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[[Image:Rope_pump_icon.png|right]]
[[Image:An illustration of the basic rope-pump design in the west circa 1433.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Rope pump| Rope Pump]] first illustrated in the west circa 1433 <ref>Weisbaden, Ludwig, ed. et al. Facsimile of De Ingeineis, Liber Primus Leonis, Liber Secundis Draconis, Addenda [online]. Germany: Satz Und Druck, 1984. Available at: http://digital.library.cornell.edu/k/kmoddl/pdf/037_001.pdf [April 2009]</ref>]]
====Maintenance====
Maintenance One of the main strengths of the rope pump is that '''all''' maintenance is limitedrelatively simple and can '''easily and genuinely be done at village level'''. All spare parts can, like the whole pump, be manufactured in any small town with only the most basic welding machine, other standard hand tools and a basic supply of standard items like PVC pipe, GS pipe and round bar. The most frequent repairs are simple and consist mainly of repairing the rope or handle. Although easy and simple to maintain it is important the user is instructed in why and how to maintain and repair their pump. Attached is a [[File:user manual]] & [[File:pdf copy]] put together by MSABI with many illustrations and accompanying text in English and Swahili, the manual is intended to be laminated and distributed with the pump and is now standard with all new installations at MSABI. Evaluations show that rope pumps on communal wells can be maintained by the users under certain conditions. One On pumps shared amongst large groups one of the main conditions is a very high level of community coherence and responsibility. If the rope pump technology is introduced properly, like often is the case with the Zimbabwe Elephant Rope pump, up to 90% of rope pumps remain operational, even after many years.
====Motorized rope pumps====