Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pumping well water wth air

I would like to supplement my small pond(1/4) with well water this summer but wish not to expend a lot of money on a submersible pump or a new jet pump. I have a 90 ft well with 4 inch casing about 100 ft from my pond. Its 50 ft to the water level with 35 ft of water to the bottom of the well. I wish to pump enough water to replace part of the evaporate in the next months. I like the ideal of airlift pumps. My well does not have enough depth of water to accomplish this but I came across this pump called the Geyser http://www.geyserpump2.com/well.htm
Does anyone have any knowledge about this. Looks pretty simple to build if I can find just a bit more info. Thanks for any help.

doesnt look like you'll get much flow volume out of that system. do you know what your well produces (gpm)? somebody here might be able to tell you how much air pressure you'd need to lift water at the spec's you've given (given a certain diameter discharge tube/pipe), but seems to me at 50+ feet down you'd need quite a bit of pressure to yield any kind of significnt flow for your pond.

Not much psi to move water. check out http://www.quantumlynx.com/water/back/vol2no2/v22_st5.html
for a simple airlift, if your well is deep enough. Submergence of the airline is the key. The Geyser pump appears to overcome the submergence factor. Does the Geyser pump work?

sciotoguy,

For many years, we used an air compressor to "lift" water to a holding tank from which we then pumped and pressurized the water to a standard pressure tank to supply water to the house(s). This system, in fact, was used to run two households for several years. You have to make sure the air line is submerged deep in comparison to the lift involved. This method was used as a standard procedure across much of this area of Texas because it provides a means to "aerate" the water and hence neutralize the iron deposites, before entering the household. It worked very well and pushed very surprising large amounts of water. A holding tank is needed to enable a steady flow of water. As the air pressure builds in the well head, a large push of water come up each time the pressure overcomes the g force of the water and then decreases with the release/gush of water into the holding tank and then the cycle starts again.

Can't offer any info about the Geyser but know for sure this technique works very well.

I'd give you specs on the set-up but it is now in about 20 feet of water(pump, tank and all) providing submerged structure to the fish in Nova pond.

Meadowlark
I first heard of this method along time ago when I lived in Texas and saw it in use. It seems to be a simple setup. I recently built an airlift to circulate the water in my pond. Used 4 inch PVC pipe and a hot tub blower. Man does that thing move water. At first I had the tail piece too close to the bottom and it was sucking up muck and weeds like it was a dredge. (that in its self may be a different question in the near future. How to use the airlift method to deepening a pond)
Still hoping somebody can advise me on the geyser pump or the principle behind it.

Just contacted the company that makes the geyser pump and found out that they are just 10 miles down the road from me. Talked to them on the phone and sounds like it will work for me. Find out more on Monday.