[[Image:Rope_pump_icon.png|right|80px]]
[[Image:RopePumpMozambique.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Rope pump| Rope pump]] on a borehole, made in a local workshop in Mozambique ]]
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The Rope Pump is a highly efficient, modern and low cost pump and one of the few designs that can truly be operated and maintained totally at a village level. There are various modern developments of the ancient design but the basic design of all pumps is a continuous loop of rope with pistons (or plastic washers) attached to it, the rope passes up through a plastic pipe with only a small clearance, thus allowing the pistons to push the water up and out of the top of the pipe.
[[Image:An illustration of the basic rope-pump design in the west circa 1433.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Rope pump| Rope Pump]] first illustrated in the west circa 1433 <ref>Weisbaden, Ludwig, ed. et al. [http://digital.library.cornell.edu/k/kmoddl/pdf/037_001.pdf Facsimile of De Ingeineis], Liber Primus Leonis, Liber Secundis Draconis, Addenda [online]. Germany: Satz Und Druck, 1984. [April 2009]</ref>]]
===Suitable conditions ===
A rope pump can be used to draw water from wells or boreholes. Applications include communal wells, households, irrigation, and cattle watering.
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===Construction, operations and maintenance===
[[Image:Rope_pump_action_diagram.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Rope pump| Rope pump]], An illustration of the pumping action of a rope pump]]
[[Image:Rope_pump.PNG|thumb|right|200px|[[Rope pump | Rope pump]], (Victory model) on a hand-dug of 20 meters deep well, made in a local workshop in northern Ghana. Photo: Netherlands Water Partnership. ]]
Similar to hand rope pumps, the pump part can be maintained and repaired by the users. The motorised rope pump is being tested in Columbia and Nicaragua.
===Costs===
* The Rope Pump costs between US$ 30-150 depending on model, location of production, and cost of materials and labour.
* Cost of introduction: between US$ 10,000-30,000 per project, including 20 pumps, engineering and hands-on training.
A recent interesting development in Burkina Faso has been the re-design of the bottom guide box to include a non-return valve (foot valve) thereby ensuring that water is immediately available from the first turn of the pump handle. This is currently being piloted on a few pumps.
===Manuals, videos and links===
====Manuals====
* Jan Nederstigt, Arjen van der Wal. [http://www.practica.org/wp-content/uploads/services/publications/Rope%20pump%20manuels/ropepump%20manual%20EN%20full.pdf Rope Pump: Low Cost Pump Series. TECHNICAL TRAINING HANDBOOK ON ROPE PUMP PRODUCTION, INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE]. Practica Foundation. August 2011 (3rd edition). French version: [http://www.practica.org/wp-content/uploads/services/publications/Rope%20pump%20manuels/ropepump%20manual%20FR%20full.pdf A POMPE A CORDE: Séries de la pompe à moindre coût.]
* RWSN: The Rope Pump Concept [http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/294 English], [http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/296 French], [http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/336 Portuguese]
===References===
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