How to Elevate Water from Rivers

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To your correspondent from St. Paul's, Minnesota, who lives on the east bank of the Mississippi, on an elevation of about 100 feet above the river, I would just say, for his benefit and all others like situated, that I live at Ossipee Centre, N. H. , on the east bank of the Danhole river, on an elevation of 90 feet and distant 300 feet from it, and after spending some $150 in trying to get a well, but without success, and thus being driven, from the necessity of the case, to study out some plan for raising water from the river; after several e'JH' forts on a small scale, I put the plan which 1 deemed best in successful operation. For almost four years it has supplied all our village on the east side of the river with water, forcing up 120 gallons per hour. I will describe it in as few words as possible: first, I laid un der ground, from my house to the river, wrought-iron pipe of one inch bore (lead pipe of any reasonable thickness will not bear the pressure) ; I then' connected with the pipe a small copper force pump, 11 inches long and 2 3-4 inches bore, and in said coupling I set a piece of pipe upright, of two feet long, with an air chamber of cast- iron of about five gallons' capacity, in orcl1'lr to ease the force of the pump against the downward pressure of the water in the pipe. I then commenced a penstock on the bank of the river, several rods up, and thereby obtained a fall of 3 feet, to which attached a wheel 3 feet long by 3 feet diameter, with a 4 inch crank, which gives 8 inch stroke on the pump, and forces up the quantity of water above stated without further trouble. JOHN MOULTON.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 13This article was published with the title “How to Elevate Water from Rivers” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 13 (), p. 99
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican12111852-99a

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