POLDAW Windpumps Information Sheet

 

Introduction

Designed and developed by Neale Consulting Engineers Ltd. (NCEL), UK, Poldaw Windpumps are intended principally for applications in developing countries.  They are a truly “appropriate technology” for rural water supply in many situations.

The Poldaw Windpumps are a range of medium sized low cost machines. The designers have extensive experience of appropriate technology machinery design, refining and finalising the “Intermediate Technology Development Group” (a UK charity) design of its “IT” windpump for the developing world during the 1980’s. They have been involved with the design and production of windpumps and other machinery for use in developing countries since 1982. From their experience they have identified the importance of certain design criteria which are applicable to windpumps anywhere in the world:-

 

·         Robustness and reliability (design life-span of at least 20 years)

·         Practical and cost-effective manufacture

·         Easy, safe installation and maintenance

·         Start-up in low wind speed (3 m/s or less)

·         Survival in high winds (50 m/s, 180 km/h)

·         Adequate pumping capacity

·         Low speed operation for smoothness and reliability

 

The Poldaw designs meet these criteria, and at the same time achieve the lowest cost possible without compromising robustness and reliability.

Benefits of Poldaw Windpumps:-  Poldaw Windpumps were designed and developed using modern engineering design know-how, achieving:

 

·         Ultra-low operation and maintenance costs: maintenance is a simple annual procedure

·         Proven, reliable, robust, sustainable technology

·         Manufactured locally using readily available materials, to benefit the local economy

·         Value for money, costs competitive with other pumping methods and lower than most other windpumps

 Product Description

How much water do the Poldaws produce?   The performance of the Poldaw Windpumps depend on pumping head (i.e. total lift required) and windspeeds. The two most popular models are the 3.5m machine (the diameter of the rotor is 3.5 metres) and the 5m machine. For a moderate pumping head of 20m, in a medium wind speed of 4m/s, outputs are:
  • Poldaw 3.5 m:  21,000 litres per day
  • Poldaw 5.0 m:  43,000 litres per day

There are also smaller models, 2.2m and 1.8m, with correspondingly smaller outputs.

The 3.5 metre machine can pump from depths of up to 90m, whilst the 5 metre machine can pump from 140m, now extended to 200m max by means of a spring counterbalance system. Further details of pumping performance can be found in Technical Data

Are there siting or wind condition constraints?  The Poldaw can start up under load in the lightest of breezes and operates in wind speeds as low as 3 metres per second (approx. 7 mph). A simple test with an anemometer will confirm local wind speed conditions.

A range of tower heights is available, selected to suit local topography and wind conditions, for example a sheltered site may require a tall tower. If there is doubt about the suitability of a site for a windpump, Poldaw and/or its local licensees will advise.

Cost effectiveness of the Poldaw Windpump:-   The Poldaw Windpumps costs 30% less to manufacture than other similarly sized windpumps and, being made with local materials and labour, have no import duties.

The initial purchase cost of a community water supply system using a Poldaw Windpump varies from country to country, but generally compares favourably with other powered pumping systems.

Running costs are negligible due to no fuel and minimal straightforward maintenance.

Who manufactures Poldaw Windpumps?  The Poldaw is a modern appropriate technology windpump design, which can be made easily in any country using readily available materials with basic engineering tools and equipment.

The preferred approach is to licence the design to local manufacturers who make, sell, install and maintain the windpumps as required. As part of the licence agreement, Neale Consulting Engineers provide on-site training, transfer of know-how and ongoing technical support to the manufacturer.

Poldaw Windpumps are currently manufactured in the UK and in a number of countries in Africa and Asia. Click here for list.

Easy maintenance:-   Poldaw Windpumps have been designed to need very little maintenance. All that is required is the greasing of bearings once a year, with a general inspection of other components. The principal wearing parts of the whole system are the leather sealing washers in the pump piston, which are replaced on average every 2 to 3 years.

Routine maintenance and pump washer replacement can easily be carried out with the tower standing. To simplify installation, and for any major borehole or windpump maintenance, the tower has been designed to hinge on two of its three feet so that the whole machine can be laid down by use of a winch.

