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The AFRiPUMP |
The AFRiPUMP,
the low cost, sustainable solution
The AFRiPUMP is a new, modern, low cost revolutionary handpump and provides over 1m3 of water per hour.
The AFRiPUMP is in fact an improved Afridev, but can be made locally, more simple to maintain by the users and also effectively sustainable, due to the use of maintenance free components.
The AFRiPUMP has been developed by Jansen Venneboer BV in the Netherlands (producer of the successful Volanta Flywheel pump) and RWS, based on years of extensive field research in Africa and has been tested in South Africa, Kenya and Angola
The pumping system
The core of the AFRiPUMP is the maintenance-free
Beers Pumping System © (BPS). The BPS
comprises a stainless steel cylinder with a
conical top that fits inside a conical seat in the
70/80 mm PVC pipes. The cylinder holds a Teflon
piston and an inversed stabilized free floating
foot valve. The piston has a stainless steel ball
valve inside but no rubber seals; the BPS
therefore needs no maintenance.
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The AFRiPUMP complete
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Hydraulic lock
A thin turbulent layer of water between the
cylinder and the piston creates a hydraulic lock
and lubricates the piston movement. Pumping is
therefore smooth and light, even at 100 m. depth.
As with the Afridev, the BPS has a nylon rope attached to the cylinder for easy installation and for security of the pvc pipes.
The AFRiPUMP can handle all water qualities; all parts that are in contact with water are made from PVC or high grade corrosion free materials.
The AFRiPUMP can be equipped with a Volanta T-piece that enables to fill up a water tank up to 5 m height.
The Beers Pumping System
Note the conical cylinder top and the sand trap on the top part of the piston to avoid sand accumulation between the piston and the cylinder.
AFRiPUMP up to 100
m
For water levels below 50 m a bottom support
system can be added below the BPS to prevent
rising main failures. For lighter pumping, the
handle can be equipped with an extendable T-piece
and adjustable counter weight inside.
Easy Maintenance
In most handpumps the rubber seal in the piston
hampers sustainability because these seals are
normally not available locally. As a result, one
after the other standard donor handpump breaks
down and cannot be repaired. However, the BPS has
no rubber seal, so this problem does not exist
with the AFRiPUMP.
There are no items that need regular substitution or that can stop the pump from working due to wearing out; All parts are maintenance free and have a predicted lifetime of over 10 years and can be obtained or made locally. No molds or special parts are needed as is the case with all other pumps. Maintenance is limited to check the bolts and some greasing from time to time. For inspection, the complete BPS can be lifted out with the rods while all PVC pipes remain in the borehole.
No spare part
supply system needed
Because only standard materials are used, no
specific spare part supply system for the pump is
needed. This is a major breakthrough in handpump
design.
The AFRiPUMP is therefore true VLOM, maintenance
can be done easily by one caretaker only; no
specific skills or materials are needed. However,
it is recommended that a regional or provincial
technical support for long term maintenance is
present as a back up in case of problems with the
borehole.
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AFRiPUMP, installation of the pipes. |
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AFRiPUMP,
installation of the pipes.
Note the position of the safety rope.
FRiPUMP in Angola on a rehabilitated borehole. The small concrete stand enables easy replacement of any old handpump by an AFRiPUMP
Simple
installation
Installation of the AFRiPUMP is easy can be done
by one technical person and one assistant. The
AFRiPUMP comes standard with strong 70/80 m PVC
rising mains and 9 mm 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 whole installation.
When the concrete base and drainage platform is ready, the metal stand is fixed on 4 anchor bolts and the pipes are glued and lowered into the borehole casing up to the desired depth.
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The handle is fitted to the base with 4 M16 bolts. The BPS 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
The rod clamp sleeve inside the handle assist for easy handling of the rods, no extra tools or tri-pode is needed. A rubber hose is put over the bolts for to avoid unscrewing of the bolts. The handle stop pipes give strength to the stand and are handy for the security rope to lowering the pvc pipes.
Angola, local AFRiPUMP production
For more information on how to start with AFRiPUMP production in your project area to achieve sustainability contact at watsan@gmail.com <watsan@gmail.com>