Water from Dam to tank

[dazzler]

Hi

I would like to fill my 10000lt tank from the "dam" that runs 35m behind my house.

Any suggestions on an economical (read cheap :p ) electric pump that would do the job.

Needs to pump 35m and lift about 4m over that distance. Dont need pressure or a high flow, just enough to fill it overnight.

Has to be electric as a petrol would wake the koalas :( .

cheers

dazzler

[ozwinner]

Rather than waking the koalas, try some sort of solar pump that will work all day, every day, sun permitting.

Al :)

[Big Shed]

Hi

I would like to fill my 10000lt tank from the "dam" that runs 35m behind my house.

Any suggestions on an economical (read cheap :p ) electric pump that would do the job.

Needs to pump 35m and lift about 4m over that distance. Dont need pressure or a high flow, just enough to fill it overnight.

Has to be electric as a petrol would wake the koalas :( .

cheers

dazzler

Dazzler, I use my fire pump for that. Have it permanently set up under cover at the dam, we have a 4500l garden water tank. The pump is about 100m away from the tank with a drop of about 3m. Takes 20 to fill the 4500l. I have the pump sitting on pins so that it easily removeable in case I need to use it for its' original intended purpose, then just mount it on the carry-all on the tractor.

There is a 2" black poly pipe from the pump to the garden tank, buried so you can't see it. This also gives a non-electrical firefighting source at the house.


Based on my timing it would only take about 45 minutes to fill your 10,000l tank, tell the koalas to b*gger off for that time.

[Doughboy]

Definitely the solar pump. Chugs away and moves water economically and efficiently.

Costs a bit more to set up but the savings are worth it.

[DavidG]

I go along with the fire pump.
You should have one anyway.
Needs testing.

[dazzler]

But I dont want the greenies to hear me taking water from the "dam" :D.

NB: Dam according to dazzlers dictionary is defined as

"a stormwater runoff area at the back of a house that may well belong to the local council and its nasty rangers " :D

[Big Shed]

Oh, right, that's different.

Mine is actually a legal dam on my own property and I'm entitled to pump water from it:D

Yes, I did opt for the fire pump so that we always know that it is working, and we have a non-electrical water supply for fire fighting to the house.

In your case solar seems like a good option, only problem there is that when you empty the tank it will take a while to fill up again.

[Barry_White]

Dazzler

The only problem you may have is that to move the water 35 metres and lift it four metres you would probably have to have the pump at the water source because to have it at the tank you would need a pretty big pump to suck it that distance. Pumps work better when they are pushing water rather than sucking it.

The bigger the pump the more expensive.

[DavidG]

Ahhhhh. Something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WATER-PUMP-FOR-GARDEN-TANK-40-LT-PER-MIN-240V-NEW_W0QQitemZ290147231739QQihZ019QQcategoryZ46412QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)will do the job.
You will need a foot valve to keep the system primed.
Make a sump for the foot valve. Cover it in mesh then vegetation to hide it.
Bury the pipe.:;

[Bleedin Thumb]

Daz, do a search about hydraulic ram pumps. cheap, indestructable all you need is that the water source is flowing. No electricty or solar panels required.

[dazzler]

Thanks all

I think i will get that big sucker on ebay or a ram pump or similar.


I just hope the council appreciates me getting rid of that water for them but there is no thanks needed, all part of living in the community. :D

cheers

[dazzler]

Ahhhhh. Something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WATER-PUMP-FOR-GARDEN-TANK-40-LT-PER-MIN-240V-NEW_W0QQitemZ290147231739QQihZ019QQcategoryZ46412QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)will do the job.
You will need a foot valve to keep the system primed.
Make a sump for the foot valve. Cover it in mesh then vegetation to hide it.
Bury the pipe.:;

Ninja suit ready :D

[Cliff Rogers]

Do your homework on the ram pump before you buy it, the ones I've seen up here need a fair bit of head to work & they make a noise that sounds just like a.... ram pump. :p

Here is some info I dredged up on ram pumps....

The optimum length of the drive pipe is 5 to 12 times the vertical distance between the source and the pump, or 500 to 1000 times the diameter of the delivery pipe, whichever is less.

