272 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



account the pump should be placed as near the level 

 of the water as the securing of a good foundation will 

 permit. 



3 If the pump is to be driven by means of a belt 

 it should be provided with a large pulley. The pulley 

 usually supplied with the pumps is so small that a 

 great amount of slipping takes place between the belt 

 and the pulley, and the efficiency of the pump is greatly 

 decreased. Of course it is necessary to secure the proper 

 proportion between the sizes of driving and driven pul- 



NATHAN FULMERS 

 PUMPING PLANT 



tf.Soals. 

 capacity 



DIAGRAM OF BUCKET 



SECTION 

 THROUGH STRAINERS 



ACCESSION NO. 8002 D | AGRAM F PUMPING PLANT 



IN WHICH WATER IS RECOVERED FROM A DUG WELL 

 WITH A CRIB AND STRAINERS 



Fig. 2. Diagram of a pumping plant in the Arkansas Valley, in 

 which the water is recovered from a dug well having a wooden crib, 

 in the bottom of which are placed seven galvanized iron strainers or 

 feeders. A chain and bucket pump is used on this well. Better re- 

 sults would undoubtedly be obtained by using a vertical shaft centri- 

 fugal pump submerged in the open well. 



leys, but both should be larger than are usually fur- 

 nished with pumps and engines. 



4 The suction pipe on the pump and the dis- 

 charge pipe should be large. A No. 4 centrifugal pump 

 that draws water from a single well should have at 

 least a six-inch suction pipe, and the discharge pipe 



should gradually increase from four inches at the dis- 

 charge opening of the pump to eight inches three feet 

 above the discharge opening, and continue this size until 

 the flume or discharge conduit is reached. The dis- 

 charge pipe can be made of riveted galvanized iron, 

 and the suction pipe can be made either of standard 

 pipe or good well casing. 



5 A centrifugal pump loses its efficiency at once 

 if there is an air leak around the stuffing box, or at 

 any place in the suction pipe. Many centrifugal pumps 

 are now provided with a water seal around the stuffing 

 gland that insures the absence of leaks at this point. 



A good centrifugal pump with enclosed runner 

 should show an efficiency of about 60 per cent on a 

 thirty-foot lift. Single stage centrifugal pumps, con- 

 structed with bronze runners made in two pieces so 

 that the interior could be machined and smoothed, have 

 shown an efficiency of about 80 per cent. 



METHOD OF PRIMING PUMPS. 



A large number of pumping plants are installed 

 with foot valves at the bottom of the suction pipe. When 

 these are provided a centrifugal pump is always ready 

 to start after it is once primed. The foot valves 

 usually interfere very materially with the flow of water 

 into the pipe, and it is undoubtedly more economical 

 to omit them and place a flap valve at the upper end 

 of the discharge pipe which can be lowered when it 

 is desired to start the pump. An ordinary cast iron 

 house pump connected to the top of the casing of the 

 centrifugal pump can be used to prime the pump with 

 water before starting. 



PIPE FITTINGS. 



The suction pipe installed by those who construct 

 pumping plants is not only usually too small for the 

 best results, but the elbows and tees used are ordinarily 

 very poorly adapted to the purpose intended. It is a 

 common practice to use steam pipe fittings for this 

 purpose. In consequence the water is required to turn 

 at sharp angles at the tees and elbows, and the best 

 results can not be obtained. In order to avoid this 

 difficulty "long sweep" fittings should be purchased. 

 These are standard trade goods and can be obtained from 

 any of the large dealers in pipe fittings. 



SOUECE OF POWER. 



A popular source of power for small pumping plants 

 is the gasoline engine. Where the price of gasoline 

 is high it is very easy to make the cost of water pro- 

 hibitive by the use of such power. Whether or not it 

 pays to pump water by gasoline is a matter which de- 

 pends very largely upon the distance the water must 

 be lifted, but also upon the kind of crop that is to be 

 irrigated. Gasoline, even at a high price, is usually a 

 cheaper fuel than coal in an ordinary steam engine of 

 small horse power, such as a common traction engine. 

 For plants requiring from twenty to thirty horsepower, 

 producer gas generators can be installed which will 

 keep the cost of pumping down to a minimum. A suc- 

 tion gas producer, using anthracite pea coal for fuel, 

 should furnish power at the rate of one horsepower per 

 hour for each pound and a half of coal consumed. At 

 $8.00 per ton the cost of coal should be equivalent to 

 gasoline at four to six cents per gallon. 



In large plants, requiring from fifty to one hun- 

 dred horsepower, or more, a condensing Corliss engine 

 is sufficiently economical where the cost of coal does 

 not exceed $3.50 to $4.00 per ton. 



