Small-scale trompe design

I know that Mollison and others have touted the potential of trompe designs for compressed air/alternative energy, but generally the real-world examples involve mine shafts and things that most people don't exactly have access to.

Well, I was amusing myself this morning perusing old back issues of Popular Mechanics online.  Some interesting finds such as the Nazis had remote-controlled motorcycles and so on...

More to the point, I discovered a project, with measurements, that used a homemade trompe as an aquarium bubbler. (Probably overlooked thus far because it doesn't specifically use the word "trompe"... but that's certainly what it is all right!)
Popular Mechanics 1938, vol3, p449

Could be useful for numerous applications.
Also kinda cool just as what it is.

Enjoy. :)

That is a clever little design. Getting the water elevated without electricity is the clincher. If an electric pump is used why not just use an electric aerator.

I have been contemplating using an old wind powered well pump and water tower in tandem with a buried cistern to make a medium scale trompe for pond aeration, shop use or house cooling. Here in the prairies we get lots of wind all year so it would run reliably most of the year.