A rope pump is a type of

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...

that uses a loose-hanging rope, which is lowered into a

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

and drawn up through a long pipe, with its bottom end submerged in water. Round disks or knots, matching the diameter of the pipe, are attached to the rope, allowing water to be pulled to the surface. The rope pump is commonly used in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

for both community water supply and self-supply. It can be installed on

boreholes A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petr ...

or hand-dug wells, providing an affordable and efficient water-lifting solution.

Description

A rope pump is a type of

of which the main or most visible component is a continuous piece of rope, in which the rope is integral in raising water from a

. Rope pumps are often used in developing areas, the most common design of which uses

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

pipe and a rope with flexible or rigid valves. Rope pumps are cheap to build and easy to maintain. One design of rope pump using a solar-powered rope pump can pump 3,000 litres to 15 meters per day using an 80 watt

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

. Rope pumps can be powered by low speed gasoline/diesel engines, electricity, human energy, wind and solar energy.

History

Washer or

chain pump The chain pump is type of a water pump in which several circular discs are positioned on an endless chain. One part of the chain dips into the water, and the chain runs through a tube, slightly bigger than the diameter of the discs. As the chain is ...

s were used by the Chinese over 1000 years ago. Rope pump history including 16th century image of the Chinese chain pump In the 1980s Reinder van Tijen an inventor and grass roots activist, with the support of the ''Royal Tropical Institute'' of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, created and began instructing various communities around the world how to make a rope pump from simple available parts using PVC pipes and plastic moldings. He began at

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

in Africa, continued to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

among others. In

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, the technology was introduced around 1985 and by 2010 there were an estimated 70,000 pumps installed. An estimated 20,000 were installed on wells for rural communal water supply and over 25% of the rural water supply was with rope pumps. The other 50,000 pumps were installed on private wells of rural families and farmers, partly or completely paid for by families themselves, (so called Self-supply). Many rope pumps are now being replaced by electric pumps so families climb "the water ladder". It is also used in other parts of Central America with over 25,000 pumps installed to date. In Africa the improved model of the rope pump was introduced around 1995 but in many countries failed due to the use of outdated designs and lack of long term follow up on quality in production and installation. By the 2020 an estimated 5 million people in 20 countries worldwide were using rope pumps for domestic uses and small scale irrigation.

Construction

The original rope pumps used knots along the rope length but can be made with flexible or rigid valves on the rope instead of knots. Alternatively they may use only rope, simply relying on the water clinging to the rope as it is quickly pulled to the surface.

Flexible valve rope pumps

Flexible valves can be made from cut pieces of bicycle wheel tubing. The valves are positioned approximately 20 cm apart on the rope. One disadvantage of flexible valve rope pumps is that they must be appropriately sized and thickness for different types, sizes and length of pipes.

Rigid valve rope pump

Rigid valves using plastic or metal

washers Washer most commonly refers to: *Washer (hardware), a thin usually disc-shaped plate with a hole in the middle typically used with a bolt or nut *Washing machine, for cleaning clothes Washer may also refer to: *Dishwasher, a machine for cleani ...

that fit tightly into the PVC pipe as the rope is dragged through are also used. If the fit is tight, the washers can be spaced up to half a meter apart. The deeper the well, the smaller the pipe inner diameter must be, given the available power constraints. These rope pumps are often worked with a hand crank Valves can also be made from knots in the rope itself. Appropedia:Rope pump knots

Valveless rope pumps

Valveless pumps rely on friction with water clinging to the rope, which is moved at high speed, often using a bicycle to produce the required speed. It is a less efficient design but is simpler to construct than the other rope pumps.

Intellectual property

Rope pump technology is in the public domain and there are no patents pending on it.

References

External links

rope pump site
* Rope pump
Akvopedia Rope Pump article
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rope Pump Pumps