What type of temporary water pump for my spring?

[r1013]

Hello,

We get our water from a Spring.  It bubbles up out of the ground and runs down about a 20 foot trench into a holding tank.

The problem is that we haven't had ran is three months so the spring is getting lower and lower every week.  If it doesn't rain soon, it looks like we might be out of water in another week or so.  They predict it almost everyday.. but all I see is Blue Sky!

We have lived here five years and last year was the first year this happen.  There was no rain all summer and we ran out of water for a week at the end of the season.  Taking baths with jugs of water from Wal-mart is no fun at all.  This year its almost June and we haven't had rain in three months already!  Sooo it's not looking good this year here in middle Tennessee.  Oddly it rained here four to five days a weeks the first three years we lived here!

What we do have is a creek that runs through the yard.  I have never seen it dry up.  It only slows down a little during the summer.  I thought about digging a trench to run the water by our spring.  I don't like this idea since it would mess up the the yard.

What I was thinking of doing was getting some type of pump and putting it in one of the deep holes of the creek.  Then run a piece of tubing the approx. 50 feet to the trench of the holding tank.  I could keep the pump in my shed.  During these dry times I could  bring it out as needed to fill our tank back up.  Hopefully that won't be to often.  I basically want something as an emergency water backup besides gallons of drinking water.  I'm not really sure what type of pump to buy or were to by it.  Any suggestions?

Oh and I know it's creek water but we only use it to take baths and water the garden.  We don't even drink the water from the spring.

Thank you,

Matt

[chadking]

There are a lot of variables that come into play when deciding on a pump. However, if digging a ditch is an option to get the water to the spring, does this mean that the creek is at a higher elevation than the spring or the holding tank?  If it is, then siphoning water to the tank would be the easiest way. Just use a piece of tubing/hose long enough to reach your holding tank and siphon the water into it.

If this is not the case, how much higher is your holding tank than the creek?  There are a lot of electric pumps available at places like Home Depot.  If electricity is not convenient, you can get gas powered pumps as well.

[thefinis]

How big is the holding tank? If it is fairly large say over 2000 gals then a gasoline powered pump would be nice so you don't have to run it for but an hour or so a day. They do have the problem that they usually need fiddling with after setting over winter.

I will second the siphon idea as it just needs a garden hose with a cutoff valve(cheap Y valve at any garden shop) and maybe a screen. Okay you don't really need the cutoff valve but it makes it easy to fill the hose at the creek turn off the valve and drag the hose end to where it will work and open the valve. The more drop the better so it might be best to use extra hose and siphon from as high up as possible on the creek and end as low as possible toward the holding tank.

Finis

[Norm]

Take a Google at rope pumps simple and sounds

like fun...altho I've yet to try it....

              ( :>) Norm

[scottsAI]

Hi r1013,

Two things:

water spiral tube pump: http://www.lurkertech.com/chris/eco/pump/tailer/

Looks cheap, I have seen better designs. You don't need much pressure so couple loops should do it.

bilge pump, cheap, 12v goes under water! Half inch hose should do it.

Add screen to keep out stuff, run for X hours a day to keep tank topped off or use a float switch.

What are you using for water pressure from the tank?

Have fun,

Scott.

[elvin1949]

Might look into a hydrolic ram pump.

later

elvin

[Waterlogged]

r1013, you didn't give enough information to determine the best pump. A ram pump may work. So I will describe the ram pumps I built and use and my site. I found a section of my creek that had a decent drop. I measured 40" head, over 100'. My system starts with a 1.25"x100' roll of plastic pipe. This feeds the ram pump.

The pump consists of a tee allowing the water to go straight or up to a swing check valve(it has a flap with no spring). This is the dump valve. It is normally mounted horizontally and with the cap up, so that the flap is closed by gravity. In this application, it is mounted vertically with the arrow pointing down. The flap pivot pin is parallel to the inlet pipe. Mounted like this, the flap falls open. When the water gets flowing backwards through the dump valve, it catches the flap and slams it closed. The column of water in the inlet pipe is in motion, so there is a shock wave when this valve closes. It will be forced to go straight through the tee, and then through another check valve. This is the delivery valve. I found that a spring check valve works better here, but a swing check will also work. After the water goes through the delivery valve, there is another tee going straight or up. On the branch going up, there is an air chamber. It is a dead end with air space at the top to take up the surges. Straight ahead is the outlet to my tanks.

