On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 17:07:47 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:

I want to lift water about 20 feet from my truck to the storage tank on the
second floor of my cabin.

I used to be a commercial diver, and have used many types of "airlifts."
This is a device where a suction is created by venturi-ing air into a line
in the direction you want it to flow. In real underwater conditions, the
air expands as it rises, increasing the suction power. It really sucks up
whatever is in front of the nozzle.

I was playing with the idea of buying a pump that I could pump water from my
truck tank up to the storage tank of the cabin. (This is just for winter
use. In the warm months, there is a water system.) I am running into the
problem that a lot of them just don't have a lot of head pressure. And they
cost a lot. And they require special plumbing connectors. A small
compressor would not have to put out a lot of air to lift the water in a
1/2" line and get it to rise up. The bubbles will push the water up and
rise automatically.

Anyone else ever done this? Venturiing is a good way to make suction
devices for all manner of applications, and they are really safe because
they just use air or water.

Steve

I may wish I did not respond to this but here goes. If you are talking
like a hydralift where the air is injected into the pipe at the base
then you would need around 10lbs to lift 20', however the 10lbs will
be pushing back into the tank also.

If you have a strong tank at the base and put 10lbs on it with the
outlet at the bottom it will push the water out first.

Think I'm right at 1/2lb per ft.

My $0.02 John