The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-01-16

"''N' =
RUNNING TO FIXTURES "
a pump cannot be placed so that the limiting
suction lift will not be exceeded il is necessary
to lower the pump cylinder into the well. raising
the water from the cylinder To the spout by the
direct lift of the piston. Water can be pushed
more easily than ii can be pulled. hence. rather
tnan resort TO extreme suction lifts it is prefer
able to lower the cylinder to within Is feet or
less OF the supply. or still better 70 submerge Il
Where water is discharged against pressure n
force pump is necessary. A practical installa.
ton for the kitchen sink is a combined suct;op
and force pump which will be found a great a
Dor saver for the housewife.
Deep-WeIl Pumps.
Deep-well pumps are heavier and stronger than
those described above. They may be of the lift or
force type and the standard or working head is
always directly over the well. The cylinder
should be near (within Is feet) or else below
water level which pumping and drought may ere
ate. Submergencc is the preferable arrange.
ment. In all installations the size of the pumn-
ing cylinder must be determined from the size.
depth, and yielding power of the well, the GUAM
tity of water required, and the available powpr
Deep wells and hand or Windmill outfits tax"
small cylinders.
Pumping by means Of compressed air is very
old, but the systems used prior to 1909 required
the air supply to be turned on or shut off accord.
ing to whether or not the water was needed
Based on q patent granted in that year. a two
cylinder airdisplacement pump submerged in the
water supply and controlled by the opening and
closing Of the faucet, was devised. The essen
ia. parts of installation, besides such q rump
are an air compressor, storage tank, engine or mo-
tOr-with air and water pipes, and minor attach
ments. The pump operates only when water is
used, starting whenever a faucet is opened and
continuing until all faucets are closed.
The chief advantage of air-displacement pumps
Is that water may be taken from ordinary depth
or lateral distance, or from several sources. with
one power outfit and delivered direct from the
well to the faucet. The power plant may be
located wherever convenient and as many pumus
may be used as there are sources Of water. Beth
hard and soft water may be delivered by using
two pumps and the necessary piping systems.
Air-displacemen pumps are not adapted at pres
ent to lifts much over 125 feet or to wells 'css
than three inches in diameter, nor can they be
used where more water is required than the
well can supply within a specified period. Air
pipes and air-displaccment pumps must be tight
and remain tight in service, and working parts
must be kept in good order.
Horsepower Needed.
Water may be raised by hand. windmill, hy-
draulic rams, steam, hot air, gas, internal-cOm-
bustion engines, or electric motors. Hand power
Is unsuited to large supplies or high lifts. Wind
mills are probably the most familiar type Of me-
chanical power used, and often are arranged to
start and stop automatically. Gasoline and oil
engines are well adapted to farm pumping, AMI
may be equipped to stop at any desired pressure
in a supply tank. The use of electricity for
pumping Is increasing. The method Is clean.
quiet, and convenient, and starting or stopping a
distant pump by throwing a switch may be prac-
teal wherever transmission lines are sufficiently
near.
The theoretical horsepower needed to raise
water is found by multiplying the gallons pumped
in one minute by the total lift, In feet, including
friction in both suction and discharge pipes. and
then dividing the product by 1000. The horse
power, as computed, should be multiplied by from
two . four to overcome losses In pumping and
still allow for a reserve Of power. Ordinarily
one to two horsepower engines are sufficien: for
farm pumps, but it is always safest to determine
this point by computation.
An advantage to be derived from the well-in-
stalled farm water system often overlooked Is the
benefit 1t affords In the way Of fire prevention.
With relatively small expenditure, fixtures can be
added to a pipe system, which give ready access
to the water supply for fighting flames. In al
most every case a fire can be easily put OUT II
discovered at it's early stage. providing there %
fre-fghting apparatus near by, and all hands,
even the children, are taught and drilled to use
such apparatus coolly and s~killfully.