Start Up the Ram Pump for 2020

After a rather mild winter its time to get the ram pump back up and running. Looks like we will be digging out some silt and finding the screen intake.

In my Hydraulic Ram Pump setup I have a screen intake that pulls water in to feed the system. This is made from 3" pvc pipe with holes drilled into it. I then take window screen and wrap it around the pipe. The water that comes into this pipe travels down a supply line to the next stage of the system.

The Bucket intake is a very important part of the ram pump build. This allows for an air free water source and keep a lot of silt out of the pump. To make this bucket I simply let water from the supply line dump into the top of the bucket. The I use a product called Uniseal to install the drive pipe midway up the bucket. One the bottom I have a drain plug that lets me drain the silt. The extra water empties the bucket and goes back to the creek.

The water travels down the drive pipe. This is a 1" poly pvc pipe to match the size of ram pump that I have installed. The more ridged the drive pipe the better the water hammer effect will be and the higher you can lift water.

The ram pump that I have installed can be purchased at the Land To House website and on Amazon. Links:

Ram Pumps available on AMAZON

Also available on Land To House Website:

The water tanks on top of the hill are supplied by water on the bottom. I like this setup as long as the non return valve is working.

Lastly I have a poly pipe traveling down the the garden spot so that I can use the water in an irrigation setup.

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[LandtoHouse]

You can get a ram pump on Amazon:
and at Land To House:

[smecho]

You can keep the tubing from slipping off by alining you hose clamps and wrap a copper wire around the clamp housings in a figure 8 style and twist tight. I started doing this 10 years ago and never had any slip off since.

[domenicozagari]

If you put a transparent pipe outside the tanks you can see how much water you got.

[jllaine]

Test suggestion: when you cleared the silt and restarted the pump, you showed the water in the clear pressure cylinder moving about 2 inches vertically. So that suggests a test: how short of a pressure tank can you use and the pump still works? I'll wager 6 inches with no loss of delivery flow.
I'd suggest that you add another elbow below that broken ball valve you used for extending the supply pipe deeper into the bucket, so the water swirls in a circle around the bucket. Any leftover bubbles will surface more quickly and stay away from the drive pipe and it will allow more sediment to settle, like a cyclone vacuum cleaner.

[GermanShepherdRanch]

I’m home studying 80 acres in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. I have a fresh water spring down my canyon. It’s a year-round spring and it puts out about 10 times the amount of water that you have. Year round. The canyon is pretty steep and normally have 400 feet of vertical elevation. I think it would be amazing to he’s a rim pump and feeder pipes to go from large to small. I don’t know if I can do it but the math seems to add up to me. I really appreciate your videos.

[CommentsAllowed]

13:26 Makes sense! I knew that from the bottom or from the top was the same when the water level is at the top.
However, I didn't think about the fact that if you start at the bottom, you can take advantage of needing less energy as it works it way to fill the tank.
Cool!

[patrickhoffmann]

Haha, you really must love your sandals @1:31, but after "probably should wearing shoes, but I've got sandals on" mostly comes "I am sick".

[niklar]

If you put the cycle tube into the pressure pipe, with the valve through the top cap, you could adjust the pressure at will to suit requirements.

[BodilBukspytt]

Awsome video!
The helicopter(or whatever XD) in the background at ~12:30 sounded like an ominous soundtrack. hehe

[finscreenname]

I so wish had a resource like this. A water source and elevation drop. At the highest point of my property I would build a nice holding pond and at the lowest I would have a turgo.

[bobhogan]

Got my Ram pump from you up and running. Love it, fun!!

[rmadbrit]

Hahaha. Glow in the dark dude like me eh? But you live in the land of waterproof safety boots man! Stumbled on this and have recommended to friends as so many are off-grid fans now.
I have a house in Italy and was wondering if it could help me as natural mountain streams abound. You are welcome to visit anytime as I like your knowledge and your personality. All the best mate!

[Skyliner_]

I remember you saying something about closing a valve too fast and I wanted to recommend a simple solution to avoid any extra water-hammer damage to your piping. that'd be a spigot. specifically, one with a screw-valve in stead of a 90 degree ball valve.

[altafqadri]

Thank you so much for these awesome videos. I was wondering if you have a video explaining how to store the water, storage tanks and non return valves. 
Best
A

[maximoincognito]

You proved already that stainless steel swing valve it is much better than made of brass

[Splungers]

It would be interesting to see just how high the fill pipe going in the tanks will lift, and raise the tanks accordingly, increasing line pressure to the garden pressure to maximum.

[koehlehlers]

Thanks a bunch for your knowledge man, the few videos I've seen so far have been a wealth of knowledge. I started working on a project to water and power a small vegetable garden and was curious if something like a Tesla valve could be added to your feed line to redirect that pressure forward and optimize your lift to your tanks?

[TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

I guess we are on the same schedule! :) At 13:00 where you talk about elevation and pressure, I have a video out on that explaining PSI, pressure, site calculations and the like (called "The Ram Pump Design Manual *Calcs Pressure Elevation Measurements Sizing Operation*). Keep up the great work Seth! Looking forward to your Ram videos for 2020!

[saifuladlimahmud]

Hello my teacher, I hope you and your family keep safe about the covid19.. Me from Malaysia has thankfully about your video and so very helpful.
#learnandlearn
#thanksteacher

[davidhelfrich]

Amazing how a winter and rainy Tuesdays will affect the ram pump system. 🦀