[[Image:Handpump.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Liquid Gold - Children in the Central African Republic pump clean water from underground. Photo: Marielle van Uitert.]]
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Many different kinds of handpumps are frequently installed on hand-dug wells and boreholes in rural areas, including many drought-prone areas. They facilitate a contamination-free method to extract water. Most pumps are positive displacement pumps and have reciprocating pistons or plungers.
The investment cost per capita is lower for communities of between 1,000 and 5,000 inhabitants if small piped systems with pumps powered by electricity from the grid or diesel engines are installed instead of handpumps. Only one or two high-yield wells will be required. In the size range of 1,000 to 2,000 inhabitants, piped systems with solar pumps are attractive, especially if the pumping lifts are low. Contrary to grid or diesel-powered systems, solar pump systems have no energy costs, but their application can be limited due to the high cost of photovoltaic panels – thus the number of panels needed is a determining cost factor.
===Handpump types===
====Reciprocating handpumps====
The majority of handpump types used worldwide belong to the group of reciprocating pumps. The water is lifted by a piston that is raised and lowered inside a cylinder that has a footvalve. The piston (or plunger) is moved by a pump rod connected directly to a T-handle or a lever handle at the pump head. In some pump types, a flywheel with crankshaft is used to create the reciprocating movement of the piston.
Example of a diaphragm pump: [[Vergnet Hydro]]
===Suitable conditions===
Handpumps should be installed only when a viable sustainable handpump option has been shown to work in the area. Depending on pump standardization in the country and depth of the water table, it is preferable to choose simple technologies that do not need specialist parts and that are repairable locally. The rural poor prefer to have cheaper, shorter-life technologies despite the need to maintain them more frequently.
The [[rope pump]] is used by 25% of the rural population in Nicaragua. The technology was disseminated in a very short time over the whole country and part of Central America with more than 25,000 pumps installed in handdug wells and drilled wells. It is the national standard pump for the water & sanitation sector.
===Construction, operations and maintenance===
[[Image:pump altitude.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Example: a treadle pump is promoted as capable of lifting water from 23 ft. at sea level, the graph indicates that at 8000 ft elevation a loss of 8.8 ft. of suction capacity will result. The pump used at this elevation is now capable of lifting water from 14 ft. Chart: [http://www.pacificliquid.com/ Pacific Liquid & Air Systems.]]]
Improvements continue to be made. SKAT (Swiss Centre for Development Co-operation in Technology and Management) acts as a repository for the design drawings and specifications for the benefit of users and manufacturers of the handpumps.
===Costs===
Direct Action Handpump - Initial cost: From about US$100 to over $900 (1985 prices). Models suitable for village level O&M cost less than US$150.
'''Bangladesh''' - The Tara Direct-Action Pump p. 89 and 90. <br>
===Manuals, videos, and links==
* [http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/implementation/public-domain-handpumps RWSN: Comprehensive information on community handpumps, including manuals and specifications for Afridev, Indian Mark II/III and Tara pumps]
* [http://www.practica.org/products/pumps/ Pumps]. Different kinds of pumps. [http://www.akvo.org/rsr/organisation/15/ PRACTICA Foundation].
===Acknowledgements===
* SKAT Switzerland, [http://artplatform.unicef.org/wash/UNICEF_WASH_Technology_web.pdf WASH Technology Information Packages – for UNICEF WASH Programme and Supply Personnel]. UNICEF, 2010.
* Brikke, François, and Bredero, Maarten. [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CC0QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.who.int%2Fwater_sanitation_health%2Fhygiene%2Fom%2Flinkingintro.pdf&ei=cwJpT-zaO-OiiQKCst2rBw&usg=AFQjCNEWOQhTgF3a7lzhuw5OA2KmbVGxcA&sig2=Rt2EURUyGVqDcwFg6p0xAw Linking technology choice with operation and maintenance in the context of community water supply and sanitation: A reference document for planners and project staff]. World Health Organization and IRC Water and Sanitation Centre. Geneva, Switzerland 2003.