Walami pump

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The walami pump. Photo: RWSN.
The walami pump. Photo: RWSN.

The Walimi Pump is a conventional lever action handpump for lifting water from low to medium deep wells. It is designed for small to medium sized communities of up to 250 persons. Besides the 3” (Ø76 mm) cylinder configuration, recommended to maximum lift of 25 m, a 2” version (Ø50 mm) cylinder is used for lifts up to 40 m. The riser pipes are made of PVC-HI and are connected by threads. The bearings for the lever action are made of specially treated hardwood.

The Walimi Pump is a public domain pump defined by RWSN specifications. This pump is corrosion resistant, is quite easy to install and it has very good potential for community-based maintenance.

Suitable conditions

Distribution: ~ 8,000 in Tanzania.

Ø3” cylinder for depths of 5-25 m. Ø2” cylinder for depths of 20-40 m.


Cylinder diameter: 50.0 mm or 62.5 mm
Maximum Stroke: 170 mm
Approx. discharge (75 watt input): at 5 m head: 2.0 m³/hour

at 10 m head: 1.3 m³/hour
at 15 m head: 1.0 m³/hour

Pumping lift: 2 - 40 m
Population served: ~ 250 people
Households: 25 - 30 hh
Based on water consumption of: 15 - 20 l/per capita
Type of well: borehole or dug well


Construction, operations and maintenance

Pump head, handle and pump stand are made of galvanized steel, pump rods are of stainless steel, rising main and cylinders are of PVC-HI pipes and the “down-hole components” are made of plastic, stainless steel and rubber components. This makes the pump totally corrosion resistant.

All steel parts of this pump have a potential for local manufacturing. Local companies who manufacture PVC-HI pipes and have the knowledge of machining engineering plastics are also able to produce the “down-hole components”. The cost of the tooling requirement is substantial and therefore the number of manufacturer will be limited.

The installation of the Walimi Pump is not difficult and does not need any lifting equipment.

This pump has an excellent “Community Management Potential”; it is reliable, easy to repair by a village caretaker.

Manuals, videos and links

Acknowledgements