Local mechanics can be trained in one to two days to carry out these procedures or the local manufacturer can provide support under an ongoing contract. The skill level required is much less than for diesel engine maintenance and attention is only needed once per year.

What happens when the wind doesn’t blow?  Windpumps are suitable for any location with an average wind speed of 2.5 m/s or more and with no prolonged windless periods.

In such locations, on most days there is sufficient wind for the windpump to operate for at least part of the day. However, to provide against windless days, the Poldaw Windpump is usually installed with a water tank or reservoir. Generally a tank with three days of water supply is adequate.

What happens when there is a storm?  The Poldaw Windpump is designed, through the use of a hinged tail vane, to turn (or “furl”) automatically to minimise the area facing into the wind. By means of this mechanism it will withstand storms of over 180 kilometres per hour.

 

Applications

Poldaw Windpumps are ideal for a wide range of community, agricultural and industrial applications, for example;

·         Villages

·         Nomadic peoples

·         Schools

·         Nature/wildlife reserves

·         Clinics

·         Farms (irrigation)

·         Farms (livestock)

·         Waste-water treatment

·         Small scale industry

·         Aeration

Poldaw Windpumps can pump from:

· Open (dug) wells

· Rivers

· Boreholes (tubewells)

· Lakes

· Springs

· Marshes (drainage)

· Dams

· Sea (salt production)

Pumping systems:-  Poldaw Windpumps not only lift water to a surface tank adjacent to the source but also, with appropriate plumbing, can pump water great distances and to substantial heights. Poldaw Windpumps are used to pump water to:

·      Tanks on raised stands or nearby hills

·      Remote tanks or reservoirs (distances of over 1 km and heights of 50 m)

·      Pressurised drip irrigation systems

·      Water distribution systems (usually with header tank)

 

Installations

POLDAW INSTALLATIONS IN AFRICA AND ASIA:-   Poldaw Windpumps have been installed in many different situations in developing countries in Africa and Asia, ranging from village communities, schools, clinics, farms through to small industrial sites. The following examples give a flavour of the types of situations where Poldaw Windpumps have been used:-

·   Munyikwa Secondary School, Gutu District, Zimbabwe. A Poldaw 3.5m Windpump pumps water to a 10,000 litre tank from where it supplies twenty stand pipes for the school’s 500 pupils and the surrounding community. Total pumping head is 20m.

·   Chitora Rural Clinic, Near Mutare, Zimbabwe. A Poldaw 3.5m Windpump supplies an elevated tank through a 100m pipeline. Total pumping head is 15m. About 700 people benefit from the water supply. The project was funded by the E.U. Microprojects Programme.

·   Chiwero Farm, 80km West of Harare, Zimbabwe. A 3.5m Poldaw Windpump feeds a 10,000 litre tank which supplies four standpipes via 100m of piping. The total pumping head is 14m and about 500 people benefit from the water supply. This is a Communal Farms project funded by the Methodist Church.

·   Solapur, India. A farmer is using a Poldaw Windpump for farming and domestic purposes, irrigating vegetable and fruit crops. He uses a 3.5m machine with a total pumping head of 35m (120 feet).  The windpump was purchased by the farmer.

·    Baluchistan, Pakistan. A pilot project for drought alleviation has been carried out in over 20 rural villages.  Poldaw 3.5m windpumps are used on hand dug wells with depths varying from 15 to 35 m (50 to 120 feet).  The windpumps provide domestic supply for the villagers, and drinking water for livestock.  Surplus water is used for growing of vegetables etc.  Funding has been provided by the Baluchistan regional government.

·   Zambia. Various Poldaw windpumps, 3.5m and 5.0m models, are being used in combination with drip-irrigation schemes to grow a variety of crops.

Applications in Western Countries:  Poldaw Windpumps are also being used in the UK. The benefits and uses of windpumps are different in Western countries with widespread rural mains water and electricity distribution.

·    Cost of mains water: The use of high-quality mains drinking water is an unnecessary expense for irrigation, watering animals, wetland maintenance or industrial purposes. Windpumps can be used to provide cheap non-drinking water.

