Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Ram Pump advice and suggestions

My land goes to the middle of a year round creek that hasn't slowed down at all during what some are calling the worse drought in the last 20 years.

My 5 acre lake is going in on the flood plane next to the creek and will get water from three springs. One of which is flowing very slowly, the other two are just wet areas right now, but normally flow fairly well.

I'll also get rain water run-off from about 60 to 80 acres.

I would like to build or buy a Ram Pump to keep my water level up from evaporation.

They sound too good to be true. Does anybody have any first hand experience with them? I'd be interested in a good supplier or brand also.

Thank you,
Eddie

eddie,
I don't have any "first hand" experience but my neighbor uses a ram pump to irrigate his garden.
Works well for his use.

Here's a sight that explains how to "do it yourself":
http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/irrig/Equip/ram.htm

Here's one that will help calculate the amount of flow to expect:
http://www.i4at.org/lib2/hydrpump.htm

Looks like B&L in Texas sells them:
http://www.tcboats.com/blram.htm

I see them here too:

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/8735/cid/2143

Thanks for the links. The idea seems sound and since it's been around so long, I think it's been proven to work.

Some of those sites use plastic, others use metal. It's kind of confusing which is better.

Eddie

If you want it portable I would go with PVC. Much lighter.

I may utilize a ram pump or two this coming year. I refuse to use electric power if I don't have to as I'm already spending about $100.00 per month on pumping the well. Hey gravity's free!

I want to grow out fingerling bluegills in a tank like my idol Bruce Condello to cull out the slow growers etc for later planting into the bluegill pond. Everything Bruce is doing of course! Anyway, I think I can use a ram to run water down from the bluegill pond and then up and into the tank. Overflow will go into an ajacent pond. Could be a way to add zooplankton before feeding with pellets. Hope to do this with bass and perch eventually too!

Thanks for the idea Eddie!

if you really wanted to pump water from say one pond to another or creek to pond at at least 10,000gph what would one do??????

Depends on the duration, what the head is etc. on what kind of pump you need and the efficiency.

There are pumps out there that will do this that are powered by both electricity or gasoline. AES and Stoney Creek have lots listed.

I've rented a gasoline powered trash pump that pumped at least 6000 gph and they come bigger than that.

To pump 10,000 gph, that is a per minute rate of 167 gal. I recently rigged up a gear pump from an oilfield tanker truck that will pump at that rate or better. I've got it bolted onto an old brushhog and drive it with the PTO on my JD 4020, a 95 hp farm tractor. I haven't tested the flow rate yet, but it seems to pump pretty darn well (about a 6 ft stream out of a 3 inch pipe at idle).

Eddie,

I used to sell the Hydro-Ram Pumps for AES. They use kinetic energy contained in the flowing water to pump from 700 to 10,000 gallons per day. Of course as described above that depends on the fall of the water supplying the pump, the pump size, flow rate and height (head) of the discharge. With a stream as you described, you should not need any electricity.

If you have as little as a 2' drop from your water source to the pump and the rate of your stream is at least 3 gpm, this would be enough to drive the pump and provide up to 20' of lift to your pond.

The pumps that AES sells comes with everything needed except the pipe from your draw point to your pond. Happy pumping!

Cary,

I think Seashore said 10,000 gph not gpd.

Is the sky the limit on flow as long as you upsize the diameter and tube with a RAM pump? Any idea if I could get a flow of 38 gpm ( 54,720 gpd) if I built one with a larger diameter? If so what diameter of pipe would be needed? I have a drop of about 5 feet or more to the intended source with increase in head needed. I'm thinking of using it for a bypass around one pond from the trout pond to another and the underground plumbing is not cooperating. Aparently a turn in the underground plumbing has some dried built up filamentous algae.

This subject has been on my "to do" list for some time. I hate to sound ignorant, but what is the 2' drop between water source and pump? My creek runs all year and varies in depth between 6"-18". Can I just dig a hole to 2' in the creek and get the drop require? Also, I have about 300' of firehose, could this be used to transport the water to my pond?

Cecil,

You are correct that if you upsize your line you will reduce the friction loss. The limiting factor is the size of the pump itself. When I used to work there, if I recall correctly, we had a 3" Hydro-ram pump that pumped a maximum of 10,000 gpd. The way the pump works unfortunately waste up to 80% of the water in a ejection mode. Only 20% is actually pumped to your source. There may be larger systems out there, but I was only familuar with this one.

I have not worked there since 1998 so I would suggest calling them and speak with a technician to help with sizing. They may have something new by now.

rmedger-The 2'drop is required to use the kinetic energy produced by gravity. I had one customer build a small dam or berm to make the drop from his pond to the pump 5' below. From the pump to your desired discharge can be up to 10x the drop from the creek to the pump. You could use firehose to feed the water but again your flow rate would be determined by the diameter of the hose. The smaller the diameter the greater the friction loss.