I have had 3 large pumps burn out on me in the last 6 months. This is getting expensive fast as these pumps are pushing 2" lines.
So I am looking for alternatives. And had an idea. When I was young, I had an undergravel filter, with a riser tube and an airstone. The airstone, confined in the tube pushed the water out the top of the tube when turned on. There you have charcoal attachments, etc. Through observation and trial and air I learned that smaller bubbles moved more water than big ones. Now the concept of large amounts of water being moved UP by the lifting power of the air by displacing the water intrigues me a little. I would THINK...don't know yet, this is where you all come in....that you should be able to lift water this way for your growbeds, etc. AND have the water oxygenated at same time. So my math is a little rusty, but this is similar to the differential pressure equations I used to run...and for the life of me I can't connect the dots here. But I have run some basic hands on tests. With one air stone, in a 325 gallon biodeisel tank, inside a 3/4 inch PVC, I can raise the water roughly 4 inches over the surface. This was just the little blue cylinder shaped stones. Nothing fancy. However it got me thinking. One atmosphere is 32 feet, so as long as I am not lifting more than 32 ft, which isn't going to happen I think this may have some use. But I am missing some critical pieces here. If you replaced the single stone with a bubble wall, you would get more volume of air, in smaller bubbles off the same sized air pump. Smaller bubbles are key, as they move more air. As air is compressable, I don't think this would work in a high pressure setup, but I do believe it has low pressure, high volume applications in a vertical setup, of course as air goes up. Is my logic right, or did I burn out a fuse somewhere and need to think in a different direction? Thoughts, opinions, etc welcome.