Post by woodyz on Apr 7, 2014 15:13:32 GMT -7
In looking for some options to pump water with out electricity for an aquaponics system, I found this article in my files. While the article has nothing to do with aquaponics the application is perfect.
I am going to do one of my "proof of concepts" on this as I have 100' of black 1" hard plastic pipe used to run our gravity fed water system for our livestock. The system runs from water captured in barrels, down hill with a good 20' head, then up into a barrel 8' off the ground which flows to all of the pens and cages through 1/2" pvc, so I think I would have enough pressure to make this work. Atleast I am going to try it.
I am not going to try it as part of an aquaponics system right now, just as an uphill water pump. I moved my aquaponics stuff out to the retreat and it doesn't look like I will be doing anything with it this year due to my sons wreck and injuries.
But it would be nice to actually make it work to pump water without electric. We have a solar system on our water well now, but the panel charges a battery and the battery powers the pump, but we still use electric when this small system doesn't have the juice. Its a small panel and two deep cycle batteries just as a can I do it thing right now.
Any way here is the article.
History of the Hydraulic Ram
________________________________________
The Fleming Hydro-Ram is an efficient, lightweight, dependable and inexpensive hydraulic ram pump made possible by modern technology. It works on the same principles of physics that enable its cumbersome predecessors to water the farmlands of Europe, the MidEast and Asia over the past two hundred years.
John Whitehurst is credited with inventing a non-self-acting ram pump in England in 1772. By 1796 a Frenchman, Joseph Michael Montgolfier, had added a valve, which made the device self-acting, making the ram pump almost a perpetual motion machine when water supplies were steady.
In 1809, the first American patent was issued to J. Cerneau and S.S. Hallet in New York...but it wasn't until 1832 that information began spreading across the eastern states about the "simple pump that pushes water uphill using energy from falling water."
Prior to the 1840's most ram pumps in this country were imported from Europe, but in 1843, H.H. Strawbridge of Louisiana claimed to be the first to put an American made model into use. His first ram, built entirely of wood, exploded, prompting a later model boasting "cross-bolts and rivets of iron." A cast iron ram soon followed.
Water-hungry rural Americans were intrigued by the pumps. Benson's Patent Water Ram could pump water from the powering stream or spring up a hill or it could use that power to push another water supply....potable perhaps...uphill. Articles in magazines such as the Farmer's Cabinet and American Farmer brought further recognition and understanding of the ram and its possibilities. A detailed book on the ram, published in 1842, was in its 16th edition by 1870.
In 1879, The People's Cyclopedia included the hydraulic ram among the 55 most important inventions in the history of mankind. It defined the hydraulic ram as: "A simple and conveniently applied mechanism by which the weight of falling water can be made available for raising a portion of itself to a considerable height."
Benson's ram was said to "raise twice the water than any force pump will, with the same water power." It was described as "very simple and easy to keep in order."
Patents on the ram abounded in the 1840's and 1850's, but after 1858 none were secured until 1870 when another burst of interest saw four patents awarded in 3 years.
Though many used rams for individual homes and farms, an 1852 advertisement for Birkinbine's Patent Improved Hydraulic Ram proclaimed that the ram had pumped 20,000 gallons a day to the town of Naples, NY. The ad invited individuals to order a "proper ram and pipe sent them with directions for putting up." Birkinbine's rams were "warranted in every respect." One of the best known large rams was the Rife Hydraulic Engine, which could pump 50,000 gallons a day and 200 feet vertically.
Cost was a major factor in the growth of ram use. Not only were the machines inexpensive to buy, but they also were simple to install...most ads claimed that anyone could do it...and they were almost maintenance-free.
In 1844 John Latrobe imported a ram from England at a cost of $100 including 500 feet of pipe. A.J. Downing in 1847 paid only $60.60 for an American made ram and several hundred feet of pipe. Downing's ram itself cost only $12; larger models cost as much as $30. Repair costs ranged from $5 every 5 years for replacement valves on the English models to Birkinbine's claim of "repairs not over 25 cents a year."
For more than 100 years rams were major movers of water to homes, farms, industries, railroads and towns. They contributed to improved crop production, introduction of extensive landscaping and gardening, and, perhaps most importantly, to health and sanitation. But with the advent of electrical pumps, interest in the hydraulic rams became dormant. Ram pumps were allowed to rust in the stream until expensive parts, fossil fuel shortages, and environmental concerns brought back to the public's mind the need for a pump that is inexpensive, requires almost no repairs or maintenance, is self-acting, and which can raise water to a considerable height vertically. The public began searching for a ram it could readily afford, pick up easily and move if necessary.
And so in 1980 Richard Fleming developed and began marketing the Fleming Hydro-Ram. Constructed principally with off-the-shelf parts, it is lightweight, highly efficient, and designed to provide many years of dependable service. Thus the Fleming Hydro-Ram offers a virtually maintenance-free system that has become a vanguard of modern ram development.
