A couple of years ago I built two ram pumps and installed them in the stream near my house. They pumped water for the garden for a few months during spring and summer. I'm okay with the fact that the pumps are just useful during part of the year, but didn't really like damming up the entire stream for my installation, seemed rude towards wildlife.
So this year I returned with a longer tube and just took the water from further upstream. I have only about 70cm head. I haven't really measured the height I'm getting, but it's more than the first year and enough for what I want to do.
My installation in the stream is very simple: fence post hammered/wedged into the stream bed, pump tied to it with wire. Everything wobbles a tiny bit. Might return and solidify that later, but I love it when stuff is so simple that I can just throw it into the stream and it works. After a while of pumping by hand it just runs. Variations in water height might stop it as it sits low in the water. Will report back tomorrow.
This is for a reservoir IBC and washing tank outside the kitchen. I'm thinking about adding a solar heating panel in there as well.
The image is of a smaller kid-sized pump that I want to turn into a demonstration model to take to markets and fairs.
I am by no means an expert on ram pumps, but I would guess no. The impulse valve and the air-chamber are the more likely places for optimisation.
I have really only had a look at them out of personal interest because they are relatively common in the area I worked during the disaster relief after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. To my knowledge the ones I have seen were based on the design found in this classic manual.
Oh there's a lot of info in this that I didn't have, thanks for sharing!
I don't think anybody knows them around here. I showed mine to my neighbour and explained her that it doesn't use electricity or fuel and she looked quite impressed. The mountain areas here with water running from every hill are just ideal grounds for the rams. I'm still trying to figure out how they could be not just used for gardening, but wisely integrated into fire prevention. I know I can't just water an area indiscriminately with a ram pump - the pump works till July or August, grow lots of vegetation, which then dries out and is a fire hazard. But maybe something with restoring vegetation around old waterlines first, or storing the water in reservoirs. Ram pumps in combination with reservoirs make great energy harvest and storage as well.