Changes

====First came the The Volanta pump====The Volanta Pump, created DGIS in co-operation with by Jansen Venneboer B.V., is a reciprocating pump driven by a large flywheel for medium to very deep wells. It uses a retractable cylinder and a seal-less stainless steel piston. A crank and a connecting rod convert the rotary motion into a reciprocating action, which is transmitted to the plunger via stainless steel pump rods. The crankshaft and the flywheel run on ball bearings mounted on a plate that can be fixed to a steel or concrete pedestal. The cylinder is of glass fibre reinforced plastic with a close-fitting seal-less stainless steel plunger. The complete cylinder can be lifted from the well by the threaded pump rods, without removing the PVC-U rising main. The stroke is adjustable to reduce the effort needed at deep installations.

It is designed for heavy-duty use and the maximum recommended lift installation depth is 70 50 m.

The Volanta Pump is not in the public domain and information can be asked from the manufacturer. The Volanta Pump is fully corrosion resistant. It is rather difficult to install and it needs extensive masonry work. Maintenance Regular maintenance is easy so that communities can care for the pumps.

====The Afripump, a Volanta upgradeBluePump====Since The BluePump was designed by the FairWater Foundation with the Volanta pump needs some spares every 5 to 10 years (due to input of many NGOs in Africa. A major contribution was given by Oxfam Kenya, that has tested the flywheel and early models of the stainless steel T-piece pressure box), and because BluePump in it is more expensive than other handpumps on the market's handpump rehabilitation project in Turkana, Jansen Venneboer BNorthern Kenya.V. created a After several modifications to adapt the Volanta - Afripump (or in shortBluePump for depth up to 100m deep, the "Afripump")BluePump is now considered by most international NGOs as the most reliable handpump, especially suited for deep boreholes. The major change from One of the Volanta pump is a handle instead special features of a flywheel and a simple PVC T-piece inside the blue box, otherwise all components in BluePumps is that the borehole are basically PVC rising main can be extended below the samecylinder with a so called "Bottom Support System" (BSS). These changes greatly reduced The BSS takes the cost heavy load of the pump and eliminated PVC pipes to avoid that they will break due to the need for sparespumping action.

If a community would like to change any existing Volanta into an Afripump, (like when there is no regional support team to change In many parts of Africa the Volanta every 5 BluePump is also used to 10 years)replace older handpumps. To make this a simple operation, it can simply change the flywheel arrangement to a blue box, since all base-plate of the BluePump fits directly onto the old base-plate of the inner components are exchangeable. Also any existing Afripump can easily be converted to a VolantaAfridev and India Mark pumps.

The key success of the Afripump BluePump is its reliability. This is due to it's simple and strong construction design and the fact that it basically needs no spare parts due to for many years. This means that communities have water for a very long time, at a new pumping conceptvery low price.

====Why For the Afripump won't breakdown====When other handpumps breakOperation & Maintenance (O&M) aspects of the BluePump FairWater recommends a regional approach, it in which an Area Mechanic is often due to broken rods involved already in the installation phase of the BluePump and broken pipes, leaking pipes, faulty piston rubbers seals, leaking footvalves or wrongly installed footvalves, etcgives additional back-up technical support in case needed. With Training of the Afripump all this will not happen: i.e. the pump will not stop working due to wearing out or broken Area Mechanics and spare -partssupply is available with country dealers, simply because:who also have BluePumps in stock.

* The stainless steel rods have rolled threaded connections which don't brake,* The heavy duty strong bearings are maintence free, lifetime 25+ years,* The rising main is made from quality BOODE PVC pipes and don't break,* For deep water levels More info about the Afripump has a bottom support system, * The piston has no rubber seal and is 100 % maintenance freeBluePump can be obtained by FairWater.

Optional for ====Why the BluePump is more reliable====Most other handpumps fail due to many technical reasons: The most common problem is worn out seals and broken pipes. Other problems are leaking foot valves and broken rods. With the BluePump most of these problems do not occur due to a better design.  * The stainless steel rods are 12mm diameter and fully threaded,* The heavy duty strong bearings are maintenance free and may last up to 10+ years* The rising main is from high quality PVC,* For deep water levels the BluePump has a bottom support system, * The piston has no rubber seal and is 100 % maintenance free,* The foot valve has 2 stainless steel balls for double security. The handle is an extendable handle with and can have a massif counter weight to compensate for the extra weight of the water and rods in the rising main. Therefore pumping remains easy, also for children, even at 80 m deepgreat depth.

====AfripumpBluePump====[[Image:afripump tools.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Afripump tools needed to install and maintain it. Photo: [http://www.handpump.org/afri_pump/index.htm Handpump.org]]]

Installation of the Afripump BluePump is easy and can be done by one technical person and one assistant. The Afripump BluePump comes standard with strong 70/80 m PVC rising mains and 9 mm 12mm full threaded stainless steel rods with threaded connections (Volanta technology). For the installations, no special tools or tripod is required, only keys nr 24 and 17 are needed to complete the installation. When the concrete base and drainage platform is ready, the metal stand is fixed on 4 6 anchor bolts and the pipes are glued and lowered into the borehole casing up to the desired depth. The handle is fitted to the base with 4 M16 bolts. The cilinder cylinder is lowered with the rods and the last rod is attached to the handle. The cover is put on and the pump is ready to use.

Based on the experience with of BluePumps over the Volanta handpumplast 5 years, the maintenance of the Afripump is limited to cleaning of the pump and platform, checking and occasionally tightening of some nuts & bolts, maybe applying paint from time to time, all other parts are maintenance free.

The Afripump is also 100 % BluePump can be considered as a VLOM pump(Village Level Operated & Maintained) because most of the few simple activities can be done by a local caretaker with an Area Mechanic local available materials and require no special tools, equipment or training.

 * [http://www.jansen-venneboerfairwater.comorg* https:/machinebouw/handpompen/volanta-pomp/ Jansen Venneboer: Volanta Pump (in Dutch)www.] Jansen-venneboeryoutube.com/watch?v=fqLwHsMrjjk* [httphttps://www.handpumpyoutube.orgcom/volanta_pump/index.htm The Volanta Pump.] Handpump.orgwatch?v=esHu_0iUMI0#t=12

* New name for the Afripump: BluePump - [http://www.fairwaterjansen-venneboer.orgcom/machinebouw/productshandpompen/bluepumpvolanta-by-fairwater.html BluePump by Fairwater]. pomp/ The main distributor of the BluePump is [http://www.boode.com/pages/products-partner-fairwater.php Boode waterwell systems].

* [http://www.handpumpboode.orgcom/afri_pumpPHPpages/indexproducts-partner-fairwater.htm The Afripump]. Handpump.orgphp