I prioritized setting up and testing a water system this fall because watering will really help the new sprouts take off, and beat the weeds. The greenhouse and chickens will need water for sure. There is going to be a lot to deal with in the spring, so I'll set it up, make sure it works, and then drain and disassemble for the winter. Right, so I've got two 275 gallon tanks, 550 gallons of total water storage. So where's that water coming from? Well, there is a pond a short drive away, and I could put the tank in the back of the truck, get a gas powered pump, fill it, drive it back, unload... uh... 275 gallons of water, times 8.3lbs/gal. Thats 2,282 lbs, and I don't really want to put that in the truck, or buy a trailer, and shuttle this back and forth. So, electric pump and a hose? Nope, no electric there. Solar panels? Yeah, but panels, a charger, a battery get real expensive, real quick. The solution: A ram pump!
Ram pumps: a neat device invented in the late 1700's that uses the inertia of a water hammer to pressurize an air tank, which pushes water up hill. No external power sources is needed other than the falling water. Going old school here, like, centuries ago old school.
There's a small creek below the field, with a very slight drop, but it's just enough.
First step, build a dam with a pipe in it. This will provide the large amount of flow required for the pump to function.
The drive pipe is the 1.25inch pipe coming out of the pool. It then snakes down the stream bed for 50 feet. The PVC flexes just enough to get around bends in the creek.
Then the next day I built and installed the pump at the base of the drive pipe.
All that goofy stick scaffolding is to prop up the air chamber. Water flows in at the far end, slams the brass valve shut, compresses the air chamber, and then gets shot down the delivery pipe. Observe in action!
And then it fills up my water tanks overnight!
So, water supply problem solved. Next to tackle water distribution.
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