Because of its affordability and effectiveness the Fleming Hydro-Ram is operating successfully for hundreds of people throughout the United States and in many foreign countries.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram
________________________________________
Despite the complex hydraulics of the Fleming Hydro-Ram, its operation can be outlined simply; first falling water from the source...a stream or artesian well...is funneled into a drive pipe connected at (A) until a necessary minimum volume is achieved. Water flows down the drive pipe until it reaches a specially designed poppet valve (B). At this point water escapes through the waste valve opening until it builds up enough pressure to seal the opening of the poppet.
Since the flowing water in the drive pipe can no longer escape through the waste valve opening, it is forced to open a mid-range inline check valve (C).
Water continues past the check valve and starts compressing the trapped air in the vertical compression chamber (D). Water continues to push against the air in the chamber until the compressed air cushion acts like a piston, pushing water back down and out of the air chamber.
This action, in turn, closes the one-way check valve causing water to be forced out of the ram and up the delivery pipe, which is attached at (E).
Meanwhile, the closing of the check valve creates a slight vacuum or suction which permits the waste valve poppet to drop open again. This allows water from the drive pipe to escape through the waste valve opening, creating a new cycle. There are about 60 such cycles per minute.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram... What can it do for you?
________________________________________
Whether you are a weekend camper, a back-to-nature homesteader, or a third world resident needing to water date trees a quarter-mile away from an artesian well, the Fleming Hydro-Ram may well be the answer to your water needs. If there is water flowing within several hundred yards of where you need it that has a minimum of a two-foot drop from the intake source to the pump, then the Fleming Hydro-Ram can dependably and consistently pump a portion of that flow uphill.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram uses the force of falling water to pump water uphill to where you need it...without using any additional source of energy and with only a few moving parts! As little as a two foot (0.6 meters) fall from the water source to the pump at a flow rate of 3 gallons per minute is ample to drive the system and provide up to 20 feet of vertical lift to the discharged point. As an example, with the pump located 3 feet below the source of the water supply and fed with 3 gallons of water flow per minute, the Fleming Hydro-Ram can provide up to 30 feet of vertical lift and pump water through several hundred feet of delivery pipe.
Fleming Hydro-Ram pumps are in essence hydraulic engines designed to move water. They are capable of supplying from 700 to 4,000 gallons a day, depending on the "head" of water supplying the pump, the size of the pump, the flow rate to the pump, and the height of the discharge.
With a Fleming Hydro-Ram and a suitable stream, spring or artesian well nearby, you can supply your homestead's water needs, irrigate your garden or water your orchard...all without the use of any outside source of energy! Other uses of this versatile pump include filling a swimming pool or pond that is uphill from a spring or stream, watering livestock, or to economically supply a cooling flow of water to your heat pump's water-to-air heat exchanger.
Properly installed, the Fleming Hydro-Ram can be of significant help in supplying water to remote cabins and homesteads during periods of cold weather. If your water source is a flowing stream that never freezes over, the Fleming Hydro-Ram may be able to be installed so that it can supply water uphill in an instant pulse-stream that won't freeze up, under most conditions.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram delivers a readily usable flow of unpressurized water at the discharge point. You can use this flow to water trees, fill livestock watering troughs, and so on. If you want to use the pump to furnish water for all your needs at a cabin or homestead, you may want to incorporate a reservoir at a slightly higher elevation than your showers, sinks, sanitary facilities, etc. An illustration is included to show how the Fleming Hydro-Ram can be used with a reservoir to provide gravity-supplied pressure for your water system. The RAM Company can supply you with ANY of the necessary items you may need to complete your system.
You don't need to be a plumber to install a Fleming Hydro-Ram. Setup of the system is simple and easy. Hard PVC pipe is used for the supply-side of the pump (called the "drive" side) and is easily assembled using PVC cement and slip-on couplings. Either flexible plastic or vinyl pipe, or a standard hose pipe, can be connected to the discharge or "delivery" side of the pump.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram is practically maintenance-free. And its light weight makes it easily handled even in difficult terrain. Whether you want a pump with full portability or one for a fixed installation, there are models designed to fit your water needs.
With the surprisingly low initial cost of the Fleming Hydro-Ram and the many benefits it can bring you, the real question to consider is...how much is it costing you not to have a Fleming Hydro-Ram?
Drip irrigation may be used in conjunction with the RAM pump. The discharge hose of the RAM pump is connected directly to the drip irrigation supply hose and feeds the system.
Applying water just to the root zone of each plant is the key idea behind drip irrigation. Traditional methods of irrigation such as flood and sprinkler applications use water in excess of plant need and over an area many times larger than the root zone. Unproductive soil between plants is also wetted. Soil moisture is hard to maintain between applications, and a great portion of the applied water is lost in run-off, removing top-soil, or in deep percolation, leaching chemicals into ground water. The progress of the plastic industry now makes it economically feasible to provide an extensive network of pipes and components needed to distribute water to each plant. Drip irrigation allows you to manage the soil environment around each plant by applying small doses of water in pace with the plant consumption, so water is applied over a long time, in frequent intervals, and on the root zone. The moisture can be manipulated to create optimum growing condition. Since its commercial introduction, drip irrigation has been installed in several hundreds of thousands of acres across the USA. But this is only a fraction of the potential acreage which could benefit from drip irrigation.
