A couple of years ago I built two ram pumps and installed them in the stream near my house. They pumped water for the garden for a few months during spring and summer. I’m okay with the fact that the pumps are just useful during part of the year, but didn’t really like damming up the entire stream for my installation, seemed rude towards wildlife.
So this year I returned with a longer tube and just took the water from further upstream. I have only about 70cm head. I haven’t really measured the height I’m getting, but it’s more than the first year and enough for what I want to do.
My installation in the stream is very simple: fence post hammered/wedged into the stream bed, pump tied to it with wire. Everything wobbles a tiny bit. Might return and solidify that later, but I love it when stuff is so simple that I can just throw it into the stream and it works. After a while of pumping by hand it just runs. Variations in water height might stop it as it sits low in the water. Will report back tomorrow.
This is for a reservoir IBC and washing tank outside the kitchen. I’m thinking about adding a solar heating panel in there as well.
The image is of a smaller kid-sized pump that I want to turn into a demonstration model to take to markets and fairs.
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Have you seen this style? https://earthship.com/2020/03/28/micro-hydro-power-pros-and-cons/
I’ve looked into some models I can purchase, but haven’t played with them. I like the rams because they are so low tech even a stupid like me can handle them, and the energy supply is direct. The one I’ve set up the other day (dumped into the river and tied to a stick) is still pumping.
I also love solar thermal, for the same reason. To me it just seems to make more sense to develop tech that doesn’t transfer energy from one form into another a million times, because that is something pitifully underdeveloped in our electrical monoculture. That’s why I keep building and advertising the rams.
For my daily life micro hydro power would be a useful addition, really want to get into that when I have time.
Something relatively simple to carry out into the woods and install next to a year-round stream (or drop in - https://blue-freedom.net/hydro/portable/ , etc) is remarkably civilizing. The market is full of plastic, representational junk gimmicks, but portable micro-hydro works nicely when the air is still and the sun is obscured. Covering generation at least four ways would be nice ( https://gearjunkie.com/camper-rv/off-grid-ecocapsule looks adorable)
Hmm I would personally categorize both the portable hydro as well as the capsule as junk gimmicks. I would want something reliable and farm-worthy for permanent use.
I agree. They catch my attention as toys, and they still suggest to me that the technology represented is moving in a successful direction, however much bloat there may be while dabblers try to make a buck peddling representational items alluding to tech instead of quality durable tech. I’m just as much wanting something reliable for permanent use, and that requires the simplicity and repairability of basic systems. At the same time, being able to travel through the landscape is just as critical, from my perspective. We’re animals made to travel seasonally through our habitat in a territory, and to assist nature in creating abundance, by not overtaxing our environment and by augmenting what nature does.
In my current situation the only flowing water is surface precipitation and fairly regular low-volume underground flow. Is there an option to use ram pumps in a subsurface engineered catchment and flow system? The sump pump runs regularly and the basement is always wet. Have you seen any ram pump systems in smaller-scale built environments? Even the amount of water which flows off the roof and through the gutters here makes it clear that there’s some capture potential, and I’ve seen generative systems for installation in suburban and city sewer and drainage systems…
Please share some pictures of the actual pumps. Ram pumps are a fascinating topic. I always wanted to build one myself, but I don’t have a suitable location where I live right now.