·     Remote locations without mains: If a borehole is more than 1 - 2 km from a mains electricity supply a windpump is often the most economical solution, due to the high cost of installing a mains supply.

·     Environmentally sound solutions: Poldaw Windpumps are being used for nature reserves, wetland rehabilitation schemes and for waste-management where ‘environmentally friendly’ solutions are required.

·     Low running costs: A windpump can be used in remote locations and will operate continuously without attendance.

·     Leachate pumping: Poldaw Windpumps are being used to pump leachate (toxic liquids) from capped landfill sites. Such sites often have methane present, so the purely mechanical operation of the windpump avoids explosion hazards.

WHERE YOU CAN VIEW POLDAW WINDPUMPS:  A Poldaw 3.5m Windpump is on permanent display at the Centre for Alternative Technology (C.A.T), Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9AZ , UK (tel +44 (0)1654 705950) and is available for public viewing. See http://www.cat.org.uk

Other Poldaw windpumps in service in various countries can be viewed by arrangement with Neale Consulting Engineers, or with the local manufacturer.  

Manufacturers

(List updated January2008)

 

ZIMBABWE:

Annevor Systems

PO Box BW1299, Borrowdale, Harare, Zimbabwe

Trevor McEnery

Tel 002634 308495, fax/tel 002634 882718

email: annevor@utande.co.zw

 

UK:

G B Windpumps

Willowbrook, The Street, Kilmington, Axminster, Devon EX13 7SH, UK

Chris Thorne

Tel +44 (0) 1297 631672, mob 07870 114072

email: sales@windpumps.co.uk

website: www.windpumps.co.uk

 

TURKEY:

MANES Demir Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd. (formerly Genba Ltd.)

Istiklal Mahallesi 40 Sokak No:89 Z/2-3, Ulucak Kemalpasa,

 Izmir, TURKEY

Cengiz Oguzer

Tel. +90 232 877 20 67-68,  Fax +90 232 877 20 69

email: cengiz_oguzer@genba.com.tr

 

 

ETHIOPIA:

GEM Engineering General Trading plc

Debre Ziet Road, Near to Kadisco Building

PO Box 122814,  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

TEL:- 00251-114401197     FAX:- 00251-114404095

Mr Girma Eshetu

email:   gemeng@ethionet.et

 

 

PAKISTAN:

Agrotool (Pvt) Ltd.

Sohana Research Farm, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Block 1, Karachi, Pakistan

Mahmood Futehally

Tel: 00 92 21 4994531 (office). Fax: 00 92 21 2417836

email nfit@cyber.net.pk

 

BOLIVIA:

Terry Waller, c/o: World Concern

Casilla 3681, Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Tel. + 591 3 965 6912.  Cell + 591 7 101 8858

email: terry@southlandbaptist.org

website: www.geocities.com/h2oclubs/

 

NIGERIA:

Alkatbu Technologies Ltd. : Dr. Alka

No 18 Abu Bakar Tafawea, Balewa Road, Bauchi, Nigeria

Tel: 0023477 542268/ 541164. Fax:0023477 543102

email alkagroup@yahoo.com or ecclesuk@aol.com

 

GHANA:

Mr B M Oppong

Village Infrastructure Project (VIP), The Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

PO Box CT 3742, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana

Tel 00233 21 770246 . cellphone 0244 383 133 fax: 00233 21 770247

email: Mr. B.M. Oppong, c/o: jcrbekoe@yahoo.co.uk

 

ZAMBIA:

Songhor Agricultural Ltd.

P.O.Box 11, Fringilla, Zambia

Roger Mase

Tel +260 1 212117    cell 096 262 298

email: mase@zamnet.zm  or  allisongeorge@gmail.com

 

AFGHANISTAN:

Qaderdan Rural Technology Development Work Shop  (QRTDW)

Street no. 2, Karte-e-Char, Kabul,   AFGHANISTAN

Mr Habib Qaderdan

email: qaderdan_rtdw@yahoo.com

website: http://www.qrtdw.com/

Tel. (0093) 70287029,   79337463,   79401597

 

SOUTH AFRICA:

Villiers Aqua Engineering

PO Box 98, 7 Cornelis Street, Villiers, Republic of South Africa 9840

Friamie Vorster

tel 0027 (0) 58 821 0765. cell 0027 (0) 72 236 6845, Fax 0027 (058) 821 0765

email: villiersaqua@lantic.net

website: www.poldawwindpumps.co.za/

 

ECUADOR:

Hofloye Ltd: Marco A Hof

Appartemento 4B, Condamine N17-46 y Oleas, Vicentina, Quito, Ecuador.