How Much Water Will it Pump?
________________________________________
Numerous variables, such as vertical fall, vertical lift, rate of ram pulsation and length of pipe on intake and discharge, will affect the amount of water aFleming Hydro-Ram will pump at your site.
Output range is 700 to 1,800 gal./day for a 1-inch ram; 700 to 3,000 gal./day for a 1 1/2-inch ram; 700 to 4,000 gal./day for a 2-inch ram and for a 3-inch ram, up to 16,000 gal. and more.
Above figures were determined by actual use of rams in the field. Exact output of a ram at your site, however, will vary according to circumstances.
Generally with a ratio of 1-foot drop to 10-foot lift, your pump will deliver approximately 15 to 20 percent of the water that it uses.
A pressure guage connected to the discharge end of the pump will tell you how high the water is in the delivery pipe when the pressure reading is multiplied by 2.31.
Ram Operating Requirements
________________________________________
Operating requirements of the Fleming Hydro-Ram are few and simple, but essential and must be known.
A. Amount of water needed per day.
B. Amount of flow from the source.
C. Fall or vertical drop from a water source to the ram installation.
D. Lift or vertical height to discharge.
E. Distance from the water source to the ram installation.
F. Distance water has to be delivered.
________________________________________
A. HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED?
The following table lists amounts of water needed per day for a variety of home and farm uses. Figures represent requirements for MAXIMUM consumption during hot summer weather.
AVERAGE WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL SERVICE AROUND THE HOME AND FARM
Each person per day, for all purposes 50 gal.
Each horse, dry cow or beef animal 12 gal.
Each Milking cow 35 gal.
Each hog per day 4 gal.
Each sheep per day 2 gal.
Each 100 chickens per day 4 gal.
AVERAGE AMOUNT OF WATER REQUIRED BY VARIOUS HOME AND YARD FIXTURES
Drinking fountain, continously flowing 50 to 100 gal. per day.
Each shower bath Up to 60 gal.
To fill bathtub 30 gal.
To flush toilet 6 gal.
To fill lavatory 2 gal.
Dish Washing Machine - per load 3 gal.
Automatic Washer - per load Up to 50 gal.
________________________________________
B. DETERMINING AMOUNT OF FLOW
Amount of flow your source offers can be measured fairly accurately by allowing water to run into a bucket of known volume (e.g. a five-gallon bucket) while timing the rate of fill accurately to the nearest second. It may be necessary to build a small dam in the creek or spring to make it easier to catch water to fill the bucket. Keep in mind the rate of flow from the source may be less during drier times of the year.
A one-inch Fleming Hydro-Ram needs a flow of 2-3 gallons per minute, while a two-inch Fleming Hydro-Ram requires 3-5 gallons per minute.
________________________________________
C. DETERMINING VERTICAL FALL
Having an adequate fall for the water from the source to the ram site is a very critical requirement. One of the easiest methods for calculating fall is to use a carpenter's level fastened securely to the top of a stick. (See diagram)
Starting at a proposed ram installation site, place the stick and level on the ground and observe where the line of sight hits the ground in front. Continue in this manner (remember to keep the device level at all times) until you reach the level of the water source. Multiply the height of the stick by the number of times it was moved from the ram site to water source to obtain total water fall.
________________________________________
D. DETERMINING VERTICAL LIFT
Vertical lift - total height to which water must be pumped from the ram site - can be determined by the same method used to calculate vertical fall.
It has been determined that under certain conditions the Fleming Hydro-Ramcan pump water about ten times higher than the total fall of the water source.
For example, if the source has a fall of at least 5 feet, and there is adequate water flow to run the pump, the Fleming Hydro-Ram should lift a minimum volume of water at least 50 feet.
________________________________________
E. & F. DETERMINING HORIZONTAL DISTANCES
Horizontal distances - lengths of drive and delivery pipe - may be determined by first calculating the average length of one normal step. This can be done by dividing into 100 the number of steps you take in walking 100 feet. The result is an average distance in feet per step. Multiply this figure by the steps taken between ram and source as well as ram and delivery point to estimate lengths of pipe needed for the system.
With a rapidly falling stream...or from a dam...it may be possible to get a good "fall" from the source to the pump with only a minimal pipe run. But in every case there must be a length of hard rigid pipe so as to create a hammering effect.
