Air Lift from well casing

[carperama]

My static well water is at 55' and my pump is around 165'. I was thinking about running the two 1" pex air lift pipes about 135' down since I read the deeper the pipe is submerged the better the gpm flow you will get? I hope to get over 7 gpm to maintain the 3/4 acre pond level.

I have put 3 examples in the sketch and would like feed back since I have seen all kinds off different way to have the air hose enter the pipe and seen different size air hoses but think 1/4" to 3/8" is good for a 1" air lift pex pipe? Example 1 might be hard to get down the pipe so example 2 done twice and taped together in the shape of the casing will probably work the best? I don't like example 3 since the air hose would take up space in the 1" pex pipe, not sure?

[coolwon]

A well, with an air lift capability.

What would the air pump look like?

[aquaholic]

What height do you need to lift water above the natural water table?
Airlifts will struggle lifting beyond 150mm heights. They are excellent for moving water below or slightly above the normal water level.

Your air outlet (wouldnt use air stone) doesnt need to go right to bottom of the air uplift pipe but 1 inch pipe seems far too narrow to move much water volume.

Most people use a 45 degree cut at bottom of pipe to allow water entry. This is much easier than trying to keep the pipe reliably above the substrate

[aquaholic]

What height do you need to lift water above the natural water table?
Airlifts will struggle lifting beyond 150mm heights. They are excellent for moving water below or slightly above the normal water level.

Most people use a 45 degree cut at bottom of pipe to allow water entry. This is much easier than trying to keep the pipe bottok end reliably above the substrate

[carperama]

Sorry for not repling, email went to spam.

+15 Pool where I want to pump
0' Air pump on ground
-55' Natural static water level in 4" well casing
-165' Bottom of well

I plan on pumping the water up another +15' above the air pump and 100' horizontal to my pool. So I believe to answer your question 70' lift above the static water level to the pool. From the videos I've seen shouldn't be a problem to get water up just don't know if I can get 3.5 gpm from each 1" pex pipe, looks like I will have to have a air valve to control the amount of air on each 1" line to tweak the water flow.

I have a HALF OFF PONDS OX-Gen 14100 Air Pump - 5.30 CFM Diaphragm Aeration Pump which I plan on trying first?

I might be able to replace my well cap which now the 1-1/4" hole is in the center so if I can replace the cap with a offset hole so the home water supply 1-1/4" will be closer to the edge of casing I might be able to use a 1.5" with a 1/2" air hose instead of two 1" & 3/8" pipes, just have to see.

Here a video of someone that's done a lot of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJAUTjURjEY&t=216s

[aquaholic]

You should contact the owner of that video for more information.

From the periodic water spurts, I suspect its a geyser pump with check valve but even that wont accomodate high head distances as the weight of water will overwhelm a check valve from opening after approx 1m ~ 1.5m height.

You could try dual check valves - essentially a hydraulic ram pump which can achieve incredible head heights but suffers from low flow rates.

So I'm only speculating which isn't much assistance.

[aquaholic]

Did you find a satisfactory method?

[carperama]

Did you find a satisfactory method?

I used a 550w aerator with 1/2" air line going to a 1" water line and I'm getting 3 gpm minimum and 4.5 gpm wide open. I was able to run the air lift down to 135' and my static water level is a round 55'.

Better then I thought since I don't know what I'm doing. The pump is a little to big so I thought about going to a 1.25" water line but not sure if it will get me the 7 gpm I want but trial and error might be what I have to do?

[aquaholic]

Thats not a bad result! I watched an animated educational video on YouTube about airlifts recently that explained how the depth of water below is proportionally able to lift - similar to how an iceburgs size below water influences the iceburg height above water.

A smaller air bubble diffuser will reduce the water density above compared to below - resulting in better flow rate but they clog faster needing maintenance. In your situation with plenty of air, why don't you slip in a second airlift hose?

I am playing around with 2 & 3 m tall airlifts, mostly 110mm pipe and unable to find EPDM disc diffusers that narrow. I may try shower head roses but even those are too wide for your use.

[carperama]

I'm thinking of what route to get another 1 or 2 gpm. Not sure if the 550w air pump is big enough for another line although I do have another 135' for another line. I thought the pump might be able to do a 1-1/4" with the 1/2" which would probably max out the pump but might get me to 5.5 gpm but I'm guessing.

[carperama]

I just try a different aerator that said it was 900 watts but when I hooked it up my meter said it was 520 watts? Not sure what's going on there but it's spitting out 5 gpm like the other one that said it was 550 watts. This new one might allow for either a bigger drain line or another 1" line since it's gassing off some but it seems 32 psi is where I have to be to get any water up. The new pump that said it was 900 watts is the Half Off Pond 6.7 CFM (1 HP) PA-RP80PAP but I was only showing 520 watts and not sure why?

