the Otherpower.com Discussion Board || Pumping water on the river

Front Page - [Homebrewed Electricity-- (wind) (solar) (hydro) (steam) (controls) (storage) (mechanical)] - Classifieds - Site News
Everything - Newbies - [Remote Living-- (housing) (heat) (light) (water)] - Rants & Opinion - Diaries - Our Products

Pumping water on the river
By Chagrin, Section Diaries Posted on Tue Jun 15th, 2004 at 12:32:55 AM MST
...maybe nobody tries this because it doesn't work?

The question is: how do you pump water with no head, not enough current, and as cheaply as possible? Well, here's the answer I'm going to try:

The float is missing on the end of the arm, but basically I'm going to try to harness river waves (mostly generated by boats on the river) to activate the homemade PVC pump in the picture. At the top of the pump you will see two check valves - one for intake and one for outtake. A small piston inside the cylinder (a single O-ring) will hopefully keep the seal.

The water will be used for a nearby garden. I figure that if I can get even five gallons a day I'll be doing great.

Pumping water on the river | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 editorial)

Re: Pumping water on the river (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by Chagrin on Tue Jun 29th, 2004 at 08:15:07 AM MST
(User Info)

I was able to get this up and running last Sunday. Appears that the theory is sound, it's the details that get ya: very difficult to make everything rigid enough that you don't lose a lot of power with the poles swaying around. I was still able to pump about three gallons over an eight hour span with uncustomarily low boat traffic. Still, that's decent for my garden-watering purposes.

I have a floating dock nearby and plan on building a shorter, fatter piston and cylinder to attach between the floating dock and the poles pounded into the river bed that keep it in place. Seems that these floating dock pieces toss around quite a bit even without any waves evident and I should be able to increase water volume quite a bit.

Re: Pumping water on the river (none / 0) (#1)
by Norm (peppysue@suite224.net) on Thu Jun 17th, 2004 at 07:28:15 AM MST
(User Info)

Yes they work I've seen bilge pumps that work by the rocking of the boat....quite a bit of power in waves....now if you've got a big enough float a double acting pump......
Have Fun!
( :>) Norm.
( :>) Norm

Re: Pumping water on the river (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by Norm (peppysue@suite224.net) on Fri Jul 2nd, 2004 at 10:53:22 PM MST
(User Info)

Put an eight foot pole on the floating dock and attach a pendulum with a 50 lb. weight and consider the power of that swinging weight.....hmmm?
( :>) Norm.
( :>) Norm
[ Parent ]

Re: Pumping water on the river (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by Chagrin on Sat Jul 10th, 2004 at 02:10:21 PM MST
(User Info)

That's an intriguing idea as it would allow for the entire apparatus to float and negate any issues with the river stage increasing/decreasing. The devil is still in the details though - anything large enough to swing a 50lb weight would be ... quite large.

[ Parent ]

Re: Pumping water on the river (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by Norm (peppysue@suite224.net) on Sat Feb 19th, 2005 at 06:32:44 AM MST
(User Info)

anything large enough to swing a 50lb weight would be ... quite large.
Not necessarily...just a couple of floats
small drums with an 8 foot span 4 foot high for
the pendulum to swing.
( :>) Norm.
( :>) Norm
[ Parent ]

Pumping water on the river | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 editorial)

Menu

� create account
� How to use the board
� FAQs
� search the board
� Google search the board
� Old Otherpower Board

Login

Make a new account

Username:

Password:

Total Views

��76 Scoop users have viewed this posting.

Related Links

� Chagrin's Diary

You must be a registered user to post here. It's easy and free, and the link is on the upper right side of your page.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Postings are owned by the poster, but may be deleted or moved at the ADMIN's sole discretion. The Rest � 2003 Forcefield.
You can Email the board ADMIN here. PLEASE include the username you signed up with!