Pumping water from a downhill dam

Hi everyone!

I was hoping to hear some of your experience with pumping water from the lower levels of your land to higher ground.

I have a largeish dam (~3M litres) located on the bottom of our property. I want to pump water from there to the top area (~10m elevation difference and ~100m distance - the block is fairly flat) and store up there to be able to gravity feed any irrigation demands.

I’m hoping to find a good pumping solution. I was hoping for advise. Ideal world something reliable, long lasting, with minimal maintenance issues and environmental and economical wise.

Hoping some of you have some experience and ideas to share.

Thank you 😊

I am guessing that you would have mentioned if there was a running water source; which rules out ram pumps. They do work, but use a lot of water.

I have also had good success with using a solar pump. I have used a couple different types of DC diaphragm pumps with small ~100W solar arrays. The pumps run about 100 USD, and you should be able to get 100W panels for about the same. A linear current booster will get you a little more flow with partial sun, but at 130 dollars, I am not sure if it actually does enough good to justify the price. I am pumping over a distance of only about 70 meters, but I am fighting 20m of head. A little pump like that will move about 4 l/min for me, and since there are a lot of trees on my property I end up moving only about 1600 liters on a sunny day. With less head, flow should be higher.

This is the pump I am currently using:
https://www.amazon.com/ECO-WORTHY-Submersible-Alternative-Energy-Battery/dp/B015QRXWA6/ref=sr_1_6?crid=WMD4XQ8NMOVN&keywords=24v+submersible+pump&qid=1639031274&sprefix=24v+submer%2Caps%2C479&sr=8-6

but I have also used the ubiquitous diaphragm pumps that are common in RVs and ag sprayers. They do generally have a pressure cut-off switch, which is nice if you are pumping to a small-ish container up the hill. Just plumb it through a float valve, and when the tank is full the pressure will build up in the delivery line and shut off the pump down at the bottom.

As for dependability; the panels should last for decades, and my first pump ran for about 5 years before it stopped working reliably. I tore it apart, but could not really figure out what is wrong with it. They make rebuild kits, but it was going to be faster to just order a whole new pump.

Carl, that’s excellent. Thank you for sharing your experience.

You were right about the type of water, it’s not running water so I had to exclude the ram pump from my ideas.

I think the examples you gave would suit my necessities very well. I’ll investigate them more and I’ll let you know how I go.

Thank you again.

Carl, do you think the ECO WORTHY pump can operate with water that is not very clear? The dam water is murky, lots of silt in it, brown colour.

Cheers

Diaphragm pumps do not like dirty water if it has solids.
Would a petrol pump be acceptable, do you have electricity near the dam?
What volume of water do you want to move at a time?
I would run 2 inch polypipe with a non return valve near the pump to prevent backflow if I wanted to move a lot quickly.

John C Daley wrote:Diaphragm pumps do not like dirty water if it has solids.
Would a petrol pump be acceptable, do you have electricity near the dam?
What volume of water do you want to move at a time?
I would run 2 inch polypipe with a non return valve near the pump to prevent backflow if I wanted to move a lot quickly.

Hi John. Thank you for your insight.

The dam is not too far from the house so I think I’d be ok taking an electrical connection to a pump.

A petrol pump is not my most desirable option because of the noise and proximity to our house. Said that it would probably deliver a higher amount of water quicker so it would not be that much nuisance (job quickly done).

I’m not to worried about a high flow of water though. As it is for filling up a tank uphill, I wouldn’t mind something slow but steady.

I hope you have the dam more clear in the future. I need to sort the water intake to bring less solids to the dam so I can work on clarifying the water better.

Murky water should not be a problem for a diaphragm pump, but John is correct that they do not like anything solid being sucked in. I had one aspirate some pine needles once, which got jammed in the thin rubber valves. Its a bit of a chore to open them up, but not too bad. I had one of this sytle for a long time:

https://www.amazon.com/Diaphragm-Priming-Gallons-Marine-Demand/dp/B00P8BE6S8/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=12v+diaphragm+pump&qid=1639180524&sr=8-7

I pumped plenty of murky pond water with it.

