Discovering my freedom in Slovenia - start of a long book

I always have ideas, not necessary good ones or applicable to your situation. :stuck_out_tongue:

But I always liked this design.
https://lurkertech.com/water/pump/tailer/

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What about a solar pump ? looks like your getting lots of sunshine. Just one I ran up on. Solar Water Pump Kit 12V DC Submersible Well Water Pump &100W Solar Panel Farm 60705277428 | eBay

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A electric pump is an option l was thinking about, but l admit its not my first choice. Apart from having a slight ā€œelectrophobiaā€ about some machines, l do need this thing to run 24/7 to provide fresh oxigenated water for the fish.

Sean, l saw such a pump a hundred times before but didnt give much thod about it because logic sayd to me it cant pump higher thain its own height. Im clearly missing something here!! Says that that particular one pumped up to 40 feet? I need more invesrigation. Powering it shuldnd be a problem with cups fited on the circumfirence

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Yeah one of these. Couldnā€™t remember the exact term Iā€™ve always known them as a water screw.

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Each revolution compresses the air/water just a little bit more, It only picks up on the outside ā€˜largeā€™ coil once a revolution. The water falls by gravity to the bottom of the second pipe which increases pressure because it is a smaller area, so repeat that 40 times since that one is like a 6ft wheel. In a way it is combination of a screw press and a achimedes screw pump.

Here is a video that tries to explain it

Because half the pump is filled with air, you arenā€™t lifting water over the top against gravity so it is supposed to be less work/energy input and easier to turn. I donā€™t know what the limit for lift is but it is dependent on the number of turns, up to some maximum. The first link might actually have the formula. I found one once about 10 years ago. I would put a screen on the front scoop of it. Getting something stuck in that tube would be a pain to remove.

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So far so good. Makes sence.

Now, only 2 more questions l need to straight out. Is the rotation speed of the wheel important? Or does the wheel just need to turn at what ever speed. Because at a gal per minute of flow l have in drought conditions it will turn super slow.

Second, it seems its important that there is air in there too. This air will slowly dissapear out, get disolved in the water. I guess it culd be possible to mount on a sistem to introduce a few air bubbles with the scooped water, like some ram pumps do. But still, even better if it can be simplest

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Ok, l gotmy questions answered in the link above. This is gold. By the looks of it, this is exactly what l need.

Also, there is one more positive thing l might get out of it. Seems this thing does also scoop air with the water by default. And that air gets compressed and shot out the outlet, so a slug of water and a pocket of air.

Wich means, theoreticly, if separated, compressed air also can be harvestd! Luckly, l planed ti build a trompe some day so while l installed pipes l installed one extra for compressed air. Now, l MIGHT be able to get both with one machine! But lm geting ahead of my self :joy:

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Could you sketch what you are doing. Is it a pond in earth or something lined. What is the source of water. I originally intended to set up my greenhouse for aquaponics but as you say, without a 24/7 source of power or some way to circulate the fish water it was to risky. I have seen pictures of people who have lost their fish in a day when they lost power. I am very interested in what you are doing setting up your homestead.

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Interesting, I wonder what those fish species wereā€¦I have been planning on tilapia and catfish when I get around to that project, both of which thrive in low air low flow water from what I am told

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One guy was the Real Martian. He had trout and snow brought down his grow house and took out the power. The other guy I canā€™t remember his name but his site was WebforDeb I think. He had koi, just for nutrients and not food. Some fish will do better than others but if you donā€™t cycle out enough nitrites none of them will thrive. I personally know people that have lost tilapia because their pumps went down and they didnā€™t have alarms to let them know.

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Hard to go fully automated, much like a gasifier some operator input is a huge huge help. If I had the garden Iā€™m planning on I will be spending time in there, I love the plant and walk away no till heavy mulch practice, but I really want to play with a self sustaining meat farm/fish farm/ aquaponics system and rabbits require a lot of regulation for breeding in captivity/hutches moving bucks and does around. Still learning much on it, but would be very enjoyable when the time comes

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A fish pond is doable Marcus. Much greater volume of water per fish and can usually be aireated with a small air pumping wind mill. For a set up like that I would think about bluegill but I also know a couple of guys that grow Redear, which Iā€™m not familiar with but I think they are in the bluegill/crappie family.

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I think some air will dissolve in the water.

-another- way to do it is with capillary action, which is basically like a candle or oil lamp wick, there is a height limitation which has some complicated formula, it would need multiple steps. I donā€™t think it would run fast enough for your application even if you ignored evaporative losses.

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A spiral pump that can lift water high with a slow turning action.


Bob

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I am blessed with my pond. Spring fed with crappies and Bass. Iā€™ve been wanting to set up a little pump to use the pond water for my gardening. It might not be aquaponics dense in nutrients but there still is some.

Kristijan I canā€™t wait to see how your pond turns out. Lots of fun to just watch the fish.

Also isnā€™t one way to oxygenate the water simply to just have the water fall into the pond?

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What kind of fish do you have over there Kristijan? Or what species do you plan to have in your pond?

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The pump shown above does not have to be made in a spiral. It works equally as well in my experience if it is simply wrapped around an air-tight drum and floated in a creek as an underflow water wheel. (make sure it can float up higher when the water rises)
I have a good bit of experience with both types, and I never saw much difference between the two. The spiral is just harder to build.

In a pinch, you can use air tool quick connect fittings to attach the hosesā€¦but be warned the rubber piece in them that makes the seal will wear out within several weeks of continuous use.

This connector was always the difficult piece for us in developing countriesā€¦it has to be air tight in order to make the air-over-hydraulic function. ā€¦and, one side has to spin while the other is stationary.

All that said, it is one of my very favorite pump models if you have a steady flow of water somewhere, or if you have a way to cheaply spin the pump.
As I recall, the highest (vertically) I ever pumped with one of these was 31meters. It is a bit slow at that hieght. If you can get it (water) up to a plateau and run it flat for a couple hundred feet before dropping it off the other side of a hill, it will pump much more water as it will create a siphon, but it has to have enough volume in the flat pipe section to not empty the siphon before the next ā€œgulpā€ of water cycles around. That part is just a trial and error/ pipe size/distance experiment. I suppose this function makes it something of a double action pump system.

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Oh, also, I think that 31 meters was in some significant altitude in the Alto Beni, which tends to make pumping water somewhat easier usually. so that may change the numebrsā€¦

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I like the barrel idea but instead of using on coil of black piping use 4 coil separate pieces. Have th gulps at 4 quarters on the barrel to clumps are only out of the water at any one time. Every quart turn a new gulp into the water. For times as fast in one revolution.
Yes the spinning coupling on the end of the barrel that would last. Could be a problem.
Bob

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Do you think a rear main seal for the rotating seal would work? Not sure how much psi one could handle.

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