This is how to build a Water Ram water pump from easy to find parts at any local hardware store. The Water Ram can pump water uphill hundreds of feet higher then the source delivering the water to the pump.
Just the fact that it requires no power source makes it the most efficient way to provide water in our communities in Cameroon n Africa at large for we are blessed with a lot of springs,thank u and may God continue to inspire u
You Sir have explained everything perfectly. I am a Plumber here in New Zealand and I learnt all about these Ram Pumps years ago so I already knew what you were saying. Keep up the good work.
Mr. T that was an excellent parts layout and demonstration. I have seen this demonstrated several times before and I just got it. Now I am inspired to build my own. Thanks
Wow! I had no idea you could pump water with no electricity, much less up hill. Wish I had this info years ago, but not to later to take advantage of! Thank you for sharing!!!
This man is a genius. Something so simple, yet so effective, it's not even funny. This is exactly what I need for generating hydro electric energy at my home
MrT. I just finished my ram/pump today and it works great. I only had 10 feet of drop in 30 feet of 1-14 inch pipe, but it sends water straight up a bank in 3/4 inch pipe, running about forty feet. Thank you so much for sharing your design. I now water my yard, water rabbits, run a cascading fountain, and water a greenhouse all from a once inaccessible stream.
***** I will. I live on a mountain in North Carolina and the nearest house is empty and up for sale. My property and theirs shares the same stream. Whomever moves in will want to know what that weird clicking sound is. lol Then they will want one. What a great way to welcome new neighbors. Give them free tech. Thanks again.
I thought this was a scam until I watched the video. This would be great for hunters in a remote location or off grid survivalists. Thanks for sharing this.
This is an absolutely amazing demonstration. Thank you so much! If even one person uses your information to change their life, your video will have served its benefit.
Thank you MrTeslonian! We had one of these when I was a kid, but I never understood how it worked, and could never find anything about it in the library. Most people didn't believe such a device existed!
That is really cool! It is really amazing what can be done with two hinges and a good dose of ingenuity. I am also glad to see this on a tiny scale. It still really goes and it is so cheap to make! Thanks for sharing Mr Teslonian
Built this pump from the images in this video. It works. Without measuring I've got 25 ft 1 1/4 pvc pipe going into the pump with about 9 ft of drop pumping up vertical slope into 30 gal rain barrel which is about 30-40 ft above creek. No measurements or calculations just put it together and plugged it in. Had to turn it off. The barrel was overflowing.
This will help allot, I have a small spring running through my property. It may not be a winter fix but definitely will help. Thanks for your time and effort making this video
Thanks man! I saw one deep in Brasil down in a small creek. I had heard about them long ago. A ,90yr old man told me about them. For years I wanted to understand how they work! Thanks!
what a wonderful teaching video. Thank you so much for all your information. I will be making my own in the next few days. At the moment I have a two inch 100 long feed pipe about 40 feet above my exit hose. I'm looking to water my 5 acres of flowers using a holding tank to store the water running 24/7. Still have a lot of figuring to do. Thanks again for your EZ DIY! Jonathan Galente
Wonderful stuff sir. Some guys I know made one and were talking about it and your description helps me understanding immensely. Not to get the parts and have a go. Thank you
thank you ,... thank you .... THANK YOU!!! I have been racking my brain for many-a-months trying to work out a motorized portable version.... way cool... thanks again for sharing
Love ram put pumps. My first experience was seeing one in Haunted Cave. The cave is large and has a stream running from it. The ram is up inside a little ways so it never freezes. when you get back in the cave you can't hear it anymore, so when you are coming out you here the faint knocking. It's kind of spooky the first time you hear it. They used it to fill a stock tank at the top of the hill.
Awesome. If you could throw down a parts list somewhere at the end of the description, that would help simplify for when we are going to the parts store. thanks for sharing your video
Nice job. We hope to build one of these soon. We have a small spring fed creek at the lower side of our land and I want a pond up closer to the houses my son and I are building on our small farm. The pump could help keep the pond from drying up during dry spells.
Awesome video - taking things apart, really helped me understand how to set it up properly. Thank you for your time and effort in this video - very much appreciated.
It could work if you built a big enough storage to run hydro. Instead of using electric pumps to fill your resovior for a loss of energy you could fill it (slowly) instead using this method with free energy.
Excellent tutorial. Currently, I just collect water into a tank which feeds a main storage tank via 1 inch pipes by gravity, situated 175 meters away and eventually goes up 20 feet into the tank, all by gravity.
Very awesome. The only thing I would change is the choice of materials. Using different metals connected promotes corrosion due to electrolysis. Replacing the galvanized and black pipe with PVC will solve that issue. Good job!
This is so so excellent. I could have used a really brief clip of this thing in action before you got into the nuts and bolts. Although, you might just be that clever; I know I'll have to watch it a second time. Thank you. You can see through water with a Polarizing Ring.
