ourpump.com blog

Are you aware that even your foot can be helpful in providing power to water pumps? The concept of “Human Pump” designed by an innovative designer named Gunwook Nam uses kinetic energy created by human foot traffic to power the system ofwater pumps . Different pumps are interlaced into an architectural construction which is used for main walking routes by people. When people walk, the structure would store the energy and further uses this energy to pump water to the surface. This concept promotes building with sustainable and reusable materials. Let’s see how far this design can be used in reality.

Wastage of water is a curse in rural India. Much of the scarcity has

been because of wrong usage, although drought and unseasonal rainfalls too have a major impact.
Now, technology may be coming to tackle this manmade crisis. Micro Technologies (India), an IT-based security solutions developer based in Navi Mumbai, has come up with a solution that claims to help farmers reduce water wastage significantly.

The company has launched a device Micro Jai-Kisan that will help farmers remotely manage the motor pumps by using a phone. Developed on the basis of GSM technology, the farmer can turn the pump on or off and also know the status of the pump by a phone call from a GSM, STD phone, or even by sending an SMS, says P Sekhar, chairman and managing director of Micro Technologies.

Farmers usually have to make multiple trips to their farms to check if there is adequate electricity to turn on the pump to water their crops. According to estimates, about 87 per cent of utilisable water is used for agriculture in India compared to the world average of 69 per cent. The flood or flow irrigation method in the country results in more than 50 per cent of water wastage. Moreover, an estimated 213 billion cubic metre out of 690 billion cubic metre of surface water is wasted each month in India.

Water leakage, pilferage and wastage amounts to half of the total flow. Industry estimates value of water and wastewater market in India at Rs 4,700 crore. Nearly 20 per cent of the farmers are dependent on electric pumps for irrigation.

Around 25 per cent of total Gram Panchayats of any state of India have pump-based drinking or irrigation water supply facilities. This device will help them in reducing water leakage, pilferage and wastage, Sekhar explains.

The manufacturers have used a very simple technology to develop the system. “When we started developing the solution, we kept in mind that the end user is a farmer who might be illiterate. So if we are developing a solution for him, it should be simple and easy to use,” says chief information officer of the company, Nisha Menon.

The company has developed two models — one functions on the basis of SMS and the other on the basis of both SMS and phone call. At present, the products are undergoing pilot tests in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.

A water pump is an important part of the engine cooling system. It provides circulation of the engine coolant (antifreeze) through the cooling system (see the top picture).
A water pump pushes the coolant through the passages (water jackets) in the engine cylinder block and cylinder head and then out into the radiator. This helps to keep the engine from overheating; the hot coolant passes through the radiator where it cools down and then returns back to the engine.

A water pump is usually driven by the engine through the drive belt. Sometimes it’s driven by a timing belt. A water pump consists of the housing with the shaft rotating on the bearing pressed inside.
At the outer side there is a pulley mounted on the shaft. At the inner side there is a seal to keep the coolant from leaking out and the impeller that acts like a centrifugal pump (see the lower picture).

Water pump problems
Typical water pump problems include coolant leaks, noisy or defective bearing, damaged or corroded impeller.
Faulty water pump might cause the engine to overheat, which can result in serious engine damage. If defective, a water pump is replaced as a unit.

Is it worth to replace a water pump when a timing belt is being replaced?
Sometimes you might be suggested to replace the water pump at the same time the timing belt is being replaced. In cases when a water pump is driven by a timing belt it’s worth to do because it involves very little extra labor, plus, a water pump is subject to wear anyway. As long as the original parts are being used, I’d recommend to go for it.

Monosyllabic text messages saying on or off might become a rural trend thanks to a new technology that allows farmers to remotely control their
motor pumps using SMS. The Micro Jai-Kisan is targeted at farmers who want to cut costs, save water and decrease their carbon footprint in the process. After the SIM card is installed between the switch and electrical water pump, the farmer gets remote access to its controls. This means, instead of walking over half a kilometre, just to switch the pump on or off, the farmer can use his cellphone to switch the pump on or off and check its status.

The device was launched on Friday by the Union Minister for Rural Development CP Joshi. Priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000, its USP is to reduce water leakage, pilferage and wastage that amounts to 50 % of the estimated 213 billion cubic meters of surface water wasted every month in India. And with an increasing number of farmers depending on motor pumps for irrigation, soaring energy costs and erratic power supply have made efficient water use an imperative. “We need to use water and energy judiciously. Its a priority in the rural sector,” says Union Minister for Rural Development CP Joshi. “We will leave it to the company to promote the product but are looking for more innovations in the rural sector.”

