The majority of water pumps in operation worldwide are electrically-driven, with only a small share of other types of pumps such as hand pumps, wind-mills, animal-driven, and hydraulic pumps.
Wherever the electric grid is available, it is mainly used as the primary source of power. For remote applications, onsite diesel generators have been used for a long period of time to power irrigation and water distribution pumps in un-electrified regions. Renewable energy started to become more and more of a feasible solution especially with the increasing insecurity of electricity supply and the unstable fuel prices, offering farmers and rural residents environmentally friendly power sources to pump water. Technologies utilizing solar energy for electrically powering the water pump are becoming more common, offering competitive advantages over traditional fuel-driven generators.
Hand Pumps
This is probably the most ancient and trivial method for water pumping. All it needs is a human pumping water by hand, able to transfer water from an underground source to surface level. Advancement
s have been made over time to construct a similar foot pump or a bicycle pump, applying the same concept but can be run by kids instead.
Animal-driven Pumps
Donkeys, cows, camels, and sometimes sheep are used to pump water for irrigation and do
mestic use. The animals are connected to a water wheel and planned to keep walkin
g in a tight circle to turn an axle which in turn powers the waterwheel. This way water is pumped into ground level and made available for use mainly for irrigation applications.
Wind Pumps
Traditional wind mills have been used for centuries, pumping water directly from underground sources to end use which is mainly irrigation. The wind turbine is coupled directly to a water pump, so
as long as the wind blows, there is water being pumped and made ready for use. It consists of awind turbine, a pump, and a piping system.
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