Posted by Mike Field on September 18, 2006 at 02:30:56 from 203.129.45.225 user mikefield.
Lower down the page (in the Beckfoot Water Supply thread,) mention was made of the fact that a hydraulic ram might have been used to take water from the Amazon River up to the house.
Hydraulic rams are wonderful inventions. They're wonderful because they require no external power source whatever to operate -- no petrol, no diesel, no electricity, no battery, no solar power, not even that Aussie icon, a windmill. As long as there's flowing water to pump they can pump it, because they use the energy in the water flow itself to provide the motive force for operation.
Dick would have been proud to have invented them. (It would have been a bit difficult for him though, as they've been around since the late 1700s.)
Here's a picture of one, showing just how simple the device is. And a description of how they operate that will interest the Dick types among us is available at the link.