Hydraulic Ram pump

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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

Contents

Capacity

A hydraulic ram pump is powered by a body of water flowing downhill with a height difference. To pump a reasonable amount of water uphill to another location 200 metres away using the pump requires a 7-10 metre difference. When assessing suitability it is also important to differentiate between the actual height difference and the distance measured along the slope.

Movies

• Local Hydraulic Ram pump produced by AID Foundation, Philippines
• Installation of Hydraulic Ram pumps in Afghanistan by AID Foundation, Philippines
• Ram pump produced by R.A. Initiatives, Philippines

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External links

• | General explanation on wikipedia
• | Article on the AID Foundation hydraulic ram, winner of the Ashden Award in 2007
• | Several in-depth articles on the function and construction of hydraulic rams, including detailed drawings of a low-cost and tested design. Development Technology Unit (DTU), University of Warwick, UK
• | Low cost self made pump
• | another low tech pump design