Practica Motorized Rope Pump
Enterprise Works Worldwide and PRACTICA Foundation
The Practica Motorized Rope Pump uses a small electrical, gasoline, or diesel motor to pull a rope with pistons up through the well to pump water.
The Practica Motorized Rope Pump was developed by the Practica Foundation in Nicaragua and tested in Senegal as a means to pump water out of deeper hand-dug or borehole wells. The pump part of a motorized rope pump is similar to that of a hand rope pump, which is a design that has been around for 2,000 years. The motorized rope pump’s open-source design has a wheel with a continuous loop of rope with pistons or washers tied to it that are pulled through the rising pipe. The low end of this pipe is at the bottom of the well. By turning the wheel the rope passes up through the PVC pump pipe and pushes the water up to the surface. The rotating shaft of the pump is connected with the shaft of the engine with a belt, using a large pulley transmission to adjust the RPM of the engine to the low RPM of the rope pump. Where there is access to electricity the pump can be driven by an electric motor, or else it can be driven by a small diesel or gasoline engine of 1 to 2 HP.
Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa
The product was field-tested and distributed by Practica Foundation.
410-645 USD depending on costs of materials used
The main competitor is a human-powered rope pump, such as the IDE Rope Pump, which can be easily upgraded to a motorized rope pump. There are many powered submersible pumps using wind, solar, electrical, livestock, or diesel power, most of which are more powerful and cost much more. Other human-powered pumps such as the IDE Treadle Pump may approach the same lifting power as the motorized rope pump in shallower wells. The Pumpmakers DIY Solar Pump is also competitive but costs much more.
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
Small-scale farmers, small remote rural communities, and households.