1" Fleming Hydro-Ram
Ernie's Reverse Flow Pickup
Strainer
1" Ball Valve
1" Tee
Bushings to fit call for current pricing
Order Part No. RP10CPT 2 Cut Off Valves
2 Pressure Gauges
4 Close Nipples
1/2" Tee
1/2" Ball Valve
1-1/2" Fleming Hydro-Ram
Ernie's Reverse Flow Pickup
Strainer
1-1/2" Ball Valve
1-1/2" Tee
Bushings to Fit call for current pricing
Order Part No. RP15CPT 2 Cut Off Valves
2 Pressure Gauges
4 Close Nipples
1" Tee
1" Ball Valve
2" Fleming Hydro-Ram
Ernie's Reverse Flow
Pickup Strainer
2" Ball Valve
2" Tee
Bushings to Fit call for current pricing
Order Part No. RP20CPT 2 Cut Off Valves
2 Pressure Gauges
4 Close Nipples
1" Tee
1" Ball Valve
Fleming Hydro-Ram Features.
________________________________________
1" RAM PUMP
Our least expensive standard 1-inch ram requires only 2 gallons per minute water flow. All parts are PVC plastic. Clear air compression chamber allows view of water-to-air ratio...
Order No. RP10000....call for current prices 1 1/2" & 2" RAM
Similar to the 1" except that the 1 1/2" and 2" RAM requires at least 3 to 4 gallons per minute. Designed to deliver more water than the 1" pump. PVC plastic construction and clear air compression chamber.
1 1/2"...Order No. RP15000....call for current prices
2"...Order No. RP20000....call for current prices
3" CAST ALUMINUM PUMP
A heavy duty metal pump with fiberglass air tank that delivers large quantities of water for irrigation and filling small ponds. Modular construction for ease in moving. Plus freight...
Order No. RP30000........call for current prices
ERNIE'S REVERSE FLOW PICKUP STRAINER
Designed to keep unwanted leaves, sticks, and other debris from being pulled into the ram pump, these inexpensive strainers are easily attached and removed when necessary.
1"...Order No. RP15RFS.........call for current prices
1 1/2"...Order No. RP25RFS.....call for current prices
2"...Order No. RP20RFS........call for current prices
________________________________________
THE 3" FLEMING HYDRO-RAM
In addition to the smaller efficient, lightweight PVC Fleming Hydro-Ramswhich are designed to handle falls of water to the pump of up to 15 feet and lift the delivery water up to 120 feet, THE RAM CO. also offers a high volumeHydro-Ram pumps. One is made of cast aluminum, the other of PVC Plastic, both use 3" input pipe. The heavy duty aluminum pump is designed to meet the needs of light irrigation and other applications where either larger volumes of water are required or extremely high lifts of water are needed. In a demonstration on the farm of Richard Fleming, owner of THE RAM CO. and creator of the Fleming Hydro-Ram, water is being supplied to a 3" aluminum pump from a pond through a 3" PVC pipe. The total vertical drop of water to the pump is 23 feet. A standpipe has been placed in the drive pipe at a point approximately 4 1/2 times the vertical fall which is approximately 100 feet from the pump. The purpose of the standpipe is to remove air and turbulence from the flow of supply water. The output pipe known as the delivery pipe runs uphill from the pump to a height of approximately 80 feet from the pump and 57 feet above the surface of the reservoir supplying water to the pump. The delivery pipe is a one and a half inch flexible pipe. The horizontal run from the pump to the delivery point is approximately 500 feet. Under these conditions the 3-inchFleming Hydro-Ram can deliver 10 gallons of water in 52 seconds. Under the proper conditions the aluminum 3-inch Fleming Hydro-Ram can pump in excess of 16,000 gallons of water each day, and in addition to its high output, this versatile pump is constructed of modular components that allow it to be disassembled for ease in moving and to simplify servicing. Whether you need a high volume output of water to meet your irrigation requirements or whether you need a Hydro-Ram that can pump water to extremely high elevations theFLEMING 3" ALUMINUM HYDRO-RAM can meet your water needs without using any outside form of energy.
We have a customer in Montana using our 3" cast aluminum pump, pumping water 270 feet vertical lift and over 1,500 feet from the pump and is getting 2 1/2 to 3 gallons per minute. They have a 33 foot drop into the pump with a 100 foot drive pipe and 27 cycles per minute pulsation.
In the community of La Guma in Honduras a 3" cast aluminum Fleming Ram is pumping water 175 feet up a hill with a 30 foot fall into the pump at the rate of over ten gallons a minute. In France, a twenty foot fall puts approximately 6 gallons a minute at a point 210 feet up from the pump.
The other 3" Hydro-Ram Pump is made of PVC Plastic and is designed for a high volume but a lower lift than the aluminum hydro-ram. Great for transferring water from one pond to another or a creek to a pond.
3" PVC Plastic Ram.........................call for current prices
Let us help you choose a Pump.
________________________________________
Our years of experience and field testing with the Fleming Hydro-Ram are offered to you - free of charge. If you will complete the blanks below and send to The Ram Co., we will help you to select a Fleming Hydro-Ram that can meet your watering needs.
Look carefully at a typical Fleming Hydro-Ram installation before obtaining pipe to connect your system. Note that the pump must have a minimum of a two foot "fall" in order for it to operate. Larger "falls" feedin the pump are preferred...up to a 15 foot maximum for the PVC Rams.
