The O.G.

s
Hydraulic Ram Pump

GEEN 1400-020

Adam Lightman
Mark Gerber
Noah Young
Collin Foster
Garret Belden
Abstract
The availability of water in third world communities is a growing problem. Many of
these communities are located near lakes or rivers, but have no way of transporting the water
effectively to the people who need it. One solution to this is the hydraulic ram pump. Our team
embarked on a mission to build such a device. The ram pump uses the energy of moving water
to do work, pumping water from rivers and lakes to elevations much greater then the source.
These pumps can easily provide the water that third world communities need allowing for major
growth and development.

Challenge Statement
Our vision is that a third world community would implement our ram pump and use it to
provide itself with much needed water. Hopefully, the continuous availability of water will
stimulate the community allowing it to grow and develop beyond what was previously capable.

Engineering Analysis
The hydraulic ram pump is designed to take water in from a source a certain elevation
above it, utilize the mechanical energy of the water during the fall, and pump the water out to a
much higher elevation. The purpose of our project is to see if we can create a functioning ram
pump capable of pumping 100 gallons of water per day to a height at least twice that of the
distance from the source to the pump. We wanted to make the pump as practical as possible,
using materials that are easily accessible to developing communities. We also wanted a pump
that was easy to manage and capable of being fixed by a local to the community.

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Design Requirements
After researching the capabilities of ram pumps we were able to come up with realistic
goals for our ram pump to meet. Our design requirements are as follows:

Functional Requirements
Provide enough water for a community of 60 people
Durable and long lasting, requires little maintenance
Easy to fix and maintain by locals

Qualitative Requirements
Clean - No contamination contribution

Quantitative Requirements
100 gallons / day
(10 cups / person + 1 gallons / person for cooking and hygiene)

Final Design Description

Our final design is a success. The dimensions are efficient, and the valves work
flawlessly. To understand how the pump goes together, well start at the top. The inlet pipe
(1.1), which connects the river / water source to the pump, is a 10 foot long PVC pipe with a one
inch inner diameter. This pipe connects to the
body of the pump which is a system of connected
parts. There are two main parts, the waste valve
(1.2) and the outlet valve (1.3), that comprises the
system. These two parts are connected with small
segments (length is irrelevant) of one inch inner
diameter PVC pipe. When the pump is running,
water flows through the waste valve (1.2). Once
the water has picked up speed, the waste valve
shuts. With momentum behind the water, the water
needs somewhere to go. At this point, the outlet
valve (1.3) opens, and water exits into the air
Figure 1
chamber (1.4) and out the outlet pipe (1.5).

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 Before we go into detail about how the valves work, lets do a quick Physics refreshment
course. There are two main Physics concepts going on here. The first is momentum and
impulse. When an object is moving at some velocity, v, it has a momentum equal to its mass
times its velocity, m * v . In our system, when the waste valve closes, the velocity of the water
goes quickly to zero. This change in velocity causes a change in momentum equal to m * v . If
you divide the change in momentum, also known as impulse, by the amount of time that has
v
elapsed during the change in momentum, you get: impulse/time = m * . By definition,
t
v
acceleration(a) = . Noting that force = m*a, impulse / time equals a force. This force is a
t
constant that can be used to determine the amount of work that con be done on the system. The
second concept being used is the conservation of mechanical energy. During any type of
physical interaction, the energy of the system remains constant. The only type of energy that is
applicable here is mechanical energy. Mechanical energy is defined as the sum of kinetic energy
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and potential energy. Kinetic energy is equal to * m * v 2 ; and potential energy is equal to
2
* g * h , where is the density of water (1 g/cm3), g is the acceleration due to gravity
(9.81 m / s 2 ), and h is the height the water is being pumped to. To find the theoretical maximum
height the pump can pump to, the final mechanical energy should be all potential energy and no
1
* m * vi + * g * hi = * g * h f and solve for
2
kinetic energy. Therefore we take the equation
2
1
* g * hi + * m * vi 2
the final height: h f = 2 .
*g
Now that we know why the concept of the pump
works, we can go into detail about the two valves. The outlet
valve, also known as a swing valve, (2, and 1.3) is simple, it
is just a tube with a door on a hinge that can swing freely.
This door is blocked in the middle so that it can only swing in Figure 2

one direction. We placed the valve so that the back pressure from the water in the outlet pipe
will keep the valve closed. When the waste valve closes and causes the impulse, the pressure
inside the body of the pump increases, opening this outlet valve. Then, when equilibrium is

