Comments on: Water ram pump

By: Derek stembridge

Derek stembridge — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:03:47 +0000

Hi John

We have the same ram pump as yours on our property. The last owner could not get it to work. You said the that the delivery pipe – needs to be attached and be at the correct length and height. How do you calculate this? From what you have said I need to increase the reservoir size as well.

Look forward to your reply.

Regards
Derek

By: psit

psit — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:08:41 +0000

I Have an Idea to trap the electric generator at the ram pump outlet side to generates the electric power.
I think it work.

By: John

John — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:05:28 +0000

Hi Richard

While a bend in the delivery pipe is not ideal it will diminish performance to a degree (but I couldn’t tell you exactly how much). A gentle curve will be better for maintaining good water velocity and reducing turbulence in the pipe.

As for the pump stalling, you might want to check: twigs or debris can foul the check valve, air can get in through pipe joins if not tight and thread-sealed, any high points in the pipe can collect air if there are any curves on the way to the pump.

I hope that helps.

By: Richard Ward

Richard Ward — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:06:26 +0000

Hi John
My Harrison pump with a 2.5m fall is lifting water to 52m; admittedly not much at that height but, as you say it is continuous.
The pump has stalled lately after running so well for a time. The intake pipe has a right angled bend about 2m before the pump, in order to sit the pump on a suitable site. Do you think this significantly affects its performance in comparison with a straight pipe entry…?
Thanks

By: Olmec Sinclair

Olmec Sinclair — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:32:57 +0000

@GARY, @Procyan,

I am interested in attempting to construct one of these. can you supply any pictures or metric specifications….

new to all of this.

By: Graham

Graham — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:21:04 +0000

Just bought a Harrison pump, after a long frustrating search for straight answers. Most suppliers (including Harrisons, now called Alternative Enterprises) seem to publish figures in brochures, web sites etc then contradict them when you talk to them. And now the irrigation piping contractor is saying something different again!

My site has ~20m supply head and I want ultimately to deliver water to about 90m above the intake, but I may settle for 67m or even 45m and then use a windmill or solar to reach the rest of the property.

The challenge is that I have modest flow in mid summer, and the Resource Management Act rules restrict how much water I can take on any day, so I would like to pump on as many days as possible.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:24:44 +0000

I got my hands on a Harrison & Sons water ram from Kerikeri, NZ. I was speaking to John there who said they have one operating to 1040 Meters!!. I depends on your fall I guess. I have a mate who has a home made one lifting water to 200m no probs.

By: Procyan

Procyan — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:03:23 +0000

I just got a ram pump working. the design is at:

http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/equip/ram.htm#Links

and it worked the first time. I’m finally getting that little sip of clean springwater that I’ve coveted for years. I’m running using 2 check valves and a drive pipe. I skipped the compression chamber, at least for the time being, until something breaks. Thanks for the nudge.

By: GARY

GARY — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:34:40 +0000

HI THERE, I MADE A PUMP THAT WORKS PERFECTLY USING PVC PIPE AND SOME INLINE CHECK VALVES. YOU CAN MAKE THE PRESSURE CHAMBER FROM JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WILL HOLD PRESSURE WITH A LITTLE INGENUITY. I JUST USED A STAND PIPE ABOUT 3 FEET LONG AND CAPPED IT. VALVING OFF AT BOTH SIDES OF THE PUMP DOES MAKE IT A LOT EASIER TO “FIDDLE WITH” IF YOU WANT TO BUY A WATER RAM PUMP TRY RIFE WATER RAM, I THINK THEY ARE IN PENNSYLVANIA, USA.

By: John

John — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:38:38 +0000

Hi Paul

I’m not sure you’ll get a ram pump to lift water to 80m. I’ve never seen any that can go much over 36-40m. You might need to look at an old displacement piston pump powered by a water wheel to get that high (my next project :-)

You can get new ram pumps from Steve Miller Rural Services in Tauranga (07 578 3708). They are made from original castings I believe and go for $1500-$1900 + GST (that was pricing given to me 12 months ago). Luckily I got mine on TradeMe quite a bit cheaper than that, but even buying new it’s a pretty fair price for decades of free water pumping.