I was wondering what sort of pressure I can get from a syphon from the bore hole and whether a ram pump would be suitable for pumping water to the top of my land.
I built a quick test rig using 25ml pipe to syphon water from the bore hole down the hill, through a ball valve just for convenience, I added a 500ml pop bottle and swing a check valve to simulate the core of a ram pump and see what pressure I can get out of it.
I measured about 4psi with the swing valve closed and water standing still in the pipe. This means the rig is about 2.8 meters lower then the level of water in the bore hole.
I opened the swing valve and let the water flow, it got up enough momentum to lift the valve flap and slam it shut, when this happened I measured a peak spike of somewhere between 20-30psi. The spike was too quick to really measure accurately, but was high enough to make me happy! I'll order a one way valve so I can keep the pressure in the bottle for a better measurement and will also allow me to add an output pipe to deliver the water up the hill.
