the treadle pump

this foot pump was item 6 of our 'things are afoot' post last month.

we installed it last week as our water resource (borewell) dried up as the summer was taking its toll.
it uses the water from the pond for irrigation as against the borewell which taps into ground water.

the blue barrel at the background in the right pic (above) is where the water is getting filled up. it is approx 20 m away. the flow rate we are generating is approx 15 lt/min.

here is a close-up from the front and the back.

there are 2 cylinders in the left pic (above). the left one is the suction and the right is the discharge cylinder.
as is clear from the right pic (above), the mechanism is exactly like a stepper (gym users will know). using pure leg power, the water is drawn into and ejected from the cylinders.

the pond which is our current irrigation source.


some modifications are being planned. the current arrangement, through the 20 m pipe discharge + 3 feet level rise, is making the discharge pedal very tough (pressure loss due to pipe friction).
so if i use this pump regularly, my left leg is likely to become far far stronger than my right!!
so we shall raise the pump to nullify level rise and install a tank right next to the discharge and then let gravity do its work.

this is totally awesome exercise+watering system.