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Take a look around, watch some videos, become friends with us on facebook, read some articles, and you can now donate to support ICDI!
I want to know more about the water well pumps you use.
How do they work?
What are they made of?
I saw the ABC News piece on Splashes of Joy in Africa, and saw two types of pumps. The lever-operated pump looked kind of failure-prone. The pump with the foot pedal on a long rod looked better.
Do you think if you were able to provide a more robust, durable pump that it would make a difference?
How much of the required maintenance is focused on the pump?
Patrick Carr
18.12.2010, 7:09 amRenton, Washington
Dear Patrick,
Thanks for your comments.
The lever operated pumps are called India pumps. These come in a number of different models. India Mark II, III and IV. These are industry standards for most NGO’s and used across Africa. However, the quality of these pumps varies drastically. If we are repairing one of these we only replace parts with the stainless steel model which is the highest quality and last the longest time frame…BUT still need maintenance. Maintenance on this pump takes more time and is required more often than the other two styles I will mention.
The second model (foot pedal) is a Vergnet pump and is much easier to maintain and which I have installed over 500 in the past 5 years. They are very durable and easier to repair and maintain. These are more expensive initially but more economical to maintain and longer lasting.
There is a third model which you did not see in the video…this is sometimes called a PCP (positive cavity pump) or Moyno pump. These are able to pump water from deeper depths and run a constant flow of water. Very cool but no longer produced anywhere. I am currently looking for donors to help the engineers I have working on this problem so that we can produce some prototypes of this known system in a viable solutions to water issues in Africa.
So the answer is YES…we do want a more robust pump and we do want help to get to that. We have started the research and we are looking for help. I look forward to more discussions with you on this.
Jim Hocking
19.12.2010, 7:53 pmICDI