Hydraulic ram

An automatic device by which the fall of a comparatively large quantity of water is suddenly checked and a portion diverted to an air chamber. Owing to the momentum of the water, the air in the chamber is compressed, as the water enters, until the said momentum is absorbed. By the dropping of an outlet valve in the supply pipe a new flow is set up for a brief moment and again checked, causing an additional supply to enter the air chamber and renew or increase the previous pressure. This interior air pressure causes the water to pass out of the discharge pipe which ends at a higher elevation than the source of supply.