The illustrations didn't copy over so I will try and add some using photobucket.
Here is the address. www.theramcompany.com/index.html
I am going to do one of my "proof of concepts" on this as I have 100' of black 1" hard plastic pipe used to run our gravity fed water system for our livestock. The system runs from water captured in barrels, down hill with a good 20' head, then up into a barrel 8' off the ground which flows to all of the pens and cages through 1/2" pvc, so I think I would have enough pressure to make this work. Atleast I am going to try it.
I am not going to try it as part of an aquaponics system right now, just as an uphill water pump. I moved my aquaponics stuff out to the retreat and it doesn't look like I will be doing anything with it this year due to my sons wreck and injuries.
But it would be nice to actually make it work to pump water without electric. We have a solar system on our water well now, but the panel charges a battery and the battery powers the pump, but we still use electric when this small system doesn't have the juice. Its a small panel and two deep cycle batteries just as a can I do it thing right now.
Any way here is the article.
History of the Hydraulic Ram
________________________________________
The Fleming Hydro-Ram is an efficient, lightweight, dependable and inexpensive hydraulic ram pump made possible by modern technology. It works on the same principles of physics that enable its cumbersome predecessors to water the farmlands of Europe, the MidEast and Asia over the past two hundred years.
John Whitehurst is credited with inventing a non-self-acting ram pump in England in 1772. By 1796 a Frenchman, Joseph Michael Montgolfier, had added a valve, which made the device self-acting, making the ram pump almost a perpetual motion machine when water supplies were steady.
In 1809, the first American patent was issued to J. Cerneau and S.S. Hallet in New York...but it wasn't until 1832 that information began spreading across the eastern states about the "simple pump that pushes water uphill using energy from falling water."
Prior to the 1840's most ram pumps in this country were imported from Europe, but in 1843, H.H. Strawbridge of Louisiana claimed to be the first to put an American made model into use. His first ram, built entirely of wood, exploded, prompting a later model boasting "cross-bolts and rivets of iron." A cast iron ram soon followed.
Water-hungry rural Americans were intrigued by the pumps. Benson's Patent Water Ram could pump water from the powering stream or spring up a hill or it could use that power to push another water supply....potable perhaps...uphill. Articles in magazines such as the Farmer's Cabinet and American Farmer brought further recognition and understanding of the ram and its possibilities. A detailed book on the ram, published in 1842, was in its 16th edition by 1870.
In 1879, The People's Cyclopedia included the hydraulic ram among the 55 most important inventions in the history of mankind. It defined the hydraulic ram as: "A simple and conveniently applied mechanism by which the weight of falling water can be made available for raising a portion of itself to a considerable height."
Benson's ram was said to "raise twice the water than any force pump will, with the same water power." It was described as "very simple and easy to keep in order."
Patents on the ram abounded in the 1840's and 1850's, but after 1858 none were secured until 1870 when another burst of interest saw four patents awarded in 3 years.
Though many used rams for individual homes and farms, an 1852 advertisement for Birkinbine's Patent Improved Hydraulic Ram proclaimed that the ram had pumped 20,000 gallons a day to the town of Naples, NY. The ad invited individuals to order a "proper ram and pipe sent them with directions for putting up." Birkinbine's rams were "warranted in every respect." One of the best known large rams was the Rife Hydraulic Engine, which could pump 50,000 gallons a day and 200 feet vertically.
Cost was a major factor in the growth of ram use. Not only were the machines inexpensive to buy, but they also were simple to install...most ads claimed that anyone could do it...and they were almost maintenance-free.
In 1844 John Latrobe imported a ram from England at a cost of $100 including 500 feet of pipe. A.J. Downing in 1847 paid only $60.60 for an American made ram and several hundred feet of pipe. Downing's ram itself cost only $12; larger models cost as much as $30. Repair costs ranged from $5 every 5 years for replacement valves on the English models to Birkinbine's claim of "repairs not over 25 cents a year."
For more than 100 years rams were major movers of water to homes, farms, industries, railroads and towns. They contributed to improved crop production, introduction of extensive landscaping and gardening, and, perhaps most importantly, to health and sanitation. But with the advent of electrical pumps, interest in the hydraulic rams became dormant. Ram pumps were allowed to rust in the stream until expensive parts, fossil fuel shortages, and environmental concerns brought back to the public's mind the need for a pump that is inexpensive, requires almost no repairs or maintenance, is self-acting, and which can raise water to a considerable height vertically. The public began searching for a ram it could readily afford, pick up easily and move if necessary.
And so in 1980 Richard Fleming developed and began marketing the Fleming Hydro-Ram. Constructed principally with off-the-shelf parts, it is lightweight, highly efficient, and designed to provide many years of dependable service. Thus the Fleming Hydro-Ram offers a virtually maintenance-free system that has become a vanguard of modern ram development.
