Characteristics of the bucket pump

Characteristics of the Bucket Pump

The bucket pump has four components:

1 - the pump stand, consisting of a 2 meter long, one and one
quarter inch diameter galvanized class B pipe,
2 - the windlass with handles,
3 - the cylinder with a foot valve, and
4 - the wire-rope. Tino's Bucket Pump

The 5 liters capacity cylinder bearing at its bottom the foot
valve is hung from a 1/4" flexible steel rope and is lowered and
lifted manually by means of the iron rods windlass; the latter is
connected to the iron stand by two bearings. The construction of
the platform completes the installation of the bucket pump .

There was uncertainty whether to use a solid windlass with a
handle or a windlass made out of welded iron bars to be manually
rotated using two hands for lifting and lowering the cylinder. It
was decided for the latter solution as it was considered easier
and smoother engaging both hands. For the same reason preference
was given to the use of a wire rope instead of a chain for
lifting and lowering the cylinder. The windlass is shaped in such
a way as to keep the cylinder centrally positioned in respect to
the well casing.

The main concern in designing the bucket pump was to keep it as
simple as possible in order to minimize maintenance problems so
that the users would not depend on outside help. Anyhow,
additional trials aimed at improving the technical design as well
the quality of the material used are still possible in the
future; for now, the adopted model, within the relatively short
trial time, has proved to be quite satisfactory and accepted by
the users.

The technical details of the bucket pump and the platform are
given in Appendix I.

Altogether, 52 boreholes have been equipped with bucket pumps in
Vasai, Bhiwandi and Wada talukas - Thane District - Maharashtra,
by the author's philanthropic program in the past four years
(see location map)

The bucket pump is designed for small villages, especially those
located in remote areas where regular maintenance of hand pumps
is not possible due to difficult access (especially during the
rainy season), or to other reasons. The good results obtained
during the past years are a good basis for recommending the
installation of this simple device nation-wide, whenever the
conditions outlined ahead are met.