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Windpump

Wind turbine for pumping water

  • 8 min read
  • 6 chapters

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Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The use of windpumps became widespread across the Muslim world and later spread to China and India. Windpumps were later used extensively in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and the East Anglia area of Great Britain, from the late Middle Ages onwards, to drain land for agricultural or building purposes.

Simon Stevin's work in the waterstaet involved improvements to the sluices and spillways to control flooding. Windpumps were already in use to pump the water out, but in Van de Molens (On mills) he suggested improvements, including the idea that the wheels should move slowly, and a better system for meshing of the gear teeth. These improvements increased the efficiency of the windpumps used to extract water out of the polders by a factor of three. He received a patent on his innovation in 1586.

Eight- to ten-bladed windpumps were used in the Region of Murcia, Spain, to raise water for irrigation purposes. The drive from the windpump’s rotor was led down through the tower and back out through the wall to turn a large wheel known as a noria. The noria supported a bucket chain which dangled down into the well. The buckets were traditionally made of wood or clay. These windpumps remained in use until the 1950s, and many of the towers are still standing.

Early immigrants to the New World brought with them the technology of windpumps from Europe. On US farms, particularly on the Great Plains, windpumps were used to pump water from farm wells for cattle. In California and some other states, the windpump was part of a self-contained domestic water system, including a hand-dug well and a redwood water tower supporting a redwood tank and enclosed by redwood siding (tankhouse). The self-regulating farm windpump was invented by Daniel Halladay in 1854. Eventually, steel blades and steel towers replaced wooden construction, and at their peak in 1930, an estimated 600,000 units were in use, with capacity equivalent to 150 megawatts. Very large lighter windpumps in Australia directly crank the pump with the rotor of the windpump. Extra back gearing between small rotors for high wind areas and the pump crank prevents trying to push the pump rod down on the downstroke faster than it can fall by gravity; otherwise pumping too fast would lead to the pump rod buckling, making the seal of the stuffing box leak and wearing through the wall of the rising main (UK) or the drop-pipe (US) so all output would be lost.

The multi-bladed wind pump or wind turbine atop a lattice tower made of wood or steel hence became, for many years, a fixture of the landscape throughout rural America. These turbines, made by a variety of manufacturers, featured many blades so that they would turn slowly with considerable torque in moderate winds and be self-regulating in high winds. A tower-top gearbox and crankshaft converted the rotary motion into reciprocating strokes carried downward through a rod to the pump cylinder below. Today, rising energy costs and improved pumping technology are increasing interest in the use of this once-declining technology.

Worldwide use

The Netherlands is well known for its windpumps. Most of these iconic structures are situated along the edge of polders and are frequently referred to as windmills, although they are designed to drain the land. They are particularly important as much of the country lies below sea level.

Many of these windpumps were also built in The Broads and The Fens of East Anglia for the draining of land, but most of them have since been replaced by diesel or electric powered pumps. Many of the original structures still stand in a derelict state although some have been restored.

Windpumps are used extensively in Southern Africa, Australia, and on farms and ranches in the central plains and southwest of the United States. In South Africa and Namibia thousands of windpumps are still operating. These are mostly used to provide water for human use as well as drinking water for large sheep stocks.

Kenya has also benefited from the African development of windpump technologies. At the end of the 1970s, the UK NGO Intermediate Technology Development Group provided engineering support to the Kenyan company Bobs Harries Engineering Ltd for the development of the Kijito windpumps. Bobs Harries Engineering Ltd is still manufacturing the Kijito windpumps, and more than 300 of them are operating in the whole of East Africa.

In many parts of the world, a rope pump is being used in conjunction with wind turbines. This easy-to-construct pump works by pulling a knotted rope through a pipe (usually a simple PVC pipe), causing the water to be pulled up into the pipe. This type of pump has become common in Nicaragua and other places.

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