To start the pump, I push the dump valve open with a finger and release it. It continues to cycle after that. It will flow out the dump valve until the dump valve slams shut, then give a pulse through the delivery valve. Then when the shock wave dissipates, the dump valve will drop open again, and the delivery valve will close. The water that went through the delivery valve into the air chamber will have time to go out the delivery pipe while the dump valve is open, and the delivery valve is closed.

Coming out of the pump there is a tee. One branch goes through a filter, that looks like a spool of string. I can fill this with bleach when I start up the system. After this filter, it goes to a plastic 55 gallon barrel upside down on a tree stump, 15 feet above the stream. This is my pressure tank. Then it goes to another RV water filter that is supposed to remove contaminates like metals, bacteria, arsenic, and chlorine. Then into the camper.

The other branch from the pump goes up a big hill to a big open trough in the middle of my Blueberry patch. When it is full, it overflows. When I use water, My pressure stays higher longer, and I get more volume with the trough on the hill. I get about 15 PSI to the camper, about 10 feet above the stream.

I have built two of these pumps. I first built a 3/4 inch pump, then a 1 1/4 inch pump. These pumps are very easy to build, and adjustable by rotating the dump valve to be more upside down(slower) or more right side up(faster), keeping the pivot in line with the pump. I have read that they are about 14% efficient at best, meaning the dump valve flows about six times as much water as the delivery valve, so it helps to have a good supply of excess flow. I believe they can also lift water about ten times the inlet head. I haven't measured my big hill, or tried to measure the flow and pressure on them since I added the trough on the hill.If your site has enough extra water and head, a ram pump may work for you.

Rod

[r1013]

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last.  I have had to work so much my head is spinning.  I should have been in bed 30 mins ago already.  At least the bills are getting paid right!

I really appreciate all the post.  I liked the idea of not having to buy anything and just siphoning the water.  Unfortunately 3/4 of the creek is two feet plus below the spring.  The deepest and closest hole I wanted to pull from is four to five feet below the spring so the siphoning idea I guess won't work.  The spring was basically dry two days days ago, so I stopped at Home Depot to see what they had and I picked up a (1/6HP Thermoplastic Utility Pump FP0S1250X).  It pumps 1050 GPH @ five feet.  I took a 5 gallon bucket and drilled lots of holes around it except the last three inches or so.  I put a piece of a broke cement block about two inches thick in the bottom to keep the pump out of any mud that may come in.  The cement also makes it heavy and keeps it in place to.  I tied a rope around it and lowered it into the creek.  It ran an hour to an hour and a half before the hole was almost pumped dry.  I took it out and within an hour it appeared to be filled back up again.  I ran it again tonight when I got home.  It's just enough to give us enough water if I do that every night.  It cost about 60 bucks but it sure is easy to operate.

Ohh.. If any of you want a pump I did see a few on eBay this past week that said they were new.  The bids ended from 13 to 28 dollars.  These pumps were even better models than I have.  I would have bid on them but I needed it now.  Plus if it dies I can take it back to Home Depot.

Thanks for all the suggestions and replies.  Ideas I didn't use will come in handy some time I'm sure.

Matt (r1013)

[snowcrow]

Nice concept Scott!! If the spiral pump were on a paddle wheel, the movement of the creek could pump the water for you!!!

[tainja]

i have a piece of mountain top in jamaica with a spring about 800ft from my house tank--i'm building a catchment at spring head and need to know what kind of pump to use--the water will pump up at about a 70 degree angle--trying to save money as well as do the job--been looking at a 3hp submersible on ebay --if i got it would i need a control box or could i rig a switch? or is there a different kind of pump, method or horse power recommendation? thanks in advance

[scottsAI]

Yep!

Friend has pond, spring fed, I suggested using wind to spin the spiral pump.

He likes contraptions so it should fit right in.

Have fun,

Scott.

[zeusmorg]

A bit more information would be useful in determining your need. How high do you need to raise the water? How much flow do you have from the spring? How big is your storage tank? You could rig a switch (simple off on) or you could use a float switch in your holding tank. That would shut the system off when the tank is full.

 See http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/bse/442-755/442-755.html#L4 to size your needs in a pump.