Students create water pump, help Malawi farmers

Student group Watercycle designed a bicycle-powered pump that is 'lighter, easier and more efficient.'

The third poorest country in the world is getting a helping hand thanks to five WSU students.

The group, called Watercycle, placed second out of 20 in a business competition between undergraduate students in the region by creating a new kind of powered water pump.

One of the biggest daily chores for the agricultural population of Malawi is watering crops during the dry season. The group looked at the fact that bicycles are the main form of transport in Malawi, and designed a pump that can be transported and powered by a bicycle.

“Our pump model is lighter, easier and more efficient,” said Angela Hall, a senior bioengineering major and group member. “It is also self-priming.” Self-priming pumps do not require water to start, which makes them easier to use.

“In older pumps you would pour water in and hope it starts working,” Hall said.

Before the group introduced its newest pump model, heavy, inefficient pumps and water buckets were used, said group member Cory Cole, a senior bioengineering major. Many farmers still use the bucket method, because no better design has been durable enough.

The group has been developing pumps for three years. The first attempt was a pump made of lightweight plastic that was easy to transport. However, the pieces of the pump were not durable enough for the rigorous use, Cole said.

Next the group worked to improve the treadle pump which had been used for years, but was made of heavy metals.

“The treadle pump is like a StairMaster at the gym ... it is a machine that has two levers that you step up and down on, which drives a piston in and out of a cylinder, which pumps water to the crops,” said Brendan Dallas, a senior mechanical engineering major and group member.

In early March, group members Dallas, Hall, Cole and supervisor Howard Davis traveled to Malawi to test the newest bike design. They did several head-to-head tests against the older treadle pump and the new bicycle pump.

“Our model was able to pump slightly more water than the treadle pump,” Cole said. “However, the amount of effort needed was way less.” The group left their pump model in Malawi so local farmers can test its durability throughout the year.

The students involved in Watercycle plan to start a business after they graduate to provide pumps for developing countries all over the world.

They are also working on several designs for attachments that can be used to grind grains and extract oils from the crops grown in different regions.