DIY Constriction Airlift Pumps

I use airlift pumps in my garden as a "research project" to see if they can become useful enough for more general gardeners. I have used them in a fish pond, in pond filtration, in fountains, in compost tea making and in "pallet gardens" Airlift pumps are very simple to make but A major problem with all airlift pumps is that the physics of how they work is extremely complicated and the "burping flow" looks much the same whether they are running fast or slow. And so there are no figures available for how well or how badly they work under different situations. My plan is to change that. I am going to measure their performance under a range of conditions and graph the results so that people can make the best pumps for their own situations.

There are many things to measure. Height you pump, air flow, water flow, submergence tube diameter. And all these things in all their combinations! It is overwhelming!

There are so many things to measure in so many combinations! So I decided to make something to test 3 sizes of tubes in one go.

Little old marina 200 bubble pump for an aquarium did the testing. It is about a year and a half old so it is not working perfectly.

Here are the results of nearly 2 days in simple graph form. And I will pop it in in video too. There is a lot to explain so don't be afraid to stop and pause as you watch the video.