Movement of water

The pumping of water is a basic and practical technique, far more practical than scooping it up with one's hands or lifting it in a hand-held bucket. This is true whether the water is drawn from a fresh source, moved to a needed location, purified, or used for irrigation, washing, or sewage treatment, or for evacuating water from an undesirable location. Regardless of the outcome, the energy required to pump water is an extremely demanding component of water consumption. All other processes depend or benefit either from water descending from a higher elevation or some pressurized plumbing system.

The ancient concept of the aqueduct took simple and eloquent advantage of maintaining elevation of water for as long and far a distance as possible. Thus, as water moves over great distances, it retains a larger component of its potential energy by spending small portions of this energy flowing down a slight gradation. A useful aqueduct system ultimately depends on a fresh water source existing at a higher elevation than the location where the water can be of use. Gravity does all the work. In all other instances, pumps are necessary.

In day-to-day situations, available water is often contaminated, unhealthy, or even naturally poisonous, so that it is necessary to pump potable water from lower levels to higher levels, where it can be of use. A fresh water source in a lower stream, river, pond, or lake is often pumped to higher ground for irrigation, livestock, cooking, cleaning or other uses by humans, who quite naturally need fresh water.

Coil pump

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A coil pump is a low lift pump which is composed of a tube, shaped as a coil and mounted on a rotating axle powered by an engine or an animal capable of turning the axle around rapidly. Due to the rotation, water is then picked up by the tube and pumped upwards in the hose. The coil pump, as many low lift pumps, is commonly used for irrigation purposes and for drainage of lands. It is currently still used by farmers in Asia.[1]

The coil pump was built as an alternative to the Archimedean screw. Unlike the Archimedean screw, it can run horizontally while the Archimedean screw is tilted at about 30°. The coil pump, if fitted with a suitable rotating seal, can deliver water to a greater height, typically 5-10m, above their discharge opening.[2] Despite the emergence of new pumps that operate on other principles, the coil pump remains an important tool as some of it other benefits are that they can be built and repaired easily at a very low cost. This is possible as all the components can be built from local resources such as metal, which can be obtained and cast into the desired form easily.

However, as mentioned before, the pump only allows the lifting of water over a small height. This limitation makes it unsuitable for water drainage or irrigation over larger height differences or many other pumping applications besides drainage and irrigation.

Spiral pump

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A spiral pump, sometimes called a Wirtz pump, is a low lift pump which is composed of a long piece of metal plating, which is wound into a coil and sealed at the top and back extremities so as to resemble a cylinder. The outer cavity serves as the inlet, while the inner (partial) tube serves as the outlet. A coiled plastic tube will suffice for this arrangement. The outlet pipe is fixed to a water wheel, engine or animal which is capable of rotating the pump quickly. Due to this rotation, water is picked up by the outer cavity and pumped upwards in the hose.

Applications

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The spiral pump, as many low lift pumps, is commonly used for irrigation purposes and for drainage of lands. Based on the same principle as the Archimedean screw, it consists of a rotating tube or plane (screw) to move a liquid. Unlike the Archimedean screw, it can pump while horizontal. The Archimedean screw must be tilted at an angle. The spiral pump, if fitted with a suitable rotating seal, can deliver water to a greater height than the coil pump, typically 5-10m, above their discharge opening. Its main drawback is that the output is small - an output proportional to the volume of the largest coil being moved each revolution.[3] Despite the emergence of new pumps that operate on other principles, the spiral pump remains an important tool as it can be built and repaired easily at a very low cost. This is possible as all the components can be built from local resources such as sheet metal bent into the desired form with or without machine tools.

Origins

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The Zürich pewterer Andreas Wirtz invented the pump in 1746. The first published description and mechanical analysis was written by JH Ziegler twenty years later, in 1766, with Wirtz' consent.[4] Wirtz' original pump was powered by a stream wheel in the Limmat river, to raise water for a dye house.[5][6][7]

See also

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References

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Published on

The More You Know: The History of Water Pumps

Nowadays in New York City, we take for granted the many pumps that transport water for drinking, washing, cleaning, and industrial applications. But the history of the water pump as we know it is relatively short, with many innovations occurring in the recent past. Here’s a brief history of water pumps, an invention without which modern society would be totally different.

Precursors to the Water Pump

Not-quite-pumps to move water

Early civilizations knew water was vital for survival, but transporting this precious liquid posed many challenges. Man created several early devices before the formal development of the pump in an attempt to make water easier to obtain.

For example, Mesopotamians living in what is now Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey invented a type of lever that was used on river and stream banks. It looked similar to a see-saw. On one end was a bucket, and on the other, a counterweight. When someone operated the lever, the bucket would dip into the source to fetch water, and the counterweight on the other side of the lever would pull the bucket out once it was full.