The product will be marketed in villages across Maharashtra where the manufacturer, Micro Technologies, plans to set up kiosks that give technical information about the product and savings.

Often farmers end up making multiple long-distance trips to the pump, sometimes just to check if there is adequate electricity to switch it on. “Sending an SMS is easy, saves time and can let them focus crop production,” says Joshi. Farmers without cellphones, have the option of making a call from a landline phone or PCO.

India has over 109.7 million rural mobile subscribers and key mobile telephony players are increasingly investing in Value Added Service (VAS) innovations. Other innovations include SMS-based information for farmers about weather and temperature alerts, fertilizer prices and the latest agricultural technology.

The latest technology has improved the function of vacuum pumps and helped industries (such as dairy farming and medicine) keep up with the pace of a rapidly changing and evolving global market place.

Online PR News – 17-December-2009 – The Improved Functionality of Vacuum Pumps and Systems Benefitting Many Businesses.
Vacuum pumps and systems reduce the level of pressure (most often air), in a closed circuit, system or container. There are many applications for vacuum pumps and blowers (systems) that include some familiar (and some rarely thought of) situations. Some of these applications include:
• Air Conditioning and Heating- Heating and air conditioning vacuum pumps contain a vacuum pump to maintain adequate air pressure and exchange in the system.
• Surgical/Medical-Surgical Vacuum Pumps are used in a variety of medical procedures including the operating room and in dental procedures. Removal of blood and other wastes from the procedure area are one function of a surgical vacuum pump.
• Industrial Manufacturing-Industrial vacuum systems are responsible for tasks such as liquid retrieval, and air removal from packaging.
• Plastic Injection Molding Companies-Vacuum pumps are used to remove air from molds and prevent blistering of plastic manufacturing materials.
• Injection Molding Tooling
• Equipment and Machinery- Many types of industrial equipment and machinery use vacuum lines and pump systems to function properly and how intended.
• Agriculture-Milking makes great use of the vacuum pump for automated milking of cows, goats, even sheep occasionally. We would not be able to meet the demand for milk and milk products if vacuum pumps were not available for milking.
Understanding vacuum pumps and systems can be difficult. The Vacuum Pump Guide was created to help alleviate some of your confusion. Some vacuum pump systems are quite complicated and a thorough knowledge of their working parts is crucial to using them efficiently, no matter what procedure you may be completing.
Some advances that make vacuum pumps and systems perform even better are:
• Picking up of liquids.
• Ability to move very hot materials through the system
• Increased suctioning capabilities to better compact materials when packaging.
• Ability to handle explosive and caustic materials.
• The components are resistant to abrasion when manufactured with some of the newly developed materials.
The vacuum pump guide covers some other related areas:
• Specific types of vacuum pumps such as the turbo molecular pump and the liquid ring vacuum pump are detailed.
• How to locate and purchase surge vacuum pump parts both locally and on the internet are explained.
• How to perform maintenance and repair on certain vacuum pumps and systems is available at the Vacuum Pump Guide.
• Other associated industrial machinery such as injection and plastic molding is explained.
• The intricate internal workings of a vacuum pump and system help you to develop a good understanding of the process.
• Equipment for the containment of natural gas in cylinders and equipment to detect gas leaks before they cause harm or injury.
The Vacuum Pump Guide is an essential tool if you desire to learn about and comprehend the function and purpose of vacuum pumps, systems and similar equipment.

Holiday travelers can expect gasoline prices to remain steady into the New Year even though energy futures spiked Wednesday on a big draw down of crude and gasoline supplies.

Energy experts were expecting the amount of crude in storage to fall, mostly because refiners empty their tanks at this time of year for tax purposes.

But crude fell by 5 million barrels last week, more than twice what was expected. Gasoline stores fell more than expected and demand figures are rising somewhat.

On top of that, the amount of crude being imported into the country fell to the lowest level since 2003, news that gave energy markets a jolt.

That could play out in several weeks at the pump, but only if those futures prices can be sustained. Many energy experts do not believe that will happen with the winter travel likely to slow after the holidays.

The amount of crude, gasoline and distallates on hand are still above normal levels.

There was a surprisingly healthy gasoline demand number released this week by MasterCard SpendingPulse, but analysts with the group pointed out that a lot of people filled up their cars for holiday travel before last week’s winter storms pounded the East Coast.

And the car is the transportation of choice for the vast majority of people traveling during the holidays, about 89 percent.

Gasoline prices have been hovering around $2.60 per gallon for weeks now as oil has traded close to $75 a barrel.