Because of its affordability and effectiveness the Fleming Hydro-Ram is operating successfully for hundreds of people throughout the United States and in many foreign countries.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram
________________________________________
Despite the complex hydraulics of the Fleming Hydro-Ram, its operation can be outlined simply; first falling water from the source...a stream or artesian well...is funneled into a drive pipe connected at (A) until a necessary minimum volume is achieved. Water flows down the drive pipe until it reaches a specially designed poppet valve (B). At this point water escapes through the waste valve opening until it builds up enough pressure to seal the opening of the poppet.
Since the flowing water in the drive pipe can no longer escape through the waste valve opening, it is forced to open a mid-range inline check valve (C).
Water continues past the check valve and starts compressing the trapped air in the vertical compression chamber (D). Water continues to push against the air in the chamber until the compressed air cushion acts like a piston, pushing water back down and out of the air chamber.
This action, in turn, closes the one-way check valve causing water to be forced out of the ram and up the delivery pipe, which is attached at (E).
Meanwhile, the closing of the check valve creates a slight vacuum or suction which permits the waste valve poppet to drop open again. This allows water from the drive pipe to escape through the waste valve opening, creating a new cycle. There are about 60 such cycles per minute.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram... What can it do for you?
________________________________________
Whether you are a weekend camper, a back-to-nature homesteader, or a third world resident needing to water date trees a quarter-mile away from an artesian well, the Fleming Hydro-Ram may well be the answer to your water needs. If there is water flowing within several hundred yards of where you need it that has a minimum of a two-foot drop from the intake source to the pump, then the Fleming Hydro-Ram can dependably and consistently pump a portion of that flow uphill.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram uses the force of falling water to pump water uphill to where you need it...without using any additional source of energy and with only a few moving parts! As little as a two foot (0.6 meters) fall from the water source to the pump at a flow rate of 3 gallons per minute is ample to drive the system and provide up to 20 feet of vertical lift to the discharged point. As an example, with the pump located 3 feet below the source of the water supply and fed with 3 gallons of water flow per minute, the Fleming Hydro-Ram can provide up to 30 feet of vertical lift and pump water through several hundred feet of delivery pipe.
Fleming Hydro-Ram pumps are in essence hydraulic engines designed to move water. They are capable of supplying from 700 to 4,000 gallons a day, depending on the "head" of water supplying the pump, the size of the pump, the flow rate to the pump, and the height of the discharge.
With a Fleming Hydro-Ram and a suitable stream, spring or artesian well nearby, you can supply your homestead's water needs, irrigate your garden or water your orchard...all without the use of any outside source of energy! Other uses of this versatile pump include filling a swimming pool or pond that is uphill from a spring or stream, watering livestock, or to economically supply a cooling flow of water to your heat pump's water-to-air heat exchanger.
Properly installed, the Fleming Hydro-Ram can be of significant help in supplying water to remote cabins and homesteads during periods of cold weather. If your water source is a flowing stream that never freezes over, the Fleming Hydro-Ram may be able to be installed so that it can supply water uphill in an instant pulse-stream that won't freeze up, under most conditions.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram delivers a readily usable flow of unpressurized water at the discharge point. You can use this flow to water trees, fill livestock watering troughs, and so on. If you want to use the pump to furnish water for all your needs at a cabin or homestead, you may want to incorporate a reservoir at a slightly higher elevation than your showers, sinks, sanitary facilities, etc. An illustration is included to show how the Fleming Hydro-Ram can be used with a reservoir to provide gravity-supplied pressure for your water system. The RAM Company can supply you with ANY of the necessary items you may need to complete your system.
You don't need to be a plumber to install a Fleming Hydro-Ram. Setup of the system is simple and easy. Hard PVC pipe is used for the supply-side of the pump (called the "drive" side) and is easily assembled using PVC cement and slip-on couplings. Either flexible plastic or vinyl pipe, or a standard hose pipe, can be connected to the discharge or "delivery" side of the pump.
The Fleming Hydro-Ram is practically maintenance-free. And its light weight makes it easily handled even in difficult terrain. Whether you want a pump with full portability or one for a fixed installation, there are models designed to fit your water needs.
With the surprisingly low initial cost of the Fleming Hydro-Ram and the many benefits it can bring you, the real question to consider is...how much is it costing you not to have a Fleming Hydro-Ram?
Drip irrigation may be used in conjunction with the RAM pump. The discharge hose of the RAM pump is connected directly to the drip irrigation supply hose and feeds the system.
Applying water just to the root zone of each plant is the key idea behind drip irrigation. Traditional methods of irrigation such as flood and sprinkler applications use water in excess of plant need and over an area many times larger than the root zone. Unproductive soil between plants is also wetted. Soil moisture is hard to maintain between applications, and a great portion of the applied water is lost in run-off, removing top-soil, or in deep percolation, leaching chemicals into ground water. The progress of the plastic industry now makes it economically feasible to provide an extensive network of pipes and components needed to distribute water to each plant. Drip irrigation allows you to manage the soil environment around each plant by applying small doses of water in pace with the plant consumption, so water is applied over a long time, in frequent intervals, and on the root zone. The moisture can be manipulated to create optimum growing condition. Since its commercial introduction, drip irrigation has been installed in several hundreds of thousands of acres across the USA. But this is only a fraction of the potential acreage which could benefit from drip irrigation.
