Irrigation Team

Back Row: Craig Frey, Erik Blosser, Dr. Tim Whitmoyer, and Joseph Longenecker. Front Row, Left to Right: Peter Govey, Lalrem Lalrempuii, Joel Foster Not Pictured: Tony Beers, Dave Hamm

Mission:

1. Develop water pumps, irrigation systems and well drilling methods that can be constructed and maintained in the West African subsistence agriculture economy.
2. Stimulate micro-enterprise to manufacture and sell our designs and the produce grown using them.

Irrigation in 2004

This past summer was filled with success for the pump team as they implemented a new irrigation system for the disabled people in Burkina Faso. Team member Joseph Longenecker, along with the entire pump team, hopes that this system will enable the people “to become more autonomous” and a greater asset to the community. Craig Frey and Mesgana Ayele’s ’04 new model of the pump design has helped reduce the cost of these pumps by discovering which materials could be eliminated. It is the pump team’s ambition to show the people of Burkina Faso how to reproduce the pump design and to keep up with the regular maintenance. In order to continue this fast-paced progress, however, the team needs more dedicated recruits. Many of the juniors are especially concerned because they cannot devote as much time to DE as their workloads are increasing. All the current members, however, are motivated, committed workers, serving God through serving the people in Burkina Faso.

The DE pump before...	...and after the 2004 redesign

Current Projects:

1. Continued Pump Redesign
   The new design is an improvement over the old, but as with anything new, there are always problems to work out. The next phase of the pump redesign includes improving or correcting the following:
   1. Manufacturability of lever support
   2. Rigidity of pump support
   3. Bearing mount failure
   4. Priming difficulty
   5. Rigidity of handle
2. Irrigation
   The main goal of the Handicap Center is the re-insertion of handicapped persons back into society. Approximately 70-75 people are now going through the process of re-insertion. This involves training and enabling them to work on small cattle farms and vegetable gardens. Last year they had 4 gardens, but only 1 of these had worked due to lack of water and irrigation. Our objective is to develop an irrigation system that is accessible to handicapped people and does not require too much physical labor. Goals for the semester include purchasing and testing a "bucket kit," a simple irrigation system, and collecting a sample of Mahadaga soil to be sent to Penn State for testing.
3. Treadle Pump
   Treadle pumps are more efficient because they make use of leg muscles, which are much stronger than those of the arms. They are versatile and transportable and have revolutionized irrigation in other parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. However, current designs are not suitable for the physically handicapped. We currently have a partially completed treadle pump which we will be completing for possible use in Mahadaga, and are also researching possible alterations to allow use by hand or leg power. This would allow people with handicaps and their families to use the same pump, but in different ways.
4. Well Drilling
   More wells are needed for rural areas of Burkina Faso.