Bangladesh
In 2001 directly after the participation in the Rope Pump Policy Workshop in Nicaragua,
" IDE Bangladesh" took the initiative to produce rope pumps. The first pumps were already installed four months after.
The introduction of the treadle pump in Bangladesh is one of the well-known successes of
" IDE "(International Development Enterprises).
By November 2002 a total of 48 pumps was installed while the installation of another hundred pumps is foreseen within the next six months.
The design features are very similar to the Nicaragua rope pumps with small differences mainly due to the adaption to the local available prime materials.
Application takes place in shallow wells and is foreseen in the underground rainwater harvesting tanks too. Interesting to mention the following result out of the Focussed Group Discussion sessions: "Women, children and the elderly like it more as it is a simple and less labour-intensive technology".
< Rope pump produced and installed in Bangladesh.
Already in this stage it shows that the rope pump can be part of the solution for the arsenic problem. It is generally accepted that dug wells are arsenic free in the worse cases, may be contaminated with arsenic but below the Bangladesh acceptable level. The combination of a renovated handdug well equipped with a relative cheap rope pump is one of the apparent solutions.
The potential for rope pump application in Bangladesh is rather high.
E-mail: idebwpp@bangla.net
Website:" IDE Bangladesh"