Interesting. Ive worked with irrigation 25 years and got to see a ram pump at a campsite. The waterfall was probably 75 feet and at the bottom was a ram pump shaped like a bell British invent. It threw water back up 75 feet through a hose and I couldnt believe the pressure, although I Dont know the psi but would guess it to be between 40 and 60. Amazing what we can use off nature without electricity etc. Good vid
75 feet of head is 32 psi that would be feeding the pump, then the output would also have to overcome that same 32 psi to just get flow. So your 40 to 60 psi estimate is probably right. 1:7 ratio so that ram pump should be able to pump water 525 ft that would be an amazing 227 psi it would need. That's on paper, I have read 50 feet is max drop you want to use..
I was thinking about using this ram pump to irrigate a 2 acre field from a very nearby creek. Would this have enough pressure to rig up a few long range sprinkler heads?
That is ingenious! Thanks for sharing. Presumably the height you can pump depends on the drop you use and the relative volume of water in the up/down pipes?
Cool and ingenuitive as usual this kind of science is priceless thanks!!. I'm always curious to see how you have "bettered" an idea with common sense thanks again
Great video, I know it sounds a bit lazy but could you list the items required for the pump in the description below. Thanks and best wishes from Ireland.
Nice pump concept! At first I thought it was an attempt at perpetual motion, where you could generate electricity from water pumped up high as it falls to its original height. But I see now that it is "legal" in a physics way, because as some water is pumped up, more water is lost from the drop to power the pump. It's pretty cool.
You probably could power a small water wheel with that. Just put the end that spits out the water over your reservoir. It wouldn't produce hardly any power, maybe just enough to power a single LED bulb, but it would be something.
pretty good project! I wonder if one could find a brass flapper with a rubberized valve to make a quieter seal, since it's doing that at a constant flipflop. I could also see the ram pump being part of the downflow of the stream it's self, so you're not creating a new pool of water. but this is pretty nifty system! I wonder, if I was to live in a 2 story house, and constructed a small water tower, say a set of plastic drums just below the roofline, I bet i could get some decent water pressures for pumping I wonder what projects one could do with that small, but powerful system.
Brilliant design. Each summer we travel to an island tribe in panama. The water there is killing them due to pathogens. We build windmill water well systems for the natives with filtration. I would love to find an application for this in that setting. I love your work. Very inspirational!
Wonderful explanation..tried building one with pvc fittings. Struggling to make it work. The output one way valve does not flap. I need to keep tapping it to get the water to flow. I suspect the joints have to be really air tight. Any other points I need to check for? Thanks
How could I get agricultural rights for some land? I'm taking care of my moms property and I tend the garden and landscape and basically making a food forest. I really appreciate every one of your vid Mr Teslonian I tip my hat to you awesome work and knowledge. I never know what to expect! Good job!!!
Incredibly interesting - Can you make a written list here of items needed in your set-up? Also, the water being expelled at the outside flapper valve, seems like a waste. Can that be pumped back into the system, instead of just going out on the ground. Or does it just go back into the source spoil/creek from spring?
My grandfather talked about using these, but this was the first one I'd seen working. Quick question though, can it still pump in the winter time? If the water keeps moving I guess it wouldn't freeze, but does the water move in the pressure tank? Thanks for the video!
Thank you for the great videos and the inspiration. I will be deploying Aquaponics systems throughout rural Indonesia to alleviate food insecurity. I want to employ a water ram in lieu of a water/aquarium pump to move the water in the system. Can I attach a pipe/hose to the waste valve and recapture the water? If so, how much head is produced, typically?
What's the minimum drop this particular pump will work at? I have an 800mm drop over 16mts. I'm wanting to pump the water a distance of 100mts and up 6mts. Thanks for posting this video mate. Very inspiring!
My mind is blown!!! Awesome!! I'm guessing too if you built this at a mid height of your property you could also somehow use the spill from the release flapper to water gardens/crops below it... also surely this system could be used to generate power through the output connecting / supplying some kind of hydro power motor? Any thoughts on that??
I'm envisioning using this idea in the irrigation ditch behind the house for our garden. How do we filter it better without having to clean the filter daily? Any ideas for that?
Howdy Mr Teslonian! Good to see something from you again!. My grandparents had a huge ram, and pumped water about a quarter mile uphill to their dairy; about 125 feet above the small creek. It was really noisy, and, on a hot summer night you could hear it clacking away. Pleasant memories. Also FYI the conversion from head to PSI is 2.31 so you can divide the head by 2.31 to find how much pressure you have. If you had an electric water pump, you could ram pump high enough enough to drop through the water pump turning the motor and generate electricity. I have seen that in Washington. Is this the same piece of ground you always had? it looks different. Just wondering if you were in the same location? Thank you for sharing. Keep us all inspired with your cool, self-sufficient projects. God Bless.
