Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ron, didn't look at windmill solution (yet). There is not enough consistent wind to be considered, but.....I will start looking on a daily basis with more attention to see if it still might be an viable solution. How much wind one need to make that pump running at a reasonable rate (say about 5m3 a day?)?

Anyhow, the wind did not really drew my attention up till now. Thanks for bringing it in, though!

I have not looked super close at the wind requirements, but they are supposed to need less wind than electric wind generators. Plus you are not converting between kinetic to electric to kinetic energy. It is all kinetic, and a mature technology. It's efficiency is supposed to be pretty high.

But and a big but,we don’t have enough wind to drive a windmill,if we did there would be more throughout the country.

Yea, before investing in one, I would pick up a weather station that logs wind data, and use that info to see if it is viable. Then if not, hey at least you have a cool weather station!

If you have a big enough tank you can use intermittent wind to fill it during windy periods.

you would have to work out if it was worthwhile or not.

You could always rent the wife she seems to have intermittent wind….

Meaning?

Flatulence,was meant to be humorous …...

And for that you want to rent your wife out? Is it enough to be used for air lifting? Does she needs large quantities of onions or other feed to have the "air" flowing? Any stats on average pressure and flow?

I think that if the system is designed for use of air lifts it might be more economical to run than a system with separate water and air pumps. Increasing the efficiency of the air lifts will probably enhance that effect. After all, circulating the water doesn't have to be with a large head. Exaggerated, circulation could be done through all tanks and beds with less than 150mm difference in levels. At least, that's where I am in thinking about the optimal layout.

It looks like this area would not be really suitable to use wind power. Solar is much, much more efficient here. So back to finding the most efficient way to pump up the well water.

Some days ago I run into this video about a lamp that runs of energy created by gravity, see for more about it http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gravi ... -countries

It sparked my imagination and thought "maybe gravity can be used to store energy for a later moment or regain a part of the energy used for pumping or other applications." I'll try to describe what I came up with.

Let's assume a 2,000 liter water tank on a platform or the like attached to a 5 meter high tower. The construction contains a similar gear system as the old fashioned standing clocks with weights. On the day, solar energy is used to pump water into the tank at 5 meter high. At night the weight of the full tank is enough to slowly go down while driving an electrical generator with the help of the gear system and thus using the energy stored in the water (if you can put it that way) during the night.
When the tank reaches the ground, it automatically drains into a cistern releasing the weight of the water. A counter weight is now able to lift the empty tank back to 5 meter and the process can repeat itself.

I wonder if this way it is possible to, at least, regain some of the energy used for pumping the water up from the well, while getting the cistern filled and use the energy overnight for other purposes (lighting, AP pumps etc.).

Anybody any constructive ideas about this? Or a very well fundamentally under build 'won't work'?

Too bad about the wind. Such is life. You have a substantial array, so you should be fine. Well pumps are pretty common. I am sure that with a little research, you can pick out the most efficient one.
As far as the gravity generation, from a pure energy usage point of view, it is more efficient to just not pump the water as high. That being said, I think that in massively vertical systems, it is probably going to be necessary.

Are you shitting me, Ron? In a massively vertical system it is probably necessary to pump that high? C'mon bro, you can do way better than that.

I meant that gravity generation is the only way I could see a massively vertical system work. Even then, it still is not as efficient as reducing head heights.