Irrigation Challenge - Lifting Water Without Pumps

Here are a few ideas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handpump

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/1286306.html

http://www.windmillwaterpumps.com/index.html

etc.

For a reasonable irrigation a 21' wheel windmill gives a nice stream of water.

If your borehole is on a hillside you could syphon it out but you will be restricted to less than 32' water depth.

If you have a water supply under pressure available you could send it down and return additional water by using a venturi "pump" below.

Please give more info regarding volume, depth, irrigation requirements etc.

try this totally new idea may work.

Make as many as possible bore well in your fields, fill them with piles of some porous material like plaster of Paris. may be water will come up by capillaries of piles,don't forget to fill the soil on the top of piles so that it can increase moisture level in water.

don't forget my royalty if it works.

You may use a "noria" as old Egyptians it is without any diesel or electric pumps it uses a mule to turn the wheel with the buckets and it works.

Since you mentioned diesel or electric pumps I am going to assume your a somewhat modern farming operation. That is you have a large area of land to water. I also assume its the pumping cost that has you wondering more than anything else. Physics dictate that its going to take a specific amount of energy to pump a specific volume of water. Getting that energy cost down is the key. One method is using lesser known alternative fuels to run your pumps.

With no real engine modification diesel engines can run off used oil rather well. Being thick it may need to be diluted down or the fuel system feed line size increased along with possible fuel passages in the injector pump though. E85 ethanol gasoline mixed 1 part E85 to 9 parts used oil will thin it out to the point most diesel engines can run on it without pump modification. If you have a reliable source of used oil you have a very cheap fuel source!

If you have a gasoline burning engine propane is a far cheaper fuel. Propane does need higher compression though in order to get the best fuel efficiency out of it. 11:1 compression with a slightly more aggressive camshaft profile will get you better energy output per unit of fuel than the stock gasoline engine will. And with a cheaper fuel too!

Steam power is still a very cheap and reliable way to use any combustible solid fuel for mechanical work. Basically burn last years crop residue to power the watering system for this years crop. Small steam systems are still manufactured around the world so some searching can get you a new or used unit. Use the steam engine to run the pump or use it to generate electricity to offset electric pump operating costs.

Use wind power for electrical generation to offset the electric pumping system costs.

Solar Pumps might be another option worth looking at.

nab,

There are also on the open market, solar DC powered ( low voltage electric) downhole pumps available.

Cheers,

Stu.

Glass house and tube collecting rising condensation; there would be a few phenomena that could possibly have the water lifting on the air. Such as heating the tube via solar energy. Pay a physicist to calculate your best renewable assets and tell her or him to be ingenious; take photo's, publish on a website, involve the neighboring community!

Solar is of course one option as is wind. If this were a small area that needed irrigation, I would recommend either a bicycle type of pump (ie: use a manually powered bicycle attached to a rope pump) or a carousel pump (where children provide the required energy); these pumps have been used in rural villages in arid 3rd world settings to provide water for drip irrigation.

Of course you could use animal power (either donkeys and hamsters ina cage) to provide the power.

Nab, there are a number of wind, solar, hybrid systems, and alternative fuels to power your lifting device. I do not use the word "pump", because that tends to focus attention into a specific type of device. A wind driven bucket and chain device will work nicely, and is not limited by the 32' head restriction on most surface lift pumps. But you have not addressed another concern with ground water, and that is water quality. Shallow wells in many areas have significant salt and/or Boron in them, and should only be used sparingly to avoid salting out your land. Has your water been tested?

TOP TEN WRONG ANSWERS.

1. Install a small lake nearby that is higher than your field.. then let gravity do the job.

2. Move your farm to an area of geothermal activity and let the now-hot groundwater boil and evaporate into an above ground condenser system.. then let gravity do the job.

3. Lower your fields below the water table, and let gravity do the job.

4. Rain Dance every day... but do a creative and excellent job to please the rain gods, who will bless your fields with fresh water every day at 1pm to 2pm, while you nap.

5. Pressurize the the ground so the water wants to flow out onto your fields.

6. Use biofuel to run a tesla turbine to pump.

7. Use a gasoline powered pump. (not diesel or electric.)

8. Install a transparent plastic canopy over your fields so you don't lose water in the first place. Put drip points for the condensate at regular intervals. Put drain channels on the posts to capture rainfall.

9. Install wind turbines beside the nearby highway and let the traffic wind power the turbines to power the water pumps. (direct drive of course, as electric is not allowed.)

10. Cross breed your plants with cacti, so they don't give up any water they get. (and fertilize with camel dung, as a camel can go weeks without water!)

Chris

Wonderfully silly answer Chris. A perfect example why we need an "Off Topic Good Answer" category for the voting.

Extend a tube into ground water, create a suction sufficient to pull the water to your fields by whatever means you can muster without using diesel or electric, and ox maybe.

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?wo=2004056710

http://practicalaction.org/practicalanswers/product_info.php?products_id=378

http://epa.gov/ncer/p3/press/04_24_07_statesnews.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=animal+powered+agricultural+pump&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

Use a combination of vacuum and capillary action. Imitate the trees, sink roots and provide capillary tubes with a venturi on top to create a low pressure zone and thus promote water movement upwards. I can send you a drawing of the arrangement if the idea excites you.

What a concept—wicking

They still use windmills for pumping agricultural water in Oklahoma, but then again they don't call it "the dust bowl" for nothing...

There is a device called a ram pump. It is only pumps about 10% of the water that flows through it. It only have a hand full of parts. 2 moving parts. It will raise water about 10 times the original head. Attached is a good description and some design information.

yes but I don't think it can work in the requested case, (raising water from below ground) because it requires the pump to be situated below the source water. (As I understand the operating principle)

Chris

Ask Archimedes!

hello everyone.

what wonderfull and sometimes silly replies.

i would like to add one that is real. a windmill with an air compressor attached. run the air line down a double pipe. release the air in the center pipe. the water becomes lighter than the outer pipe water. outer water pushes down. there is a formula to determine depth versus height of water pumped this way. in other words if you want the water to rise 50 feet you would have to have your double pipe go down 75 feet. there is a windmill company that specializes in this. doesn't take much air pressure.

Results 1 - 10 of about 808,000 for wind water pump. (0.27 seconds)

I would consult online with Koby Zucker about this - he is very helpful on these matters. You can also view his irrigation systems and equipment on his site: www.irrigationglobal.com

another possible approach is to do dry land farming. deep disk pulverize about 3 feet deep. put in starts. do not water. make roots go deep for water. the plants suck the water from the ground. this works, depending upon your water table. high water table, it works well. otherwise nope. i do know a local farmer that does this. raises tomatoes, corn, melons. he is situated on a flood plain between steep ridges and a river. therefore he has a high water table. i picked tomatoes there, so i know it works and works well.

here is a picture of a deep disk pulverize with a high water table...