[FarmGirl]

Hi all, I have been researching and messing around with a deep well pump design. It is made of PVC pipe mostly all off the shelf stuff. I must admit I have not stuck it down my 175 foot well yet. But it does work out of a 55 gallon drum with 200 feet of garden hose stretched up the hill and in to a tree.

It is based on the old Air-lift pump which is only good for short lifts. I just added a foot valve and a one-way valve in the pipe the water goes up. The pump is basically a PVC pipe inside a PVC pipe with two check valves. It will pump water with 125 PSI air or less. The beauty of this pump is it will last well over 20 years, can run dry without damage, and most of the moving and service required parts are above ground. Only 2 one-way check valve are at the bottom of the well, oh and some pipe.

I drew up a pretty good picture and then converted it to a GIF format so I can share it if anyone would be interested. Here is a web site where a similar pump is in use and or being tested.
http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/?cat=292

I am currently working on a Vacuum /Pressure pump that can drive this deep well injection pump. This drive pump uses an old recycled car engine flywheel and starter drive gear. The fly wheel becomes a bull gear that drives a connecting rod for a 16 inch stroke suction pressure pump. The theory is to just cause the injection pump check valves to cycle open and closed. Thus filling and emptying the pump. In so doing you force water up the water pipe and since you are forcing or pumping up water and not relying on suction you can pump water up hundreds of feet.

Let me know if you want more details, I guess I could create a set by step set of instructions. Note all parts were bought new at the local "chain" hardware store.
Katie

 

[HaroldWayneHamlin]

Do I want more details,

One word, hell yea,

Well that is two words but who is counting.

later
wayne

 

[MotherEarth]

Please! thank you in advance!

 

[FarmGirl]

I see that the web site I listed above has my drawing on display under Katie's work. I guess there is no need for me to post it here, unless some one needs it. Then I guess they can post it here.

If I did my math right and my gauges are working good, I need 95-100 PSI to pump water through a 1.25 inch pipe 175 feet out of the bottom of the well. But then it is not so much the pressure as the volume of air required.

Oh by the way that black plastic water pipe is rated for 160 PSI of cold water only.
K.D.

 

[FarmGirl]

Hmm. . . more details. . . Where to start? I wrote a word document with the drawing included that explains how to build and test the pump. That document is on my hard drive, I guess I could cut and paste the text into here. The text makes no sense with out the drawing.
Basically what you have is a 24 inch piece of 3 inch diameter CPVC you mount a screened foot valve at one end with a threaded pipe adapter. You must get a thick plug for the other end of the pump body (That 3 inch Pipe) and drill two offset holes for the air and water pipe fittings to glue into. You must have the water pipe extend to with in an inch or so of the bottom of the pump with the second one way check valve mounted on it. Once you got all the parts glued and the threads sealed you can test it in a 55 gallon drum of water. You must cycle the air to the small air pipe so the pump will flood with water then empty out the larger water pipe. You can build or buy a pump controller that cycles the air. That controller is a different project as is the building of my suction / pressure air pump that replaces the air compressor and the pump controller.

Oh did I mention to take the spring out of the foot valve as it causes nothing but trouble in this pump design. Oh yes and you may want to put some thread couplers on your pump housing so you can open it up to work on it or modify the pump.

K.D.

 

[FarmGirl]

http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Compressed_Air_Water_Pump#Katie.27s_Work

If you can put a plastic model car together you can do this project.

Head to your local hardware store and pickup the parts as listed above. Also pickup some purple primer and cement for CPVC. While you’re at it get some pipe thread sealant. You will spend around $75.00 if you buy all new parts and supplies.

You will need to make or modify item G above, you see the pipe company does not make a cap or plug with two off set holes like you will be needing. You must get a nice thick plug (item G) for your main pump housing (item E) then you will need to use a drill press or a lathe to make the proper holes to glue pipe and fittings into. . . . well maybe it is not as easy as a plastic model car.

When you go to cutting the pipe cut it straight and clean the bur off. Follow the gluing instructions on the side of the glue can and give the joints a twist as you put them together. Do not glue the threaded connections; use the thread sealant on them.

Ok let me tell you now that the foot valve (item A) and the one-way valve (item D) have fairly stiff springs in them. I tried to make my springs weaker, but found that the pump works better if you take the spring out of the foot valve. In the other valve (item D) it is not so critical to change or remove the spring, it just means that a little more air pressure is required to over come the spring pressure. Make sure the arrows on the side one-way valves point towards the top of the pump and the top of the well.

Oh I just noticed there is a PVC tread adapter needed to connect Item D to Item F above and a threaded coupler or adapter to connect Item H to Item F above. They are not displayed in the above picture. Oh and while you are at it buy some 3 inch thread couplers to mount in the pump housing so you can open up the pump to get to the inside. You never know some day you may want to modify or repair the pump.

If you can’t get 1 inch and 1/2 inch black Polyethylene pipe in the roll maybe you should go with 1 1/4 for the water line and 3/4 for the air line. It will hold up better anyway. You will of course need to get the correct Barb fittings for your pump.

Your pump should now be all put together, hook up a little extra pipe to the barb connections stick it in a 55-gallon drum full of water and try it out. You will need to cycle the air to the smaller black pipe and water should start coming out of the bigger water pipe.

Oh that may be a draw back with this pump you must cycle the air on and off or should I say connect and un-connect the air feed. You see in order for the foot valve to open and flood the pump with water there must be little or no air pressure in the pump, so the pressure must be relieved. I am working on a simple air pump cylinder setup so it cycles the air and you don’t need a fancy or costly electric or gas air compressor. But that is for another time and I don’t have any drawings of it yet.

You can build or buy a pump controller that cycles the air on and off using electricity. They are sold on the Internet for air lift pumps and such.

This pump can self prime, run dry with no damage, suck dirt and sand with no damage noted (some times sand will block a valve open, but it will clear on the next pump cycle) , set around for years and function perfectly when put in water, can operate non stop for 20 years or more without any maintenance, only the two move valves at the bottom of the well.

I am looking into making easier and cheaper one-way valves from stainless steel or brass ball bearings or maybe hard plastic, glass, or ceramic balls would work. You see them check valves from the hardware store are very expensive and then need to be modified to work in this pump.

K.D.

 

[FarmGirl]

I guess I did not explain the operation of the pump very well and thought I would add a link that sort of explains it better. Now this linked site use there pumps to pump sewage and sludge and their pumps are designed just a bit differently, but the theory is good and explained well.
http://www.geyserpump.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=110
K.D.