Marco Hof

tel 0059323228480, cellphone: 00593 93676883

email: max_hof2003@yahoo.co.uk

Technical Data

Technical Details:  Design for low cost and high reliability:-The Poldaw Windpump has a very simple but elegant design. Most successful small windpumps with a deep well capability use a speed reduction gearbox to avoid dynamic problems in the pump and pump rods. However, gearboxes are expensive, difficult to manufacture, and require good lubrication and therefore high maintenance. The Poldaw transmission uses a simple crank and rocker arrangement, with a specially developed rotor which develops high torque at low speed. The elimination of the gearbox thus reduces the cost and improves reliability.

Lubrication only once a year:   For the continuously moving joints, self-aligning ball bearing units are used, which are universally available, very reliable and only require greasing about once a year. Other bearings and pivots which only move intermittently, are made from polymeric materials or hardwood.

Pumps and pipelines:  The pump itself consists of a simple cylinder incorporating a non-return valve at the bottom and another in the piston. The pumps vary in diameter, depending on the required pumping head. For pumping a long distance to a remote tank, an air chamber may be incorporated. This evens out the pulsing water flow from the pump and thus reduces the stresses on the windpump mechanism.

Automatic Storm Protection:  Poldaw Windpumps protect themselves from damage in very strong winds, by turning the rotor edge-on to the wind. This takes place automatically in wind speeds of over 50 km/h, and enables the windpump to withstand storms of 180 km/h (50 m/s). When the wind drops again the rotor resumes its normal position facing the wind.

PUMPING PERFORMANCE   The output capacities for the range of possible Poldaw Windpump applications can be seen in the following tables.

 Poldaw 5.0m Windpump (Approximate outputs in litres per 24 hours)

TOTAL PUMPING HEAD

Light Wind – 3 m/s

Medium Wind– 4 m/s

Feet

(Metres)

Litres/day

Litres/day

15

5

85,000

180,000

30

10

41,000

90,000

50

15

27,000

60,000

80

25

16,000

39,000

100

30

14,000

32,000

150

45

9,000

22,000

200

60

7,000

16,000

250

75*

5,500*

13,000*

300

90*

4,500*

11,000*

400

120*

3,400*

8,000*

500

150*

2,700*

6,000*

600

180*

2,200*

5,000*

* Note – to achieve these outputs on heads of 75m+, spring counterbalancing is required.

Poldaw 3.5m Windpump (Approximate outputs in litres per 24 hours)

TOTAL PUMPING HEAD

Light Wind – 3 m/s

Medium Wind– 4 m/s

Feet

(Metres)

Litres/day

Litres/day

15

5

45,000

90,000

30

10

22,000

45,000

50

15

15,000

29,000

80

25

9,000

16,000

100

30

7,000

13,000

150

45

4,700

8,000

200

60

3,000

5,500

250

75

2,200

4,000

Poldaw 2.2m Windpump (Approximate outputs in litres per 24 hours)

TOTAL PUMPING HEAD

Light Wind – 3 m/s

Medium Wind– 4 m/s

Feet

(Metres)

Litres/day

Litres/day

15

5

15,000

32,000

30

10

7,000

15,000

50

15

5,000

9,000

65

20

3,500

6,700

80

25

2,500

5,000

Poldaw 1.8m Windpump (Approximate outputs in litres per 24 hours)

TOTAL PUMPING HEAD

Light Wind – 3 m/s

Medium Wind– 4 m/s

Feet

(Metres)

Litres/day

Litres/day

15

5

10,000

24,000

30

10

5,000