Prices at the pump were essentially flat overnight at $2.584 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That puts pump prices in the middle of their five-year average, even accounting for the giant swings in 2008 when prices were as high as $4.11 a gallon and as low as $1.61, according to government data.

How much people travel can be more about confidence in the economy than pump prices and last year at this time the economic crises was in full swing.

AAA says the number of people traveling is on the rise, a sign that consumers are growing more confident, even if slowly, about the economy.

“There is some evidence that demand has picked up,” said Andrew Lebow of MF Global.

Still, compared with past years demand for fuel remains very weak. Other factors, like the weak U.S. currency have kept energy prices elevated.

Because crude is priced in the U.S. currency, investors holding other currencies like the euro can buy more crude when the dollar falls.

Even before the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its weekly supply report Wednesday, crude prices were rising as the dollar fell.

Benchmark crude for February delivery rose $2.27 to settle at $76.67 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil rose 6.32 cents to settle at $2.0118 while gasoline gained 7.78 cents to settle at $1.9666. Natural gas rose 10.6 cents to settle at $5.821 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude for February delivery rose $1.53 to $74.99 on the ICE Futures exchange.

The pipes and pumps at left will serve Minot and the NAWS system. The tanks at right are tanks used to protect against pressure surges. Equipment vendors and engineers were going over the operation with state and city workers Wednesday.

A high-service pump station capable of distributing 26 million gallons of water a day is now serving the Northwest Area Water Supply project and City of Minot.

“This is the heart of the NAWS system,” project manager Michelle Klose said as equipment vendors, engineers and city and State Water Commission staff checked out the start-up operation Wednesday.

The station, which had been under construction for the past year and a half, went into operation Tuesday. It is in an eight-day commissioning period, during which time it is operating at a testing level.

The plant has four pumps distributing water to Minot at 3,000 to 6,000 gallons a minute. Another four pumps are serving the rest of the NAWS system at 3,000 gallons a minute. The NAWS water is going to Berthold and Kenmare.

If all goes well, the plant will be fully commissioned after the eight days to replace an interim pumping station and the pumping system at the Minot Water Treatment Plant.

So far, Klose said, “It’s actually going pretty good”

John T. Jones Construction Co., Fargo, built the $12.4 million project. Some finishing and landscaping work remains so official completion won’t happen until February, although the station will be operating.

In addition to the pumps, other features of the plant include two large tanks filled with water and air that will be used to guard against pressure surges if the flow ever needs to stop suddenly. Two 1-million gallon reservoirs of treated water also exist underground near the station.

During the commissioning period, equipment vendors will be training city and water commission staff. The city will be able to monitor the new station through its existing computer control system at the water treatment plant.

Once the new station is fully on line, an interim pump station built in the area to distribute up to an extra 3.5 million gallons a day will be dismantled. The pumps will be used elsewhere in the NAWS system. Eight aging pumps at the Minot Water Treatment Plant also will be removed.

“This is going to be a more efficient system for the city,” Klose said.

The city’s treatment plant can treat up to 18 million gallons of water a day. Alan Walter, Minot public works director, said the city will not be able to draw enough from its aquifers to keep the new pumping station at full capacity, but once water becomes available from the Missouri River, the infrastructure will be there to distribute that larger quantity.

“It’s going to be a big plus for this region,” he said.

There’s also room, if needed, to expand the station’s capacity with another pump and more water clarifiers.

Area towns have signed up for about 300,000 gallons of water a day from Minot until NAWS gets Missouri River water. That’s less than 10 percent of Minot’s winter water usage, Walter said.

The high-service pump station is the first of a three-phase NAWS project at the Minot treatment plant. The next phase would upgrade the plant to handle 18 million gallons a day of surface water. The final phase would increase the capacity to 26 million gallons of production.

The additional work is held up for now by an injunction issued by a federal judge in a lawsuit brought by Manitoba. That case continues in a Washington, D.C., court.

John T. Jones Construction also has sought to get an extra $500,000 to cover work that it claims wasn’t in the original contract. NAWS officials have denied the claim, and settlement negotiations failed to reach resolution. The company has the option to go to court.

A historic pump house in Victoria’s Riverside Park could be sold to investors interested in making it into a public business.

Parties from both sides declined to disclose the type of business because the deal isn’t complete, they said.

“It started out as a way to find somebody to lease it and maybe turn it into a concession stand where people can turn in canoes,” said Lewis Neitsch, a city parks commissioner. “An individual has gotten a hold of it and wants to spend a substantial amount of money down there.”

The city council authorized the staff to begin the process that could lead to sale of the property, which is in the 1200 block of Stayton Street. City Attorney Thomas Gwosdz said because it is public property, the city will take bids on it.