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reached, the valve closes and runs another cycle. The second valve,
the waste valve (1.2, and 4), is a little more complicated. When we
were designing the pump, this valve was the toughest part. It is
fairly well documented how every aspect of a ram pump works,
except the waste valve. We knew we wanted a valve that would
normally be open but close whenever the water flowing through it Figure 3

reached a certain velocity. We drew up a few different concepts, but figure 3 is the closest to our
final product (4). Initially we thought we would have to machine the valve from scratch; but
after a trip to a hardware store, we realized we could buy a
standard check valve and modify it. The store bought valve
was meant to open with enough pressure, but we wanted it to do
the opposite. So, we machined a valve guide and added a
stronger spring to position 2 (4) and a weaker spring to position 1
(4). The valve guide is simply an aluminum barrel that the
Figure 4
stoppers rod slides through. This guide keeps the stopper from
swaying from side to side and prevents jamming. With the dual spring configuration, it is much
easier to adjust the valve, and it gives added stability to the stopper.
With an understanding of the Physics principles and an idea of how the valves work, now
lets look at the big picture. First, water enters through the inlet pipe and exits through the waste
valve. As it moves through the waste valve it builds up speed / momentum / kinetic energy.
When the water gets going fast enough, it pushes the plunger on the waste valve closed. The
moment the waste valve closes, the water creates an impulse and pushes up through the one way
valve and out towards its destination. Once this built up pressure is released, the one way valve
closes and the waste valve opens, starting a new cycle.

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Parts List
All of the parts we used to build the ram pump were purchased at McGuckin Hardware in
Boulder. The following list shows each of the parts that we used and their prices.
15ft 1 in. ID PVC
o $6.17
45 1 in. ID PVC elbow (2)
o $1.82
15 in. 3 in. ID PVC
o $8.45
3 in. End cap
o $2.37
3 in. to 1 in. reducer
o $2.75
1 in. ID T-joints (2)
o $3.65
5 gal. Water Jug
o $16.54
Hose Clamps (2)
o $1.67
Nipple in.
o $1.82
Nipple 2 in.
o $2.67
2 in. to 1 in. reducer
o $1.89
6 in. 2 in. ID flex hose
o $0.74
1 way valve
o $9.67
Spring Popper Valve
o $14.99
Threaded 1 in. coupler (3)
o $5.12

The total cost for our ram pump was $80.43.

Project Evaluation
Our project went above and beyond most of our original expectations. At first, we
thought about eighty percent of the water would be wasted while flowing out of the system,
when actually 60% of the water was wasted and 40% was pumped to the desired height. Also
the rate at which the water was pumped greatly exceeded our goals. As it turned out, we could

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not only have supplied water to support a family, but we could supply enough water to support a
small village of about sixty people. This supplied water includes water for drinking, bathing, and
cooking. The expectations we had for pumping height was almost exactly matched. Our initial
goal was to pump water to a height twice that of the initial source. In our case this would be 20ft
from our 10ft source. Our 10ft source ended up pumping to a height of 22.5ft with water
constantly flowing out of the hose.

Recommendations
Our project could be altered to maximize flow and output for a given situation. First, it is
best to pump to or near the maximum pumping height. This is because the rate of output flow is
inversely related to the amount of water that flows out of the system and the maximum pumping
height is directly related to the amount of wasted water. This means that at a maximum pumping
height, the water flow will be the same at any other allowable pumping height. So, in order to
get the maximum allowable flow and the least amount of wasted water, the outlet should be at
the maximum pumping height. The valve that regulates how much water flows out of the system
can be regulated and adjusted accordingly. This valve regulates the entire system: the output
height, the wasted output that flows through the system, and the rate at which the water flows
through the system. Adjusting the length of this valve along with the constant of the spring will
adjust the flow and maximum output height. When the correct adjustments have been made, the
system will be able to achieve the correct height and maximum output flow for any input and
output heights.
Also, our project was tested on an unnatural situation. We had to test our project using
5gal water jugs as our source when in the real world this system would be tested on an infinite
source such as a lake, pond, or river. Having this almost constant input height, the system could
be adjusted accordingly to achieve the maximum values of output and flow much more precisely.

Users Guide (attached)