Mother Earth News 1973 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

[2] The length of the main pipe from the source to the pump.

[3] The drop in feet from the source to the pump.

[4] The height in feet that water must be lifted.

[5] The distance in feet that water must be delivered.

Here’s how we measured the first of these variables on our own place: We temporarily dammed up a creek a few feet downstream from its source (a spring) and inserted a pipe near the top of the dam. The water from the conduit was allowed to run into a gallon bucket while we timed the flow with a sweep second hand on a watch. During the dry month of August, the figure we obtained was three-and-a-half gpm.

Our next step was to construct a more permanent dam in order to form a small pool of at least 50 gallons. This reservoir would constantly be filled from the brook, and out of it would run our main pipe to the pump downstream. We began this project by building plywood forms across the creek in the shape of an elongated letter “U”, with a base width of five feet and with two-foot arms extending back upstream. The walls were to be four inches thick and only two feet high.

After the forms were laid-but before the concrete was mixed and poured we temporarily diverted the stream around one side of the plywood mold to permit the box’s contents to dry without being diluted or washed away. We also inserted a one-foot length of one-inch pipe, threaded on both ends, through the walls of the form about six inches from its top and inclined downstream. The upstream opening of this tube would later be covered with a strainer, and the lower outlet would connect with the long steel pipe leading to the ram pump.

The position for the ram itself was selected with the knowledge that we wanted at least a five-foot “head” or “fall” of water … that is, a five-foot vertical distance from the pool’s surface to the base of the pump. With the aid of a transit on a five-foot stand (a simple carpenter’s level does just as well) we found that a distance downstream of 42 feet gave us a level sight with the top of the newly poured dam. At that spot beside the creek we built a simple concrete slab (two feet square by eight inches thick) upon which we would later bolt the ram.

Next, two sections of one-inch black pipe, each a standard length of 21 feet, were joined together with nipples and then connected to the one-foot piece of pipe which pierced the dam. We used more nipples and a simple one-inch union to hook the water line to the pump, and then attached the strainer (supplied by the ram’s manufacturer) to the intake in the pool area. We completed our pipe-laying by running 150 feet of three-quarter-inch, flexible plastic tubing (the high-pressure type for durability) from the pump outlet up over a 25-foot hill to our pond.

Finally,

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