How Much Water Will it Pump?
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Numerous variables, such as vertical fall, vertical lift, rate of ram pulsation and length of pipe on intake and discharge, will affect the amount of water aFleming Hydro-Ram will pump at your site.
Output range is 700 to 1,800 gal./day for a 1-inch ram; 700 to 3,000 gal./day for a 1 1/2-inch ram; 700 to 4,000 gal./day for a 2-inch ram and for a 3-inch ram, up to 16,000 gal. and more.
Above figures were determined by actual use of rams in the field. Exact output of a ram at your site, however, will vary according to circumstances.
Generally with a ratio of 1-foot drop to 10-foot lift, your pump will deliver approximately 15 to 20 percent of the water that it uses.
A pressure guage connected to the discharge end of the pump will tell you how high the water is in the delivery pipe when the pressure reading is multiplied by 2.31.
Ram Operating Requirements
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Operating requirements of the Fleming Hydro-Ram are few and simple, but essential and must be known.
A. Amount of water needed per day.
B. Amount of flow from the source.
C. Fall or vertical drop from a water source to the ram installation.
D. Lift or vertical height to discharge.
E. Distance from the water source to the ram installation.
F. Distance water has to be delivered.
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A. HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED?
The following table lists amounts of water needed per day for a variety of home and farm uses. Figures represent requirements for MAXIMUM consumption during hot summer weather.
AVERAGE WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL SERVICE AROUND THE HOME AND FARM
Each person per day, for all purposes 50 gal.
Each horse, dry cow or beef animal 12 gal.
Each Milking cow 35 gal.
Each hog per day 4 gal.
Each sheep per day 2 gal.
Each 100 chickens per day 4 gal.
AVERAGE AMOUNT OF WATER REQUIRED BY VARIOUS HOME AND YARD FIXTURES
Drinking fountain, continously flowing 50 to 100 gal. per day.
Each shower bath Up to 60 gal.
To fill bathtub 30 gal.
To flush toilet 6 gal.
To fill lavatory 2 gal.
Dish Washing Machine - per load 3 gal.
Automatic Washer - per load Up to 50 gal.
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B. DETERMINING AMOUNT OF FLOW
Amount of flow your source offers can be measured fairly accurately by allowing water to run into a bucket of known volume (e.g. a five-gallon bucket) while timing the rate of fill accurately to the nearest second. It may be necessary to build a small dam in the creek or spring to make it easier to catch water to fill the bucket. Keep in mind the rate of flow from the source may be less during drier times of the year.
A one-inch Fleming Hydro-Ram needs a flow of 2-3 gallons per minute, while a two-inch Fleming Hydro-Ram requires 3-5 gallons per minute.
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C. DETERMINING VERTICAL FALL
Having an adequate fall for the water from the source to the ram site is a very critical requirement. One of the easiest methods for calculating fall is to use a carpenter's level fastened securely to the top of a stick. (See diagram)
Starting at a proposed ram installation site, place the stick and level on the ground and observe where the line of sight hits the ground in front. Continue in this manner (remember to keep the device level at all times) until you reach the level of the water source. Multiply the height of the stick by the number of times it was moved from the ram site to water source to obtain total water fall.
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D. DETERMINING VERTICAL LIFT
Vertical lift - total height to which water must be pumped from the ram site - can be determined by the same method used to calculate vertical fall.
It has been determined that under certain conditions the Fleming Hydro-Ramcan pump water about ten times higher than the total fall of the water source.
For example, if the source has a fall of at least 5 feet, and there is adequate water flow to run the pump, the Fleming Hydro-Ram should lift a minimum volume of water at least 50 feet.
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E. & F. DETERMINING HORIZONTAL DISTANCES
Horizontal distances - lengths of drive and delivery pipe - may be determined by first calculating the average length of one normal step. This can be done by dividing into 100 the number of steps you take in walking 100 feet. The result is an average distance in feet per step. Multiply this figure by the steps taken between ram and source as well as ram and delivery point to estimate lengths of pipe needed for the system.
With a rapidly falling stream...or from a dam...it may be possible to get a good "fall" from the source to the pump with only a minimal pipe run. But in every case there must be a length of hard rigid pipe so as to create a hammering effect.
