[[Image:elephant pump icon.png|center|80px|]]
[[Image:elephant pump.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Photo: [http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/photo/PIC10242/elephant-pump-at-salima-malawi-busy-elephant-pump-used/ Global Giving]]]
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The Elephant Pump, designed by Pump Aid based on a 3,000-year-old Chinese design, is built from rope, a plastic pipe, some rubber washers, and a winding wheel. The name "Elephant Pump" refers to the device's strength, shape, and reliability. The pump can lift water from depths of 50 meters (160 ft), and can produce 1 litre (0.26 US gal) of water per second.
The Elephant Pump has helped to deliver clean water to over 1.1 million people since 1998, building over 8,000 pumps across 3 nations; Malawi, Zimbabwe and Liberia.
===Construction, operation and maintenance===
[[Image:elephant pump diagram.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Diagram of an elephant pump mechanics. Photo: [http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/elephant-pump-wins-award.html Treehugger.com]]]
To break the cycle of poverty in Africa, access to clean water for drinking and water for irrigation must be improved. Pump Aid builds appropriate technology water pumps, called Elephant Pumps that can be maintained by poor rural communities without any outside assistance. Using technology that has local currency, the well is built with local sand, stone and handmade bricks. The rope plugs, integral to the design, are made by melting and moulding local waste plastics.
[[File:elephant pump diagram2.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Diagram: [http://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/the-elephant-pump Aqua Aid]]]
===Costs===
The cost of an Elephant Pump includes a full range of programme activities from installation to community training. A single pump serves a community of up to 120 people and costs on average about £3,000.
===Manuals, videos and links===
* [http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/elephant-pump-wins-award.html Elephant Pump Wins Award]. July 2005.
* [http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/zimbabwe-elephant-pump-prevents-water-contamination/ Zimbabwe – Elephant Pump prevents water contamination]. WASHplus, 2010.
{{#ev:vimeo|61981209|200|auto|<center><font size="2">Elephant Pump - <br>Pump Aid in Malawi</font></center>}}
===Acknowledgements===
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_Aid Pump Aid]. Wikipedia.
* [http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/elephant-pump-wins-award.html Elephant Pump Wins Award]. July 2005.
* [http://www.aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk/the-elephant-pump The Elephant Pump]. Blog, by Aqua Aid. UK.