With project goals in hand for implementation in May 2001, the team set off to give water to the people. The ram-pump runs without electricity by a concept known as the water hammer effect. Running without electrical or mechanical input from an outside source, it is able to drive water to heights well above its source. Ram-pumps can be built for extreme durability and maintainability, which is a necessity for third world installation. Wherever a fall of water can be obtained, the ram pump system can be used as a comparatively inexpensive, simple and reliable means of raising water to considerable heights.
Water flows down a pipe and into the ram-pump from a source above the pump.
This water then flows out the pump's clacker valve. The clacker valve closes as the velocity of the flowing water becomes great enough to create a sufficient pressure difference between the top and bottom of the valve. This is known as the Bernoulli effect. The moment the valve closes, it creates the water hammer effect resulting in a pressure wave. This pressure wave propagates in both directions from the clacker valve.