Water Project Main Page
SIPHONING:
Ed Siebert, a friend of the school in the U.S., has done a bit of research on the possibility of using siphon action to move water to a place closer to the school. I (Hart) don't really understand how all this works…the most I know about siphoning is getting fuel into/out of a fuel tank! I understand the basic idea…but get lost in all the talk about atmospheric pressure, friction loss, etc.
But Ed has explained to me that water can theoretically be moved from the Lake to an elevation of about 25', either by siphoning or by way of an electrically powered suction pump to assist the siphoning. It could then be stored in a cistern, and pumped from that point up the hill.
This could, in theory, alleviate both security and power supply issues somewhat. All sounds somewhat “theoretical” (i.e. “iffy”) to me. But perhaps to engineering types it makes more sense.
At any rate, as I understand it, it would be at best a partial solution.
Here is some info Ed sent to me on the subject. It is written in a language I do not understand, but may perhaps be meaningful to you.
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Here are some approximate pressure heads in feet for various flows and pipe sizes (for 1/3 mile length).
flow 1" 1.5" 2" pipe diameter
1000gal/day 1.06 0.14 0.033 feet of pressure head
3000 9.57 1.25 0.299
5000 26.7 3.49 0.83
The pressure head for the desired flow gets subtracted from the height one can siphon. If you want the water to go up 25ft, clearly 1 inch pipe is out. (Note: two 1.5" pipes require about the same head as one 2" pipe).
Again the issue is siphoning so there is no pump or electric at the lake, versus having a pump and electric at the lake. If you are going to siphon, the question is the altitude above lake level of the pump station (or how deep a trench you have to dig at the top).
