Waterer question???

[LRAF]

Has anyone ever installed a waterer using gravity flow from a creek? I'd like to move mine out of the creek due to the banks caving in and it is right beside a road. Any ideas on design?

 

[SteppedInIt]

Assuming there is flow in the creek, you might look into using a ram pump.

 

[Lucky_P]

Gravity-flow would indicate that the water level in the creek is above that of the pasture where you'd need the waterer. Is that the case? Been doing gravity-flow from upland ponds for 15 years here, but not from the creek.

Ram pumps are a possibility. Also look into 'nose pumps' and 'sling pumps' - like this one, I wanted to try:
http://www.riferam.com/river/index.php
But... I'm pretty sure that the flash floods we get so frequently would have washed a hundred of them downstream over the years....

 

[Dave]

I have one pasture with a siphon that runs down hill to a 600 gallon trough. Once I start it in the spring it keeps the trough full all summer. I have another place with nose pumps out of a creek. They need to be watched closer because if something stops working you are out of water right now. But they do work and the cows learn very quickly to pump their own water. I have another pasture where put 600 feet of 1 inch plastic pipe up a stream and into a culvert in a small stream. I ran it down stream far enough that the pipe was lower than the intake point. Then I laid the pipe up out of the channel and through some trees to a trough in another field. The trough has an over flow line because this water runs 24/7. The biggest problem I have had is things wanting to plug the line. I ended up necking it up to a 2 inch pipe at the intake end and putting a screen over the end.
Ram pumps work on fall. You need at least 2 feet of drop from the water source to the pump to make it work. Sling pumps work on currant. So a short riffle where the water speeds up will make one of them work. But they are actually out in the water so they are susceptible to damage from flooding. On a bigger stream where people might be floating down the sling pump is out in the open and could be stolen or vandalized.

 

[greybeard]

http://www.riferam.com/images/RPPhoto.JPG
If any of these rednecks around here saw that in the river they'd call the sheriff saying the Russians or a UFO had landed......

 

[Lucky_P]

I've got close to a mile of black plastic water line running to 9 (need to put in 3 more) tire tank waterers, gravity-flow fed(siphoning, for all intents) out of an upland pond. probably anywhere from 40-60 ft of drop from the pond to where the waterers are. 1.25" pipe running down through the woods to the top of the pasture, necking down to 3/4" for most of the runs out/down to the tanks.