Afridev Type Village Hand Pump with PVC Cylinder

Overview

Designed to be fixed in the village

The Afridev type is built around a simple idea: the people who use the pump should be able to repair it. The cylinder and pipes are light PVC, and the working parts can be pulled up by hand without a rig or a crane. This lowers the cost and the delay of every repair.

Construction

The cylinder is a 50 mm single-acting PVC tube with a brass liner. The plunger and the foot valve are plastic. The rising main is 63 mm outer diameter PVC pipe, and the pump rod is 10 mm galvanized or stainless steel in 3 m lengths. The head is galvanized and sits on either a free-standing stand or one fixed in a concrete apron.

Output

Each stroke delivers about 0.44 L. Total daily output depends on water level, pumping rate and rod length.

Configuring to the well

The number of pipe and rod lengths is set from the borehole depth and water levels, and a set of seals and fittings is added.

Where it is used

Community wells, school compounds and health posts, especially in programs where local caretakers maintain the pumps.

Spare parts

Seals, plunger parts and foot valves are the items that wear first. We suggest a spare set per pump or per village group, sized to the number of pumps you plan to install.

Compared with the India Mark II type pump

This pump is built around maintenance in the village. The open-top cylinder lets a caretaker with a fishing tool pull the plunger and foot valve up the rising main and replace the worn seal on the spot, without a tripod or a rig. PVC pipes and a plastic plunger keep the weight low and make transport and installation easier, which matters when pumps are shipped to remote areas in large numbers. Plastic parts in the water column also resist corrosion.

The trade-off is robustness at depth and in very heavy use. A cast-iron cylinder pump such as our India Mark II type model suits deeper wells and large communities better. Choose this model when static water levels are moderate and local maintenance is the priority. The water level, borehole casing diameter and number of pumps in the program decide the rising main length and spare parts. Where a program already standardizes on one pump pattern, the pump is matched to it so spare parts are not mixed.