People have expressed interest in the property, but it’s premature to discuss details now, he said. “At this point, we don’t even know who would be bidding on something like this.”

The city council considered demolishing the building about three years ago at a price of $250,000 to $300,000. But Neitsch, who was on the council at the time, and Council Member Tom Halepaska asked the council to wait.

“I begged the council to let it sit,” Halepaska said. “They said OK and in the meantime we tried to find some uses for it.”

Neitsch said the potential investors are a local businessmen and out-of-town backers.

Halepaska said if the deal works, it will save the city the cost of demolishing the building and put an improvement on the tax roll. It also costs the city $20,000 a year to maintain the property and building.

John Johnston, the city floodplain administrator, said it appears the land is in the 100-year floodplain, but not the building. More exact measurements would be needed to confirm that, he said.

“But even with it being in this portion of the floodplain, development is allowed, especially commercial development,” he said. “Commercial developers have the opportunity to use materials that are flood resistant and make sure that if water does get in there, they can just wash it out and go right back.”

The city used the pump house as a water plant until 2001, when the city switched from well water to river water, said Lynn Short, Victoria’s public works director.

“When we were on groundwater, it was a water supply plant,” he said. “We had two water wells that pumped into it and water was treated there.”

Better for Farmer and Saves Lots of Water
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), a telecom company in India, has launched a new service that allows farmers to operate their irrigation pumps remotely using a SMS-capable cellphone. This is extremely useful because the alternative often is for the farmers to walk many miles to the pumps, often at night because the electricity supply is a bit more reliable then (and sometimes after walking for hours, they arrive to find out that the electricity is out).

The Business Standard writes:

Under the service, farmers will have to buy a Tata Indicom mobile connection and a mobile modem that will be attached to the starter of the pump set. After registration, the subscriber (farmer) will be provided with a unique code number. Using the mobile handset, the farmer can remotely switch on and switch off the pump set with the assigned code number. The farmer can also check the on/off status as well as the availability of power by a particular tone. “This service is exceptionally functional in order to save lot of time and energy in the regions that have erratic power supply,” Bhasin said.

The subscriber will be charged Rs 2,700 for the device and an additional amount for the handset that offers lifetime validity. The service comprises two handsets that will be provided with the bundled offer - one installed with the device while the other remains with the farmer. All the calls made to the pump by the Tata Indicom mobile will be free whereas the other calls will be charged as per the tariff plan given to the subscriber.

(2,700 Indian Rupees is about $60 US)

This is excellent for social and economic reasons, obvious (spending less time turning pumps on and off means there’s more time for more productive activities), but from an environmental point of view, this is also very important because this means that water can be used more efficiently, which means that India’s agricultural sector can become more drought resistant over time, and that more water from rivers will be left as drinking water for India’s massive population.

The heat pump is an air conditioner, which can heat and cool your house. One simple explanation is that the best heat pump will extract heat that is found in air or ground outside your home and will transfer that heat in your house in its place. Under the exact conditions it will do this considerably more cheaply than gas or oil furnace.

Consider the following questions while buying the best heat pump:

· Is heat pump a best choice — or it would be better buying furnace and central air conditioner?

· What is the perfect size that you should buy?

· What is the heat pump efficiency, also how efficient should your pump be?

· Which brand name is best for your house?

· Who must install it?

As the best heat pump can heat and cool your house, do not buy a heat pump then the central air conditioner. In addition, would you rather have a single device to buy, install as well as maintain than both central air conditioner and furnace? While the answer can be easy, you must consider some factors.

Seasonal weather in your area is probably the most significant factor in this preference. If temperature hardly ever dips under 40 degrees Fahrenheit, then you can most likely heat your house affordably with a heat pump than a furnace. However, if the temperature is colder, then you must consider having a backup heat source. Many people select a gas or an oil furnace to serve up this purpose — for reasons of price and because the furnace will keep temperatures warm when the temperature outside and inside increases.

Second, the best heat pumps are normally a little more expensive than central air conditioners of same efficiency and capacity. For instance, at one direct to consumer retailer, 1.5 ton, and 13 SEER Rheem pump retails for $100 more than an equivalent 13 SEER Rheem air conditioner. The contractors
may charge more to install the heat pump than the central air conditioner.

The third criterion to think of is longevity. As the central air conditioner is usually used only during summer months, and the best heat pumps are used during summer and winter, the lifespan of the pump is usually shorter than of central air conditioner. The maintenance costs are usually higher also, since compressor, controls as well as other components can run more months out of a year.