Solar Water Pumps

ENTRY DATE: 03.05.2015 | LAST UPDATE: 03.05.2015

CATEGORIES:

  • Water Resources
  • Water supply measures

TECHNOLOGIES MATURITY:

Applicable immediately

Technology Owners:

  • NGOs
  • Communities
  • Households
  • Government
  • E.g. the use of solar water pumps in Cambodia is implemented by and funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) through the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI).
  • E.g. the implementation of solar water pumping stations in Cambodia was enabled via a collaboration between the Cambodian government, United Nations Development Programme and Global Environment Facility with financial support from Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)

Needs Address

Supply of fresh water for domestic and agricultural use

Adaptation effects

  • Improve water security through enhanced accessibility
  • Provide a water supply for agricultural uses thereby improving food security
  • Enables more time to be spent on agriculture and other activities as time needed to fetch water is reduced

Overview and Features

Pump water from one source to another. The pump is connected to a solar energy source, which enables the pump to function when switched on. The pumped water is contained in water tanks from where it is piped to receiving households and water points.

Cost

  • Costs vary depending on size of the system and the solar energy source.
  • E.g in Cambodia, rural solar water pumping systems cost USD 21,350 each

Energy source

Solar power

Ease of maintenance

  • Requires ongoing maintenance of solar and pump equipment
  • Cleaning of pump equipment and water storage containers should be regular

Technology performance

  • Provides a source of water during dry seasons, or where traditionally relied upon water sources run low or are contaminated
  • Has reduced the time and money spent on collecting water and treating illnesses

Considerations

  • Requires appropriate planning and management
  • Particularly for larger systems, training of the local community in use and management is necessary
  • Should be used in conjunction with water use regulation guidelines
  • Removal of water from one source to another may result in an ecological imbalance in both the location of origin and the receiving location – this should be considered in the planning, operation and monitoring of the technology
  • Education in the importance of clean water should be ensured in addition to introducing such technologies

Co-benefit, suitability for developing countries

  • Reliance on solar energy reduce c greenhouse gas emissions
  • Affordable, sustainable and socially acceptable technology
  • Does not rely on a connection to the national grid for its application and can therefore serve remote lying villages
  • The pump and solar energy supply can be community managed – such management must account for specific social-political power structures within its location to ensure equality in access to water

Information Resources

BoP Asia, 2012. Innovation Story 3: A Student-Community Partnership for Clean Water. In BoP Asia, Pathways Out of Poverty: Innovating with the BoP in Southeast Asia. Ateneo School of Government, Philippines. Available from: http://uniid-sea.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Pathways-Out-of-Poverty2012-by-iBoP-Asia.pdf [19 January 2015]

Rahman A, Bhatt B. P. 2014 Design Approach for Solar Photovoltaic Ground Water Pumping System for Eastern India. Current World Environment 9(2). Available from: http://www.cwejournal.org/vol9no2/design-approach-for-solar-photovoltaic-ground-water-pumping-system-for-eastern-india/

Sharma, K and Dhamala, M.K. n.d. Relevance of Water Pumps as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation. Available from: file:///Users/Clare/Downloads/Khimananda%20Sharma.pdf [19 January 2015]