How to increase psi in my gravity irrigation system?

bcp · Jul 10, 2019

Probably made of soy-based plastic, like the car wiring the mice eat.

Bruce

RedNeckRacin · Jul 11, 2019

is there any reason we can't plumb in a pump to get the last couple psi needed with a pressure tank? gaining from 35 psi to 45 or 50 psi would take very little electric and if you had a check valve and a pressure tank, the pump wouldn't run constantly.

plowhog · Jul 12, 2019

I am leaning that direction now.

There are two areas where a ram pump could be installed. After research, one area has too little fall, and the other too much fall. The method(s) to deal with too much fall are not appealing.

Sometimes the entire irrigation system goes dry and is evacuated, such as during maintenance or a pipe break. So I would probably need a cut-in switch so the pump would only cycle if psi was already above some value, such as 30 psi. It could certainly add more psi to take me from 35 to 45 psi.

RedNeckRacin · Jul 13, 2019

They make those low pressure cut off switches everyday. I have one installed in my house for the very reason you just mentioned.

I'm a little mystified why you are focused on the ram pump? Have you ever heard of a jet pump? Goulds makes some nice ones.

dnw64 · Jul 13, 2019

RedNeckRacin said:
I'm a little mystified why you are focused on the ram pump? Have you ever heard of a jet pump? Goulds makes some nice ones.

I don't think he is. It was something worth checking into, but:

There are two areas where a ram pump could be installed. After research, one area has too little fall, and the other too much fall. The method(s) to deal with too much fall are not appealing.

??

MossRoad · Jul 13, 2019

RedNeckRacin said:
They make those low pressure cut off switches everyday. I have one installed in my house for the very reason you just mentioned.

I'm a little mystified why you are focused on the ram pump? Have you ever heard of a jet pump? Goulds makes some nice ones.

Ram pump uses no power other than falling water. It won't pressurize the system. It'll lift water up to a tank that's high enough up the hill to provide enough pressure through gravity back down the hill to the sprinkler system.

plowhog · Jul 16, 2019

MossRoad said:
Ram pump uses no power other than falling water. It won't pressurize the system. It'll lift water up to a tank that's high enough up the hill to provide enough pressure through gravity back down the hill to the sprinkler system.

I was possibly interested in the ram pump because I have an abandoned 1,500 gal underground tank. It is the highest such tank on the property and used to be spring fed. If I could use a ram pump to fill it, without too much loss doing so, that might be appealing. But in my circumstances it won't work out.

The Gould jet pumps look nice. I probably have to bit the bullet and add an electric pump to boost 10 more psi. I was hoping that gravity could do it since gravity is free. But with the small pressure differential it probably would not be too expensive to go electric.

Eagleview · Jul 16, 2019

A Glockemann pump is what you need .They work by way of head pressure , no electrics .

glockemann pump - Google Search

MossRoad · Jul 16, 2019

Eagleview said:
A Glockemann pump is what you need .They work by way of head pressure , no electrics .

glockemann pump - Google Search

That is the same thing as a hydraulic ram pump that we've been talking about in this thread.

Eagleview · Jul 17, 2019

MossRoad said:
That is the same thing as a hydraulic ram pump that we've been talking about in this thread.

Except for the fact they are way more efficient than a typical ram pump and can pump to 200 metres/yards of head with 6' of supply head or less .

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The stand alone pump can push water up to 200 metres uphill (the delivery head) to a collection tank or across land for several kilometres.

For the pump to work properly the stream must have a vertical drop, or fall, of no less than 60 cms and no more than 1.8 metres, a natural flow rate of between 4.5 and eight litres a second. (If necessary the fall can be created with a dam or weir.) However, the pump will deliver low volumes of water where the fall is as low as 30 cms a much smaller fall than most pumps need and flow rates down to 1.5 litres a second, making it an option in flatter terrain.

As an example, a pump installed with a 1.2 metre drop in a 150 mm drive pipe and a delivery head of 75 metres to the water tank would give an output of around 4500 litres a day. Output can be increased by simply adding more pumps to the delivery line. So in this example, three pumps would supply 13,500 litres a day. Up to five pumps have been linked successfully.

The pump body contains two sections the 兎ngine room at the front and the pumping end at the rear, connected by a rubber diaphragm. Water flows down the drive pipe into the front chamber until it fills, pushing the exhaust valve closed (the 途am hammer effect). The pressure causes the diaphragm to push a large spring connected to a piston, forcing water up the delivery pipe. The pump can be transported in two sections, so can be carried on a flight as personal baggage.