Does any one know?

Question

Approx. 30 yrs. ago, while traveling cross country (USA) I'd picked up 2 days work for this farmer in a small central TX. town. I can't for the life of me remember his name, but the town was San Gabriel. What he did, I do remember- He had showed me how to setup and use a self-operating pump, to pump water from this creek, to irrigate his fields and keep his pond filled. The thing is- this pumps power came from the running of the water only. Has anyone info on this type of pump? I have a small version duplicated.

Answer 1

That's pretty cool, though it doesn't defy any law. Did a little research (Googled "water-powered water pump") and came up with this. Hope it helps.
http://journeytoforever.org/at_waterpump.html

Answer 2

I've seen them. An undershot water wheel with buckets on the wheel that catch water and carry it up. At the top of the rotation, there is a tipper mechanism which dumps the water into a chute and it runs by gravity into the irrigation network. The side of the wheel that is lifting the water is heavier, but as long as there is a sufficient flow, it should continue to lift it.

If the flow is cut off (drop a gate in the sluice from the millpond or river) the side with the full buckets will rotate backward and dump them out (like one of those old perpetual motion machines that never worked.) There might be a ratchet mechanism installed to prevent that, I guess. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

there are several ways to harness water power to pump water

all you need is water and a change in elevation

water wheels powered by flowing water used to be used for all kinds of work including grinding mills and saw mills

Answer 4

I don't know the name of it, but I worked with similar pumps that were pumping nuclear waste out of a river.

Answer 5

Are you describing siphoning?