Great video but I am not sure whats going on. Is the source just an open spring pool? It's difficult to see what and how that bit is getting water into the pipe.
Great explanation.. Thanks for sharing. To confirm: the pressure chamber is not filled with water when operation? It's an air chamber that compresses and presurized when the hydram is on, which pushes the water up, right? Or do you need to prime this chamber with water prior to operation? I'm curious what would happen if you switch the places of the output and the pressure valves. So that the output valve is in the middle, and the pressure valve (and the chamber & all that) is at the end of the assembly. I'm imagining that it would help the water go into the pressure chamber as there's less drag and turbulence going into the pressure check-valve when the output check valve closes.. Which equals more pressure build each stroke, and more water uphill.. Or, it could also make the output valve work slower, needing more water 'wasted' before it shuts, which make less frequent stroke which equals less water debit uphill... This is ofcourse all in my head, will need some time before i can try these ideas out.. What's your take? have you tried the different positions and measure the debit? Cheers from Bali, Indonesia.. and Thanks again for sharing..
+Brian Fischman Got it.. thanks! :) What u think of the placement of the output valve (overflow valve)? Would it make a difference if you swap the positions of the two checkvalves (including the pressuretank etc), so that the overflow valve is earlier and the rest is towards the end of the apparatus? This setting is what i saw one time near a friend's place.. i wonder if it makes any differences in frequency of the flaps or the max pressure achieve, on the efficiency in general.. Thanks again..
Hey nice video. Can I attached a line to the check valve leaking so my drainage goes somewhere else instead all over the top of my roof? Would that lose any pressure?
Quick question. Can the water be stored in a tank with a float valve. Would the pump continue to work ‘flapping’ or would it have to be primed each time the float arm fell in the tank. If you get what I mean. Thanks
Thank you for this video; I have a creek on my property and would like to make one of these to water a garden. Could you please email me the list of parts and sizes to pump up about 200 feet hill; thanks. You could also put it into the show more section of your video. You are amazing with the way you made this. Thanks again for your time.
I am curious about this setup. I apologize in advance for the length of the comment, but understanding the process was necessary. Navigating the processes clarified this for me and may assist others too. There are 2 check valves the 1st (Pressurized) would be normally closed due to orientation is above the T fitting that is below the air chamber. When system is primed and operating, with #2 open and #1 closed the higher air chamber pressure pushes the water along the smaller diameter pump line because volume exerts higher pressure on a smaller line. The 2nd (Relief) normally open due to orientation is beyond the T fitting and slightly lower than #1 (though no mention was made if that is necessary). Since potential volume at both are equal but potential resistance at #1 is higher with no load, actual volume is increased toward #2 increasing resistance due to back pressure causing #2 to close. #2 now at higher resistance allows #1 to open and pressurize the air chamber (presumably also along pump line) until resistance at #1 exceeds equilibrium allowing #2 to open - process repeating - however, know that the resistance values move simultaneously opposite each other. Correct? I live in an area where extreme drought is the norm. Water conservation is an absolute necessity. Does the #2 output need to be open as shown with 0% increased resistance? Might it be possible to install a 3rd check valve (Pressurized) above #2 that has the same orientation and components of #1 creating a secondary pump line to direct water to either another higher location or for return line to the source pond? Would this need to be balanced resistance at #1 & #3 or lower resistance at #3? Smaller or same size pump line? Shorter or equal Run and/or Rise? What if #3 is increased or decreased in size modifying volume and pressure potentials?
Hi! I was wondering. Will it work if the source was below the ram pump? I am trying to design a ram pump for a canal. I would love it if I can get a good reply.
Do I need to draw water out of a source through a feeder pipe, below grade from the water source into the pump to make it work? I have a fast moving creek (deep and does not freeze). More of a small river, and want to look into a submersible pump.
Thank you for the information. The cost of running this pump is the lost water to make it work. Any idea of the percentage of water lost at the pump? Would it be some where around 50% or less? I can see a plan to fill a storage tank from the overflow of a pond during rain storms.
could this work with a rainwater tank as well? Obviously there would be some amount of loss, but I could catch that in a bucket underneath, and refill my tank after the fact. But this would be a great way to push water from a rain barrel to say a drip line in the garden...
probably gonna use this too to water my garden from a small creek nearby that's about 10-15 feet below it. didn't think I'd find such a practical way to save (utility) water today
So you're running water from the pond, down 6+ feet, to pump it back up above said pond? Is there something like this that would work with a stream that's very flat/small grade but moving? Or it also has a small pond it creates at a certain point...
HiI have a question please:1- Is the pump at the same level of the spring?2- From the video it seems that the pump is at the same level of the inlet at the spring level if not below , if so how did you built up the pressure inside the pump?ThanksFahad