The Ancient Egyptians had a similar mechanism called a shadoof, which they used at the edge of the Nile River. While it was more of a well-type bucket system, it wasn’t quite a pump… yet.

Ancient Greece and the Archimedes Screw

The first true pump

The first real pump in known history was invented by the Ancient Greeks around 200 BC. The famous mathematician Archimedes came up with a device that changed the world as we know it now: the screw pump. Historians believe the invention came out of a need to remove bilge water from The Syracusia, a naval warship that also transported goods and provided luxury travel for a select few.

A revolving screw-shaped blade inside a large cylinder was cranked by hand. It transferred water from low levels to higher ones as the screw turned. Not only could this type of rudimentary pump transport liquid, but it was also soon used to move grain and coal.

The force pump

Ctesibius, a Greek inventor and mathematician living in Alexandria, Egypt around the same time as Archimedes, is credited with creating another type of early pump that was equally innovative. Also a hand-operated device, it used two cylinders to pull water upwards using pressure in what is probably the first piston-type pump ever seen. In fact, it was even more efficient than a piston pump because the two cylinders alternated their up-and-down movement, meaning the transport of water was continuous. There was no break in between each stroke like there is with a single-piston pump.

Rebirth of the Pump After the Dark Ages

Many innovations after regression

After the fall of the Roman Empire, innovation in science and mathematics ceased and even regressed during the Dark Ages (AKA Middle Ages or Medieval Period). It wasn’t until the Enlightenment of the 18th century that pumps as we know them began to see real development.

However, before that, inventors made steps toward modern pump technology:

• 1475 – Italian engineer Francesco di Georgio likely created the first idea of a centrifugal pump (see below) in his drawings.
• 1588 – Another Italian engineer, Agustino Ramelli, described a sliding vane water pump in his book of inventions.
• 1593 – An early gear pump was developed by Frenchman Nicolas Grollier de Servière.
• 1636 – Pappenheim invented the first rotary gear pump.
• 1650 – Otto von Guericke created the piston vacuum pump, notable for using leather washers to prevent leakage.
• 1675 – Englishman Sir Samuel Moreland patented the packed plunger pump.
• 1687 – Denis Papin, born in France, built the first real centrifugal pump using centrifugal force and a vane mechanism to move water at rapid speeds.
• 1738 – Daniel Bernoulli’s famous equation for fluid mechanics was derived.
• 1792 – James Watt, known for steam engine innovation, invented an oscillating piston machine.
• 1790 – Steam power was first used to drive pumps.
• 1845 – The first steam-pumping engine was used to power boats.
• 1849 – The first all-metal pump was built.
• 1851 – The curved vane centrifugal pump was introduced by John Appold of Great Britain.
• 1859 – The diaphragm pump was invented.

Curious about early pump use in New York City? The first pump ever used in the city was installed in a well built in front of the fort at Bowling Green, near what is now Battery Park. Used in the early days of the British occupation of New York after they seized it from the Dutch, the well pump provided water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning to residents of the area. Interestingly, it was a love of tea, brought to the colonies via Dutch importation, that largely drove the search for water in those early days.

Modern Pump Technology

Types of water pumps in use today

Over the next one hundred years following the American Civil War, pump technology continued to evolve, primarily refining existing types of pumps to meet the needs of growing cities with skyscrapers and the innovations born of the Industrial Revolution. Rather than being hand-cranked or steam-powered, pumps began to be driven by hydraulics, coal, and eventually, electricity.

Many of the earliest pump types are still in use today, albeit in more sophisticated forms. Archimedes’ screw pump was developed into the spiral pump, which is used for irrigation and land drainage. Because the mechanics are simple, repairs are easy, even in poverty-stricken areas, which makes its wide-scale use feasible. Likewise, the sliding vane and gear pumps are quite popular. They are used less for moving water than for petroleum and other fluids with viscosities different from that of water.

Of course, you’ve probably seen piston pumps in action today. And the centrifugal pump is perhaps the most common of all. It’s present in many New York City buildings, moving tap water and feeding boilers to keep the city going.

Even Modern Pumps Need Maintenance and Repair

Call Antler Pumps

Although modern pumps have come a long way since the days of Archimedes, they still need care. Regular maintenance and repair can extend the life of your pumps and help prevent problems with corrosion, clogging, and other results of wear and tear.

Don’t wait until you have a pump failure that disrupts your property. Call Antler Pumps at 212-534-2500, or use our online message form to set up an appointment today. We are experts at pump installation, repair, and servicing, and we’ll make sure your pumps get the attention they need.

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