How to Make and Use the Treadle Irrigation Pump

The treadle irrigation pump is able to lift up to seven thousand litres of water per hour using the power of the human body, and can be made locally at low cost in small-scale metalworking shops. Its acceptance in Bangladesh where it was first developed in 1984 is extraordinary, with over 500,000 pumps estimated now to be in use. The current design in this manual has evolved from the Bangladesh original into a fully portable pump with both lift and pressure capacity and is especially good for use in permeable soils where water cannot easily be distributed through channels.