Water is next to air in importance for subsistence of human life on earth. But the WATER is increasingly becoming a scarce resource day by day. Out of the total water available in the World, only about three percent is available for human use. The scarcity of water is going to further increase with increasing human population all over the World. It is said that third world war may be fought over water only!! Thus, it is URGENT to adopt all possible measures for its conservation and optimum utilization along with its Resource management. Water, Housing, food, clothing and power availability, are the prime index parameters for judging the progress of any nation. Water is one of the most important substances on earth. All humans, plants and animals must have water to survive. If there was no water there would be no life on earth. Water has always been perceived as a gift of God as it rained from the heavens.

The over-use of groundwater has pushed down the water table far deeper below the ground level. Arsenic contaminated water makes the problem even graver. During the monsoon, many areas of India are flooded; causing widespread damage to life and property and this enormous quantity of water is allowed to flow down the rivers and then into the sea.  If we can harvest it or preserve this rain water than later it can be effectively used for any purpose and help us to tide over the water crisis. In urban areas, water harvesting is becoming mandatory.
We require plenty of water for everyday use like drinking, cooking and washing and Industry, Agriculture etc. The Romans were the first to pipe water into their growing cities, especially with their aqueducts. Water has played a role not only in the history but also in religion, mythology and art. Water in many religions cleanses the soul through holy water. Other important parameter in water is its impurities like:

• Physical: solids, color, turbidity, odor etc
• Chemical: sulfates, chlorides, acidity, heavy metals etc
• Microbial: bacterial, viral, helminthes etc.

Due to contamination of water sources from domestic & industrial effluents, the water which is life giving (almost 90% by weight of human body), frequently becomes a cause of various diseases which may at times become fatal! Since more than 50% of population does not have access to safe drinking water, so it is necessary to adopt/implement on war footing all technologies available to maintain water resources and its management. To achieve quality of life it is thus necessary to have quantity and quality of water supply and better sanitation facilities.

Drinking water is a prime requirement for living of Human, animal and agriculture as well as for running the Industry which give employment to millions of people. Today even after about 70 years of independence, the progress on supply of water is insufficient especially in North India. One easy alternate to piped water supply is Hand pump which is an excellent alternative to conventional methods of water supply. “Empowering remote areas or villages by providing water through Hand pump” project, as suggested by “Yash Krishi Takniki Ewam Vigyan Kendra – YASTK – an NGO”, can facilitate villagers in their day to day demand. Thus Establish Hand pumps in Public Places or Remote area in Villages to facilitate the people for supply of water. Hence hand pump will be a useful device.

About Hand pump and its Versatility:

Hand pumps are manually operated pumps they use human power and mechanical advantage to move fluids or air from one place to another. They are widely used world over for a variety of day to day necessitate & some times in industrial, marine, irrigation and leisure activities.

Suction and lift are important considerations when pumping fluids. Suction is the vertical distance between the fluid to be pumped and the centre of the pump, while lift is the vertical distance between the pump and the delivery point. The depth from which a hand pump will suck matter is limited by atmospheric pressure to an operating depth. The height to which a hand pump will lift is governed by the ability of the pump and the operator to lift the weight in the delivery pipe. Direct action hand pumps have a pumping rod that is moved up and down, directly by the user, discharging water. Direct action hand pumps are easy to install and maintain but are limited to the maximum column of water a person can physically lift. Hand pump can be drilled to any variable depth in ground where water layer is available. Hand pump is very cheaper and an effective device for water lifting. Hand pump is designed for outdoor application in remote rural areas and hence ideal application for villages. Some photographs of the mechanism of hand pump and its operation is shown below.