Handpumps : toward a sustainable technology : research and development during the Water Supply and Sanitation Decade

As a follow-up to the publication "Community water supply: the handpump option", this report describes the results of handpump research and field testing results from 1985 to present. The research has been primarily concentrated on the conventional reciprocating pump, incorporating new innovations in materials and manufacturing techniques. The handpump is based on the VLOM principle: Village Level Operation and Maintenance. The research programme was organized into five main topics; the plastic below-ground components, the plastic and other dry bearing systems, the sealless pistons and diodic valves, the lightweight pump rods for direct action pumps, and the measurement of stresses in the uPVC rising mains. Laboratory testing was carried out by Consumer Research Laboratory in the UK, and field trials were done in Kenya, India and Bangladesh. Results from the field and laboratory as well as technical specifications for the different pumps are presented in detail in the report.