Water Lifted By Compressed Air
For Municipal, Manufacturing, Irrigation or Other Water Supply

flowing 100 gallons of water per minute, were made to yield 1,261 gallons by the Air Lift System. As much as 900 gallons of water per minute have been forced from a single 6-inch well, but this is an ex- treme case with a remarkably strong well, and the economical rate is much lower—say, up to 300 gallons per minute from a 6-inch, up to 600 gallons from an 8-inch well. The Air Lift will handle all the water a well can yield, but if a certain 8-incli well is equal to a flow of only 100 gallons, the Air Lift, of course, cannot pump more. Its large capacity conies from the fact that there is little in the well to interfere with the flow of a continuous stream the full size of the bore hole, if that quantity will come into the well. There are no moving, finished or working parts underground—simply two pipes which, when ad- Wells at the Houston (Texas) Water Works, Showing Flow with the Application of Compressed Air. justed, need not be seen for years; the single machine being in the compressor room, subject to the same working conditions as a steam engine, lasting as long and requiring no more attention. None of the working parts of the compressor come in contact with the water, and they may, therefore, be properly lubricated, wearing indefinitely. In one of the earliest city plants where the water source was fine sand and the original yield was 70 gallons per minute it is now 170 gallons, due solely to the application of the Air Lift pump. Several other wells were improved proportionately. Nearly all wells, whether driven in sand, gravel or rock, increase steadily with use, the steady even flow toward the wells cleaning out and enlarging the water-carry’ mg channels and crevices, causing the well to draw from a larger am 17