CODEP

by Jim Sylivant, Apex, NC

Almost one month ago I received an e-mail from CODEP leader Rick Land, asking how much I knew about treadle pumps. My response was "What is a treadle pump?"

I learned that treadle pumps are foot powered water pumps used in many places around the world for pumping water to crops. With Rick and Kathy Land's success in Haiti at reintroducing small garden plots, a need has arisen for a way to keep the gardens watered without having to carry water bucket-by-bucket.

We found that most sources for purchasing them are not in this hemisphere. We also discovered that many pump designs were not particularly suited to raise the pumped water to very high elevations.

I contacted a friend, Larry Shannon, who became interested and we started brainstorming to create a design for a treadle pump that could raise water to fairly high elevations and be able to be constructed and maintained from materials available in Haiti. We've experimented with various ways to make the necessary pistons, piston seals, check valves, and pedal arrangements. So far we have a model made of wood and PVC pipe that is able to pump almost a quart of water to a height of 30 feet with each stroke.

If you would like to learn about the evolution of our design, my friend keeps a blog that you can see it at: http://treadlepump.blogspot.com/ Be sure to scroll down to see the earlier history and videos as the design was being developed.

The blog has contact information for either of us or you can contact me by if you have comments or suggestions.

We intend to eventually release plans for our final design allowing others to replicate the pump.