You can (and should) put a fine metal screen on the intake side, which if you are pumping water with a lot algae and and crud in it, might need to be cleaned off every now and then. You could also run it through an inline filter of some sort so you didnt have to jump into the pond every time the screen needed to be cleaned. The submersible pump I showed you does have a screen, but it would be more of a hassle to clean out if the pump was out in a pond.


They do make both style of pumps in 120v AC, I suspect you could find them in 220v, or whatever your local standard is.

12 V and 24 V dc pumps are also available.
This statement is confusing, can you clarify it please?

I hope you have the dam more clear in the future. I need to sort the water intake to bring less solids to the dam so I can work on clarifying the water better.

- Dam may be lined with solvable clay, it may never clear.
- top soil spread around the dam may stop clay 'melting'
- if the intake is suspended so it does not touch the bottom, nor skim the surface water in, solids should not be an issue.
Also with this one

The dam is not too far from the house so I think I’d be ok taking an electrical connection to a pump.

Do you have a unit of measure for 'not to far' ?
What size tank above the house do you envisage, a days supply or a months supply?

Hi John,

The dam is filled by runoff water which comes from the paved road and cross a open channel to arrive at the dam then. This channel is not properly designed for the amount of water and its impact. The channel is releasing soil material to the dam. I believe that’s the main source of silt. Until I fix the intake the silt problem will persist.

Regarding the distance between the dam and the closest power connection (from our house) it’s not more than 50m away. That’s what I meant as not far.

The tank will be used for irrigation in the near future and later for livestock. Possibly a 10000l tank at the end but I might start with something 2nd hand much smaller as we don’t need much to start with (for supply rates as you asked, they will therefore vary along the way).

The water for the house is independent, comes from rainwater and is stored in different tanks.

Hope that clarifies 😊

You have been very helpful.
Thank you so much for all the information, extremely valuable.
Cheers

I agree with Gabriel, this thread is a goldmine of knowledge. Thanks to all that have participated so far!

Gabriel, could you create a silt trap prior to the dam, a small rock wall, a filter bed, widen the channel so the water slows down?

John C Daley wrote:Gabriel, could you create a silt trap prior to the dam, a small rock wall, a filter bed, widen the channel so the water slows down?

John, I got a bit of plan in my mind.

The road runoff is our council responsibility. It’s a good source of water for us because it fills the dam every winter. However, the amount impact the land degrading, eroding, etc the channel. I’m trying to get the council to improve the situation adding:

1. Add a sump between road and channel so the turbulence decreases at the start and any particulate already there might be trapped.

2. Either layer the channel with geotextile+gravel or grow some ground cover on it to protect the channel and filter the water along the way.

3. Add a gravel pit/reed bed at the end of the channel and the entrance to the dam. Hoping to add a final filtration stage there and capture anything which might be still present.

It’s not a complex project but costly for us only. I’m trying to get some covered by the council, trying to convince them they need to help as we’ve been impacted.

Let’s see 😊

You need to be careful dealing with councils. They dont like costs.
Have they made recent changes to the channel?
If they have then the opportunity to talk and get a result will be higher.
Even if you agree to do something with them.

John C Daley wrote:You need to be careful dealing with councils. They dont like costs.
Have they made recent changes to the channel?
If they have then the opportunity to talk and get a result will be higher.
Even if you agree to do something with them.

Thank you for the advice. 😃

My bargaining is the road runoff is not in my land title. I could in theory just cover the channel and the council would have to look for an  alternative. Furthermore, once my dam is full it spills over some neighbour who don’t feel particularly happy but know is the excessive amount of water from the council’s road.

The council is willing to repair the channel and redirect part of the water flow out of it to other draining points along the road.

The issue is being happening for a while mostly affecting our neighbours. We are new in the area but the neighbours have been quite understanding and we became friends.

The water runoff is a benefit as it serves as recharge for the dam. Just need to be better managed and hopefully we get a better quality water, less impact into our land and no impact to our neighbours. We are working on that. I’m confident we’ll improve that.

👍

Its looking good then.
I have a similar situation where I have the water filling a dam, I maintain the 50 ft channel just so there are no hassles with anybody.