Off Grid Water Pump lifts over 50 feet [Full 1/2' Ram Pump Install]

The 1/2" ram pump is a great way to lift water from a small creek. This Hydraulic Ram Pump install takes water from a stream through a 300 foot long supply pipe to a standpipe. From the Standpipe the water goes down a 1/2" drive pipe to the Ram Pump. The pump takes in 2gpm with over 8 feet of input head pressure and pumps the water up over 50 feet. Over the course of a day the output of this pump can fill a storage tank to be used in the off grid home.

The intake is designed from a 3" pipe with several holes in it. The silt filter bucket greatly reduces air bubbles in the system and reduces the silt that goes to the pump. The stand pipe brings the source water closer to the pump while maintaining the head pressure. The ram pump is 1/2" and uses 2gpm while pumping 1/4 gallon per minute. The delivery pipe is made from Pex pipe and carries the water up hill.

I have 4 sizes of ram pump available on the Land To House website and on Amazon check these links to purchase a ram pump.

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P.O. Box 323
Micaville, NC 28755

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[danb]

Seth I bought a little 1/2 inch pump from you two or three years ago and began experimenting trying to get water from a creek up to an orchard. I know you look for ideas to create videos comparing different designs. I have found through experimentation that I can almost double the flow of my system by using a check valve one size larger than the ram pump. I currently have a 1-1/2 inch ram pump with a 2 inch swing check valve (stainless). Changing from a 1-1/2 inch check valve to the 2 inch valve changed my flow at the top from 54 seconds / gallon to 29 seconds / gallon. My system has a 500 foot run up the orchard with a 70 foot lift. If you want to try something different, try experimenting with increasing the size of the swing valve (oversizing it) without changing anything else. As always, great video.

[robertg]

I’d like to see a video of a high lifter pump, I used to own one years ago. They can run on as little as a trickle of water, automatically start on their own and deliver water up to 1000 feet of head, given enough drop and enough water. Ours delivered 1300 gallons a day with about 30 feet of drop from collection to the pump (drive pipe) and delivered it 400 feet of head. It was absolutely the coolest thing I’ve ever purchased.

[kevinkidderphotographer]

Probably the best video that I have seen on ram pumps!

Well done

[johngodwin]

Oh snap look out he’s got a half inch pump. Nice set up you always do a good job.

[TakeNoneForTheTeam]

I ran a test a while back. I changed the first one-way valve from vertical to angled. I wanted to see whether it would change the flow rate and it did vastly improve. One direction results in the flap closing with lower water flow since the flap is already partially closed while at rest and the pump cycles quickly. The other results in a delayed flap closure since the water velocity must be higher to overcome the flap being angled past vertical. This has a slower cycle time, but the water velocity is higher. I allowed the system to run for a few minutes at each angle and did a stop watch test with a 20 ounce bottle. Have an amazing day!

[UserFormelyKnownAs_hjkh]

Very good video! Please be aware of a few things plumbing related...1. An effect called friction loss. Where for each foot of water in a pipr you will lose X amount of pressure due to friction against the inner walls of the pipe. In theory you could run a pipe long enough the the infeed pressure is totally negated by friction loss and no water would ever come out the other end.

2. When you double the diameter of a pipe, the flow rate is quadrupled! So changing that 1/2 inch pex to a 1 inch line would allow a much better flow at the end!

Thanks for sharing, i was unaware you could have such a long infeed pipe for the ram pump to achieve your drop/head pressure.

[rhino]

Can't wait for the snow to leave here, in NOVA SCOTIA, so I can get to the camp, and get my ram pump running for the season.

[creativeredneckin]

Thank you. Your videos were so helpful when I was looking into ram pumps for watering the garden. It's the second year I'm using mine and it's working great.

[slowmotion]

I absolutely love ram pums, and watching ramp pump videos is like meditation for me 😂, I built one of these in 2019 but unfortunately it didn't last very long 😢

[sestun]

Ram pump installing videos are tight! (Sorry I just came from the ryan george channel.) But seriously, ramp pump videos (installing and experiments) are the best!

[joesabal]

I remember viewing a video of how California gold miners used water to create a massive high pressure water hose to wash the banks with water to find gold. They did this using progressive larger pipes going uphill to the water source. Since water is just over 8 pounds per gallon this water weight increase the water pressure at the base to a modern day fire hose. This would be a good model for this project to maximize one's efforts.

[ericsumnicht]

Beautiful job again Seth. So glad to see your subscriber base growing. !!!
A blessed Easter to you and your family.🎉

[johnthomas]

thanks, I can add this to my homestead in the Philippine islands...

[markcooper]

For the blue PVC pipe supplying the water for use: could you start with a bigger diameter pipe (like 1") and step it down to 3\4" to 1\2" and build pressure that way? I know we do it in residential houses just wasn't sure if it would work in this application?

[glossyfpv]

Can you use a ram pump to pump water up a hill then down the other side and have a water turbine creating power at the bottom? Once the ram pump gets up to the top, suction and gravity should pull a steady flow down the hill to create power. Just a random though lol

[AlexasGarden]

Very useful thing! I liked ) Thanks for your advice!

[backachershomestead]

Been thinking of running a ram pump into livestock tank and running overflow back to creek. It would not be contaminated. Only thing holding me back is cost of black pipe.

[BitByThePurplePlague]

Am wondering.. does the size of pipe matter from the Ram Pump to the storage tank? Is there more output volume with a smaller pipe or more with a larger pipe... 1/2" vs 3/4 in.

[NoOne]

Pex might have been a bad call.
6. Keep PEX away from sunlight. Like most other plastics, PEX will become brittle if exposed to sunlight for too long and may crack under pressure. Typical exposure limit is ~30 days.

[lesthompson]

how big must the ram - pump Be to give a delivery of 4"pipe .