Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nice looking drawing there Janet. That has cleared a lot of cluds for me.

More fun! I couldn't stand it anymore, and put the pump in the tank with a length of tubing so I could blow some air into it. Based on preliminary tests, I'm able to raise water about 1 meter off the bottom of the tank! The riser is a bit shorter than that, and I get spurts of water out the top.

The pictures show all. The tall riser is 3/4 inch (18mm) ID, and is 36 inches (915mm) tall. The outer bell is 3 inch (75mm) ID and about 5.5 inches (140 mm) tall. The inner bell is 1.5 inch (40mm) ID and about 2.5 inches (60mm) tall. The hole in the side of the riser is just a wedge cut, almost half way through the riser.

I'm not attempting actions shots until I get a real air pump. (Just in case you were thinking of asking.) I do have concerns that insufficient air flow would allow air to escape slowly rather than explosively as is needed.

That looks nice and simple now it is just time to try it out and see if it "sucks" or not

Janet, I did the same thing to test my unit I built. It was exactly the same in design, and I fiddled around with many variations and dimensions.
I discovered that blowing air into it with your mouth and using a consitent flow from an air pump created very different results in the amount of water pumped and the height. My only thought was I needed a higher output airpump to create a more explosive effect.

I remain unconvinced that we have recreated the geyser pump with consistent results, though I do look forward to being proven wrong.

Janet, blowing is not considered the AP way - like your "plunger" tho, have something similar on the workbench (araldite in drying mode )

Now you've shown me yours - I will show you mine (as soon as the glue sets )

Oi This could get ugly!!!!!

Does it lift sludge or solids? I'm going to see if I can implement simmo's venturi tomorrow and see if it will lift the watering wand off the bottom of my tank

Suppose it will depend on the weight, haven't got a clue actually - but will post the results after tests (AP style )

OK, I tested with the unit as above with a real air pump. The water spurted about every 2-4 seconds, and came to just over the top of the riser. Flow was inconsistent; sometimes it was 2 seconds between spurts and sometimes it was 4. It may be that there were mini-spurts that didn't make it to the top of the riser. I have decided that there is too much space between the tops of the inner and outer bells, and maybe too much air volume for the depth that I'm working at. I cut the outer bell a bit shorter and have re-glued. I also want better height, so I cut the riser shorter so that it ends at the water's surface. I am going to attach a smaller diameter tube to continue the rise. So now we wait for the glue to dry.

C'mon you guys, get faster drying glue!

Janet would it help to cut another opening on the outer bell? Maybe you're getting more air than water. Just a s thought.

Hi DT,
I'll keep that idea in my bag of tricks. The changes I made should help re-balance the air/water ratio, too. We'll see how it goes.

Faster-drying glue...well, I have some, but epoxy is so tough to un-do if you're wrong.

Must test mine later on

Ok, the simmo(John Simmons, cricketer, farmer, inventor syphon works a treat. Total cost $1.1. I'm using a B-ings std issue caulking nozzle cut to about 4mm dia on the end, using about 3m of head through the nozzle (from main pump) pushed into a 19mm tee. The nozzle doesn't fit flush in the tee, but it does fit flush inside the 19mm pipe. I estimate that I'm getting 4L of tank for each 1L of nozzle (timing the filling of a bottle) with a huge reduction in head. But the tee could be put near the bottom of the tank (I used a long piece of 19mm with a gal elbow on the end for an intake) and would handle most solids. You might use the mains to drive the venturi (45m head). Fine tuning the nozzle diameter and sealing things better would no doubt improve efficiency.

If you instead run the tee with air you get a lovely foam, might be the basis of a tromp style air compressor or protein skimmer.

Am I only allowed three photos?

njh, I might be picturing what you are doing incorrectly, is this basically the setup?

ps been in pre-chrissie party mode and no testing done on mine as yet