Building a Rope Pump

The rope pump, made of simple technology and materials was up and running after one hour of hard work

In this morning course Andris showed us how to make a rope pump with very simple technology and that requires only basic materials, which can be found locally in Mozambique.

It consists basically of a support structure with a wheel, a tube, which can go up to 30m into the ground, and a rope, which has small rubber disks which trap the water in the tube. The rope moves through the tube and around the wheel to pull up the water.

He also explained the drilling method and the pumps used at the project and then we made a pump ourselves. We split into three teams, to build a real model of rope pump. There was a rope team, a support structure team and a tube team, and with materials found around the school everyone worked together to make our very own rope pump.

Making the pump was a good idea, firstly because we all learned more about it and understood the technique much more fully, but also because Andris’ roll at the project will be to instruct people on making these things, so it is good that he has had a chance to practice this.

Andris has been at the school for almost a year now, first as a DIjobber and then as a Development Instructor preparing to work in Mozambique. Now it is almost time for him to leave. He will be working on a water project in a small town called Itoculo, where his goal will be to assist in constructing 200 latrines and 60 wells in a period of six months.

Anjuli Theis - April Team 2007