water

Manual Irrigation Pump

[allowing farmers to bring water to their crops using muscle power]

[Summary & Motivation] [Community] [Specifications] [Issues] [Contacts] [Documents / Diagrams / Pictures]

Summary & Motivation	Project Initiator: ATS Start Date: 8.30.2003 Projected Completion Date: Not applicable Current Status: Refinement stage (Production stopped due to product performance and production issues) In 2001, ATS acquired a treadle pump from another technology-focused agency. Because of cultural differences, the engineers decided to prototype a hand-powered suction pump based on the treadle pump design. Nine steel prototypes with custom-made parts and leather seals were constructed and distributed to local farmers. Problems with leakage, size of pump, difficulty of pumping, and weight of pump were soon reported. The initial prototypes were sold at a discounted price (With full disclosure about their current problems), and improvements were soon introduced. The base size and weight was reduced and the pumping mechanism was redesigned. Unfortunately, the high coefficient of friction between the leather cylinder seals and the steel pumping cylinders, coupled with the presence of grit in the gap, quickly caused the seals to fail. Production was tabled until recently when ATS acquired a PVC treadle pump. Currently, the engineers are in the process of redesigning the pump so that it can take advantage of increased seal durability of rubber on PVC, but there are some problems acquiring PVC. [top]
Community	This technology would be marketed to rural farmers to allow them to irrigate their fields. [top]
Specifications	Must be easy to operate with only 1-2 men. Critical components must not rust. Seal durability should be at least one year. [top]
Issues	Help is needed in the following areas: Combining PVC treadle pump and existing design. Determining best type of seal to use in Lesotho. Developing marketing campaign for new pump. Looking at other sourcing options for PVC delivery. Determining pressure created in cylinder when stepped on by user (PVC has been cracking due to too much pressure). [top]
Contacts	Project Leader: Mokhone Nene MIT Contact: Not available (If interested, please email mit_ats@MIT.edu) ATS Contact: Mokhone Nene <mlehohla@Yahoo.co.uk> Website (If applicable):   [top]
Documents / Diagrams / Pictures	DOCUMENTS Description (Name) [Date] Download Small-Scale Agricultural Implements Needs Assessment Contains contact for treadle pump (K. Tsenoli) [8.28.2005]. Documents DIAGRAMS Description (Name) [Date] Download Original treadle pump design AutoCAD model of treadle pump. Developed by ATS engineers. Three seperate *.dwg files (J. Ferreira) [2.10.2005]. *.zip (0.29 MB) PICTURES Description (Name) [Date] Download Manual Irrigation Pump Photo Album Several pictures showing evolution of manual irrigation pump (ATS / M. Zedler) [8.31.05]. *.html (Link) [top]

*.pdf - Portable Document File / *.doc - Document (Microsoft Word) / *.jpg - Joint Photographic Experts Group (Browser) / *.zip - WinZip Compressed File (WinZip)

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