Rope pump construction manual
Tips
- Always close the well with a cover. This prevents that animals or garbage can fall in the well and contaminate it.
- Make sure that water can't flow back into the well. Water that flows back can be contaminated and so contaminate the whole well.
- Make a gutter from the place of the discharge to a place further away from the well, so the immediate area of the well remains clean. Even better is to make a cement floor in the immediate area of the well and integrate it with the gutter.
- The inlet of the pump must be sufficiently deep under the surface of the water in the well to prevent the pump from not reaching the water in times of drought.
- Look out if you stop pumping, because there is still a whole column of water in the tube pulling the rope, so the pump will rotate back the moment the handle is released.
- To tie the tubes to the frame 2 cm wide strips of rubber cut from a inner tube of a bike are used. Don't put knots in them, which are difficult to untie if needed. The end of such a strip can simply be put underneath an already tight noose.
- Maintain the pump well. Make sure the pump (whether it's made of wood or iron) is well covered with paint to protect it against weather influences. Replace worn out parts in time (especially the rope) so that the pump is always functioning in optimal condition.
- As can be seen in figure 7d a knot in the rope is always tilted and will cause a piston to always be sloped which causes more friction between the piston and the tube and pumping will be harder. This can be prevented by not putting a knot in the rope but for example placing pieces of copper above and below the piston and squeeze them onto the rope.
- A ropepump is not limited to the use in a well where it has to be vertical. This type of pump can work on a slope for example against a dyke where water is pumped to higher situated area.
