The document proposes installing a hydraulic ram pump (hydram) in a village in Nepal to provide a renewable source of water. A hydram uses the energy of falling water to pump a portion of the water to a higher elevation, requiring no other energy source. The project aims to design, manufacture, install, and test a hydram to demonstrate the technology for rural villages. Specific objectives are to identify an installation site, design and manufacture a hydram, construct a testing facility, install the hydram, and test its performance. The total proposed cost is 100,000 Nepali rupees. Industrial engineering students will implement the project as part of their studies.

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A Proposal on
Installation of Hydraulic Ram Pump
Submitted to:
Ministry of Science and Technology
Singhadurbar, Kathmandu
Submitted by:
Industrial Engineering Department
Thapathali Campus, Kathmandu

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Introduction
A hydraulic ram (also called hydram) is a pump that uses energy from a falling quantity of water
to pump some of it to an elevation much higher than the original level at the source. No other
energy is required and as long as there is a continuous flow of falling water, the pump will work
continuously and automatically.
Provision of adequate domestic water supply for scattered rural populations is a major problem
in many villages in Nepal. Fuel and maintenance costs to operate conventional pumping systems
are not the long lasting solution. The hydraulic ram pump (hydram) is an alternative pumping
device that is relatively simple technology which uses falling water as energy, and is durable.
The hydram has only to moving parts and can be easily maintained locally.
Recognizing that the hydraulic ram pump (hydram) can be a viable and appropriate renewable
energy water pumping technology in rural areas of the country, our project team decided to
design and manufacture more efficient and durable hydram so that it could be demonstrated in a
village so that other villages will adopt the technology. By adopting this technology settlements
in the river banks can be profited.
Fig 1: Components of hydraulic ram installations

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Working Principle of Hydram:
With reference to fig 1, the momentum provided by the flow (Qs), caused by the low supply
head (Hs), is used to pump a part of flow (q) to a higher elevation (hd) Qw is the wasted flow
which may be considered as the “drive flow” and h is the head gained by the suction of the
pump.
The hydram can be used in places where there is a steady and reliable supply of water with a fall
sufficient to operate it. Commercial hydram’s which are mainly manufactured in developed
countries are known for many years. However, commercial hydram’s are expensive and there is
a growing trend to develop and design smaller, lighter and low cost model which can be
fabricated in developing countries.
The hydraulic ram pump (hydram) though simple in design with only two moving parts, its
operation is not well understood. As a result, it has attracted many researchers who have tried to
derive analytical models for its operation. Because the researchers have been based in developed
countries, the developing countries did not get access to the information readily and the hydram
technology is therefore not widely used and the research has not benefited the developing
countries. This project was intended to redress this anomaly. A hamlet in a village setting can be
supplied with water using hydram as below. The system includes storage and in some cases may
include a treatment (chlorination, filtration, Solar Distillation) plant.
Fig 2: Schematic cross section of village water supply with a hydram.
As already discussed in previous section hydram is a unique device that uses the energy from a
stream of water falling from a low head as the driving power to pump part of the water to a head
much higher than the supply head. With a continuous flow of water, a hydram operates
automatically and continuously with no other external energy source.
We will see operational and constructional features if the Hydram in this section.

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A hydram is a structurally simple unit consisting of two moving parts: refer fig: the waste valve
and delivery (check) valve. The unit also consist an air chamber and an air (snifter) valve. The
operation of a hydram is intermittent due to the cyclic opening and closing of the waste and
delivery valves. The closure of the waste valve creates a high pressure rise in the drive pipe. An
air chamber is necessary to prevent these high intermittent pumped flows into a continuous
stream of flow. The air valve allows air into the hydram to replace the air absorbed by the water
due to the high pressures and mixing in the air chamber.
Project Objectives:
The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate a functional hydraulic ram in a
village in Tanahun District by the industrial engineering students so that students can learn the
manufacturing and installation of the technology and rural people can help to disseminate the
technology.
Specific objectives are:
a) To identify the potential site for hydram installations
b) To design hydram as per site and manufacture the same

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c) To construct a demonstration/testing facility consisting hydram
d) To install the hydram
e) To test the performance of hydram
Methodology:
1. Site visit and Selection
2. Site Survey
3. Design
4. Installation and operation
5. Testing and Documentation
Cost Calculation:
SN Components Amount Remarks
1. Hardware set 50,000
2. Manufacturing 20,000
3. Transportation
and Installation
20,000
4. Testing kit 10,000
Total 100,000
Total Cost: One Lakh only
Other costs will be born by the Campus
1. Travelling and daily expenditure
2. Stationary and other material
3. Contingency
Conclusion:
This project will be studied, conducted and implemented by students of Bachelor of Industrial
Engineering, Thapathali Campus, as a project work supporting their study.