 2/3rds of up the side of the bucket. Then tapped off the side of the bucket at the top to feed the pump. If we get heavy rain it usually stops the pump. I just dump the bucket over to empty it. Then just let it refill the bucket, reprime/restart the pump, and it’s off and running. After the initial investment, mine has been pretty cheap to keep going. I just pull it and and pipe for the winter. I drain it and hang it on the shed wall. Also to fasten it in the creek, I drove a tee post in the ground. I then bought large hose clamps and fasted the pump to the tee post. Great video and explanations. I’m glad this works for you. Have a good day!

[lesliechan]

These old school science really are needed, and water is such a powerful resource, it can really be incredibly useful, imagine you have a stronger flow of water (maybe use damming), you can make yourself a hydro electric plant, I’ve seen small designs generate 1Kw power 24/7 and it’s free and environmentally friendly.

[DIYMyWay]

Hi Adam! Great project! Ram pumps are amazing and you’ve got me think of an application for one. Thanks for sharing!

[donlowe]

Great deal, I’m glad you found a solution

[RichardCurrie]

You might be able to improve performance by building a tiny weir at the intake for the rampump to ensure good water availablity. Additionally, as others have said, you can add additional ram pumps to increase flow to the tote.

[bkizers]

These pumps have been out for almost 100 years. We used in Alaska for our 3 cabins. I filled 50 gal water tanks with filters. So we could drink the water also. As long as you keep your water flowing your water won't freeze either. I ran overflows on the tanks and I used them for years.