Here we go, check this one (http://www.rise.org.au/info/Applic/Hydram/index.html) out.

A hydram pump that only requires a head of 0.5m, and yet is capable of pumping water to a height of over 200m.

The problem is, it will make a clunking noise. :-


And this one (http://www.earthgarden.com.au/waterwheel.html) would be quiet but it kinda sticks out like Grunt's... does. :D

[DavidG]

Ram pumps are also EXPENSIVE. $2000 +

[Priemsy]

Also very "banging" noisy.

Paul

[jaspr]

We pump our water from a collection tank next to the house over a distance of about 150 metres 'across' and 40 metres 'up' to a holding tank. This gives us a natural gravity feed water supply to the house with good pressure and we do not lose water to the house when the power goes out (as it often does in a rural area - and also during bushfires).

We use a small Davey electric pump which has been operating for about 15 years. It takes about 48 hours to fill the top tank if it starts near empty.

The pump is very quiet - you only hear it going if you walk over to it. And it cost about $350, back then. Aldi had one that would do the trick for $99 a few weeks ago.

And yes - definitely 'push', rather than 'pull' your water. Much more efficient (according to the hydraulic expert in this house (not my field)).

With a diesel/petrol pump, you need to be careful to make sure it doesn't run out of fuel - and/or use a very good one way valve (that will handle the back pressure) - to make sure the water doesn't start running the wrong way.

[d*mn, I've broken my own rule of not reading/replying to non-wood threads!!:doh: ]:doh:

[Bleedin Thumb]

.

Here we go, check this one (http://www.rise.org.au/info/Applic/Hydram/index.html) out.

A hydram pump that only requires a head of 0.5m, and yet is capable of pumping water to a height of over 200m.

The problem is, it will make a clunking noise. :-




The Glockman-Peck pump in that link is the way to go. I wasn't aware of any noise issues. The only thing that needs maintenance in the pump is the rubber diaphram that you make out of a tractor inner tube, so even though it may seem expensive ......running costs = Nil,
maintenance costs = Almost Nil and compared to electric or petrol pumps it will outlast them many times over.

Also imagine the size of pump that will give you 200m of head!

[Amb]

Ahhhhh. Something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WATER-PUMP-FOR-GARDEN-TANK-40-LT-PER-MIN-240V-NEW_W0QQitemZ290147231739QQihZ019QQcategoryZ46412QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)will do the job.
You will need a foot valve to keep the system primed.
Make a sump for the foot valve. Cover it in mesh then vegetation to hide it.
Bury the pipe.:;

Could someone please explain how the foot valve and sump keeps the pump primed, for pumping out of a dam? ie. How does it work.

[Barry_White]

Could someone please explain how the foot valve and sump keeps the pump primed, for pumping out of a dam? ie. How does it work.

A foot valve stops the water flowing back out the pump because if there is no water in the pump there is no prime so it can't suck the water up. The sump is something to keep water around the foot valve but if it is sitting in a dam with a float attached to the the foot valve you really don't need a sump.

[Amb]

The sump is something to keep water around the foot valve but if it is sitting in a dam with a float attached to the the foot valve you really don't need a sump.

Right, thanks BW, that's all it is. The sump, and mesh, and vegetation to hide it, threw me.

[DavidG]

Right, thanks BW, that's all it is. The sump, and mesh, and vegetation to hide it, threw me.

That was because the area is a storm water runnoff area.
May not be deep and the inlet must be hidden. (not quite legit. :doh: )
See the earlier posts.:;

[dvdhack]

We have a dam that we pump from to fill the header tank for watering cattle through gravity fed troughs. We found a petrol fire pump to be best due to the need to have one on our property any way.

We need to pump this header tank because the bore that was feeding it went dry but that allows another option we havent tried but you may like to. I have thought of moving the windmill that previously ran the bore to the dam and pump directly from the dam to the header tank, my issue is that it is 450m but for you 35m would be fine. Secondhand windmills are cheap.

[Ashore]

Have had some experiance with onga and jabsco pumps and found them reliable and easy to maintain and get parts
Rgds