Option 1: go to a 1.25" drain line instead of the 1" but not sure I will get more than 6.5 gpm? Gut tells me this is the best option?
Option 2: go to a 1.50" drain line instead of the 1" but not sure I have room in my casing since it's pretty tight down there and not sure if the psi will pump any water up?
Option 3: go to two 1" drain line but I might have the same problem as option 2?
Option 4: go to a 1/4" pex air line instead of the 1/2" pex? This might allow me to use two 1" drain lines?

[aquaholic]

You are getting fairly good results from air lifting but for that amount of wattage consumption and PSI, wouldn't a water pump be better?

I suspect the 1.25" line will give you better flow like you do.

I'm unsure at what diameter, two narrower pipes will outpace one wider diameter pipe with your lift height requirements.
i) Is it possible to have a side TEE with air being released below this TEE? So all the incoming water enters through the TEE without any pipe diameter constriction from the aeration. That may be the additional boost you need. The side TEE will need a slight sweep so air can't escape which could be tricky with your narrow space.

ii) Having a fine bubble diffuser should also boost your water flow. The air compression pressure chamber with 1mm air holes that is discussed with most pond air lifts can almost double the flow over just releasing the same volume of air (without a diffuser). However these need to be periodically cleaned out as they clog over time. And having such a long narrow uplift may ruin the theory as well. I imagine there would be lots of slight bends over that distance so any fine bubbles would collect to one side anyway.

[carperama]

I already have a residential pump 155' down in the same casing but it's 2500 watts and 14 years old. My 3/4 acre mud pond level drops about 3/8" each day so it could cost a lot of money to keep the pond full but if I can get 7 gpm I believe I could maintain the mud pond level for half the price. I even thought about running 6 gpm into a water feature or additional faucet in my home/kitchen or shower so it would be running 24/7, then I could have it go to my back porch grill area or future greenhouse then into my mud pond and I would still have 1 gpm going into my 6200 gallon koi pond.

Can you upload a quick sketch of what you mean about adding a side tee? I thought about replacing the 3' section of 1" pex below the tee with a 1.5" pex to allow more water into the system. I just don't want bubbles in my well casing and my drinking water since it might turn it aerobic but I really have no idea?

I thought about trying to have finer bubbles but not sure how I would modify my tee to do it with my setup in the narrow area I have?

I will be pulling the current air lift out of the casing maybe over the weekend, I just wanted to get as much feedback so I can modify it if need be. I will probably replace the 1/2" pex air line with 1/4" pex, maybe the bubble would be smaller entering the 1" pex? I won't really know unless I try it.

[aquaholic]

Have you consulted a water pump specialist? For example, to pump from my small distant lake, my irrigation specialist showed me a pump that could be housed beside my powered shed which pumps water TO the lake in order to push water out. The benefit being better security, easier monitoring, bulkier pump and not having to run electricity down to the lake (which can flood).
A specialist should be able to advise if piston or diaphram pump is better for you. Provided you know what requirements & priorities you have, the correct pump should be straight forward.

Also I'm sure there are more efficient - more economical pumps nowadays. Perhaps a 24 Volt DC version submersible well pump that could be run off solar/battery exists now?

I don't have time to sketch the TEE unfortunately and I'm on a phone.
But if you swapped your current setup - now you put air as side entry with water coming from below.

Put the air entry at bottom with water entering above this from one side. You would need a small deflection down (so more of a Y than T) to prevent air escape. I know this makes a difference on 4 inch pipe airlifts but I'm unsure with your 1 inch situation.

[carperama]

I tried a HALF OFF PONDS OX-Gen 14100 Air Pump - 5.30 CFM Diaphragm (nothing), I believe the piston pump is the way to go, not sure if I have the best model but I believe I'm restricted due to the 1" pipe size since water and air is filling the pipe.

When my submersible pump fails I will look into other options like solar.

No way to get two 1" air lifts in my casing without possibly messing up my submersible pump and wiring so I pulled the 1" lift with 1/2" air supply up and replaced it with 1" lift with 1/4' air supply to see what happens.

135' deep air lift with 550w aerator - 1/2" air line going to a 1" water line and I'm getting 3 gpm minimum and 4.5 gpm wide open.
135' deep air lift with 550w aerator - 1/4" air line going to a 1" water line and I'm getting 3 gpm minimum and 4.0 gpm wide open.

Not much difference but if I did have room in my casing I believe I could use two 1" lines with 1/4" air and get around 7-8 gmp with the same air pumps?

On Monday I believe I will look for 1.5" line and use 1/2" air line, this might get me the 7-8 gpm I need? I believe at the depth the 1" supply line will only get me 4.5 gpm since both air and water is filling the pipe so I have to increase the pipe size? I just have to figure out how to attach the 1/2" air line to the 1.5" water line without making it to bulky so it fits down the casing? I think it would be less bulky if I could install the 1/2" air line at the bottom but not sure how to do it without obstructing the water flow or letting air/bubble out into the casing?