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

Economy Compared with Other Systems. It is natural that at first the Air Lift System should have been lacking in the efficiency now possible. Its rapid growth in favor everywhere shows a foundation of solid merit and an adaptability to certain conditions which no other pumping system can meet so well Some have thought the system lacking in economy, but their judgment rests on results obtained with improper methods of well piping in connection with inefficient compressors, from which satisfactory0 re- sults on a “foot-pound duty” standard could not be expected/ The superior air compressor of to-day operates with a half or quarter of the fuel for a given power formerly required. Refinements in well piping and a better understanding of conditions have reduced both the pressure and the volume of air needed. There are now so many successful plants at work, meeting all the different conditions of volume and lift, that the design is reduced to a scientific basis. An Air Lift test was recently made in Indiana which affords an opportunity for comparison between the efficiency of the Air Lift System of pumping and one of the best and most economical deep well pumps made. This Indiana water works for over a year used a second-hand 16 & 18^x18 inches Class “A” Ingersoll-Sergeant compressor to oper- ate an Air Lift furnishing a temporary water supply. Recently the pump company obtained permission to make a test, and installed two of its belt-driven pumps, with cranks and pitman, giving a double acting effect with a definite length of stroke. In this case the pumps were driven by an ordinary portable engine and boiler. The test was conducted by a well-known consulting^en- gineer, who was employed by the city to make tests to determine which system should be adopted. As a result of these tests, which were very thoroughly made, it was definitely shown that the deep well pump raised 60 gallons of water per pound of coal burned under the boiler while the Air Lift plant, under the same conditions, raised 300 gallons per pound of coal burned. These tests were unbiased and reliable, and afford an idea of the relative efficiencies under like conditions. Admitting a much higher efficiency for the pump in cases where economical engines are used it should also be borne in mind that the efficiency of the Air Lift plant can be increased by using Corliss compound compressors, and that a power-driven deep-well pump such as was used in this case is much more efficient than the more usual type, which is driven by a direct- connected steam head, so that the comparison would be about the same for average conditions. 2.3