For the technically minded among you, here is the original concept paper written by engineer Bobby Lambert last year when we started thinking about this rope pump project:
Solar Pumping Concept paper.doc
Bobby is a Chartered Engineer with 25 years professional experience. He has 12 years practical experience in rural development in Africa, including eight years of academic and field based research, mainly in Zimbabwe in the late 1980s. He served as Chief Executive of RedR-Engineers for Disaster Relief until August 2006. He's our expert advisor on this project.
This is very interesting. We just came across an academic article in the Journal of Water and Health that confirms our view that the rope-pump model is a great one. Read the following summary:
'The conventional handpump is the most popular technology choice for improved potable water supplies in rural sub-Saharan Africa. To date, however, it has failed to deliver satisfactory levels of sustainability, largely due to inadequate maintenance capacity. An alternative option to standardised imported handpumps is the locally manufactured rope-pump, which is considerably cheaper and easier to maintain but has been rejected in the past due to fears of impaired water quality.
'The findings of the study indicated that the rope-pump out-performed the conventional handpump on the majority of counts and that, contrary to widespread perceptions, there was no significant difference between pump types with respect to the impact on microbiological water quality. Consequently, the rope-pump provides a significant technological opportunity to improve water supply sustainability in Africa.'
This extract was taken from the 'The case for the rope-pump in Africa : A comparative performance analysis', Journal of Water and Health, 2006, vol. 4, no4, pp. 499-510, by Harvey and Drouin, published by IWA Publishing, London.
If you'd like to see how a manual rope pump works, watch this:
Remember that you can donate to this project by clicking on the 'Support This Project' button on the right.
Good news! My bursary application for my personal expenses from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and Bristol's Knowlson Trust has been successful. The student development engineering charity Engineers Without Borders (EWB) have asked for further details regarding my bursary application with them, but my chances look promising.
The World Water Day in Trafalgar Square was very interesting. The rope pump proved to be very popular with passing families, despite the apocalyptic weather! The guys from Zimbabwe made it along too, and seemed impressed with the pump Ben and I had built. They invited me to visit their workshop in southern Malawi this summer, which should be a very valuable experience.
I also recently met a graduate of Bristol University at an EWB research conference who will be spending 6 months this year in South Africa on a project, working at introducing the rope pump over there. It looks like we will be able to share a lot of useful information and experiences.
Cai
We've just received a video from Guente Nueva, our partner organisation in Argentina with whom we are also developing a solar powered rope pump. The video is in Spanish, but still worth watching even if you don't speak Spanish. It explains their hand-powered rope pump project, which will be used as the basis for developing a solar powered one:
We were in Malawi last week and saw the desperate need for water pumps. We went to a village in the midde of a rural area. There we saw a young lad who spent half the day dropping a bucket down a well and pulling out water. He looked exhausted.
We spoke to the local villagers about the concept of a solar powered water pump and they were extremely enthusiastic. 'When can you get one for us?' they asked. They said they'd use it for irrigation, for water for their animals, as well as for their own uses. It would revolutionise their lives.
Bobby Lambert, former Director of engineering relief agency RedR, recently went to Africa to explore the solar rope pump option further. Bobby is advising us with this project. Here's what he said:
Despite decades of investment in hand-pump development and in community group organisation, there remain considerable problems with delivering reliable water supply using community hand-pumps to many rural communities. Research into conventional hand-pump development continues, although technical improvements will need to be matched by developments in community ownership.
One option being examined is that of "self-supply" where individual families may be supported in developing their own water source. This could be combined with some form of community supply (an individual may be supported in developing the source, provided other community members can access it, perhaps for a small payment). Such a supply could also be used for irrigation. The rope pump is an attractive technology for this option, and a solar powered version might be of interest - as a step up from the manually operated version.
There is also considerable interest in exploring how solar power can be harnessed for drinking water. One organisation is looking at doing this for large institutions such as secondary schools and hospitals, where there would be economies of scale and more likelihood of maintenance. However, these larger scale schemes may choose more technically sophisticated options than the rope-pump.
Ben Stitt and myself have now managed to run the pump (at a very small head, or height, of water) off of a solar panel here in Bristol. We have also run the rope pump off an electric motor for a range of heads and we are currently in the process of writing up our report on the predicted requirements of a full 10m head solar powered rope pump.
After going to Malawi, I plan to carry on the research on the solar powered rope pump along with three other different research partners here at Bristol, looking at improvements to the design and modelling the system more accurately.
On another note, four Zimbabwean technicians from PumpAid, a charity supplying the hand powered rope pump in South East Africa, are coming to Bristol. We plan to build a transparent model hand powered rope pump with us that will be used to demonstrate the design on World Water Day on the 22nd of March in Trafalgar Sq.
Cai
I just met with Cai today. He's very enthusiastic and has already built a rope pump (non solar powered) with his research partner Ben Stitt at Bristol University to start testing his ideas. We now need to raise money in order to pay for the materials (solar panels, motor, etc) in Malawi so that he can build the prototype there this summer. So please do start donating now - we urgently need your support!
The photo above is of a rope pump built by our partner organisation in Argentina.
Nick
Dear SolarAiders,
We now have a SolarAid team in Malawi! During my visit, I met Fiskani (our local coordinator) and Carl (our new volunteer from Belgium). They are very keen to get the SolarAid ball rolling together with the Centre for Appropriate Technology in Mzuzu and the surrounding area.
I also held meetings at the department of energy in Lilongwe, visited REIMA - the Renewable Energy Institute of Malawi - and met up with a new budding local NGO which is being set up specifically to promote sustainable energy solutions in rural areas. Oh - and I managed to have yet another birthday in Africa. One of these days I'll throw a party in the UK.
John
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