Hydraulic Ram pump

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Ram hydrolic pump.jpg

A hydraulic ram pump is a water pump powered by water. In areas where natural flows exist with a height difference of the water over a small distance, hydraulic ram pumps can be used to transport water to higher grounds without using electricity or fuel, by using the energy in the speed of the flow to pump a portion of the water up to a much higher level.

Principle of a Hydraulic Ram pump.
Children standing around a hydraulic ram pump produced by AIDF, Phillippines


Hydraulic Ram pumps


Advantages Disadvantages/limitations
- Uses renewable energy sources.

- If properly designed, can be produced and maintained locally.
- Very effective in mountaneous areas

- Water with height difference is needed


Capacity

A hydraulic ram pump is powered by a body of water flowing downhill with a height difference. A general rule of thumb is that the water can be pumped 30 times as high as the available drive head (the height difference of the water driving the pump). So a head of 1 m can be used to pump up water to ~30m, while a 7 m head can pump water up to 210 m.

The capacity of a hydraulic ram depends on the scale of the pump, which is often measured in the diameter of the tube delivering the water to the pump. Pumps exist in the range 1" up to 5".

With height difference, the actual difference in vertical height is meant, not the length measured along the slope.

Costs

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