1" Fleming Hydro-Ram
Ernie's Reverse Flow Pickup
Strainer
1" Ball Valve
1" Tee
Bushings to fit call for current pricing
Order Part No. RP10CPT 2 Cut Off Valves
2 Pressure Gauges
4 Close Nipples
1/2" Tee
1/2" Ball Valve
1-1/2" Fleming Hydro-Ram
Ernie's Reverse Flow Pickup
Strainer
1-1/2" Ball Valve
1-1/2" Tee
Bushings to Fit call for current pricing
Order Part No. RP15CPT 2 Cut Off Valves
2 Pressure Gauges
4 Close Nipples
1" Tee
1" Ball Valve
2" Fleming Hydro-Ram
Ernie's Reverse Flow
Pickup Strainer
2" Ball Valve
2" Tee
Bushings to Fit call for current pricing
Order Part No. RP20CPT 2 Cut Off Valves
2 Pressure Gauges
4 Close Nipples
1" Tee
1" Ball Valve
Fleming Hydro-Ram Features.
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1" RAM PUMP
Our least expensive standard 1-inch ram requires only 2 gallons per minute water flow. All parts are PVC plastic. Clear air compression chamber allows view of water-to-air ratio...
Order No. RP10000....call for current prices 1 1/2" & 2" RAM
Similar to the 1" except that the 1 1/2" and 2" RAM requires at least 3 to 4 gallons per minute. Designed to deliver more water than the 1" pump. PVC plastic construction and clear air compression chamber.
1 1/2"...Order No. RP15000....call for current prices
2"...Order No. RP20000....call for current prices
3" CAST ALUMINUM PUMP
A heavy duty metal pump with fiberglass air tank that delivers large quantities of water for irrigation and filling small ponds. Modular construction for ease in moving. Plus freight...
Order No. RP30000........call for current prices
ERNIE'S REVERSE FLOW PICKUP STRAINER
Designed to keep unwanted leaves, sticks, and other debris from being pulled into the ram pump, these inexpensive strainers are easily attached and removed when necessary.
1"...Order No. RP15RFS.........call for current prices
1 1/2"...Order No. RP25RFS.....call for current prices
2"...Order No. RP20RFS........call for current prices
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THE 3" FLEMING HYDRO-RAM
In addition to the smaller efficient, lightweight PVC Fleming Hydro-Ramswhich are designed to handle falls of water to the pump of up to 15 feet and lift the delivery water up to 120 feet, THE RAM CO. also offers a high volumeHydro-Ram pumps. One is made of cast aluminum, the other of PVC Plastic, both use 3" input pipe. The heavy duty aluminum pump is designed to meet the needs of light irrigation and other applications where either larger volumes of water are required or extremely high lifts of water are needed. In a demonstration on the farm of Richard Fleming, owner of THE RAM CO. and creator of the Fleming Hydro-Ram, water is being supplied to a 3" aluminum pump from a pond through a 3" PVC pipe. The total vertical drop of water to the pump is 23 feet. A standpipe has been placed in the drive pipe at a point approximately 4 1/2 times the vertical fall which is approximately 100 feet from the pump. The purpose of the standpipe is to remove air and turbulence from the flow of supply water. The output pipe known as the delivery pipe runs uphill from the pump to a height of approximately 80 feet from the pump and 57 feet above the surface of the reservoir supplying water to the pump. The delivery pipe is a one and a half inch flexible pipe. The horizontal run from the pump to the delivery point is approximately 500 feet. Under these conditions the 3-inchFleming Hydro-Ram can deliver 10 gallons of water in 52 seconds. Under the proper conditions the aluminum 3-inch Fleming Hydro-Ram can pump in excess of 16,000 gallons of water each day, and in addition to its high output, this versatile pump is constructed of modular components that allow it to be disassembled for ease in moving and to simplify servicing. Whether you need a high volume output of water to meet your irrigation requirements or whether you need a Hydro-Ram that can pump water to extremely high elevations theFLEMING 3" ALUMINUM HYDRO-RAM can meet your water needs without using any outside form of energy.
We have a customer in Montana using our 3" cast aluminum pump, pumping water 270 feet vertical lift and over 1,500 feet from the pump and is getting 2 1/2 to 3 gallons per minute. They have a 33 foot drop into the pump with a 100 foot drive pipe and 27 cycles per minute pulsation.
In the community of La Guma in Honduras a 3" cast aluminum Fleming Ram is pumping water 175 feet up a hill with a 30 foot fall into the pump at the rate of over ten gallons a minute. In France, a twenty foot fall puts approximately 6 gallons a minute at a point 210 feet up from the pump.
The other 3" Hydro-Ram Pump is made of PVC Plastic and is designed for a high volume but a lower lift than the aluminum hydro-ram. Great for transferring water from one pond to another or a creek to a pond.
3" PVC Plastic Ram.........................call for current prices
Let us help you choose a Pump.
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Our years of experience and field testing with the Fleming Hydro-Ram are offered to you - free of charge. If you will complete the blanks below and send to The Ram Co., we will help you to select a Fleming Hydro-Ram that can meet your watering needs.
Look carefully at a typical Fleming Hydro-Ram installation before obtaining pipe to connect your system. Note that the pump must have a minimum of a two foot "fall" in order for it to operate. Larger "falls" feedin the pump are preferred...up to a 15 foot maximum for the PVC Rams.
The illustrations didn't copy over so I will try and add some using photobucket.
Here is the address. www.theramcompany.com/index.html