Thiruvananthapuram: Is your water pump running up a big power bill? Perhaps it is time to go take a walk. A village youth from Nedumangad near here is all set to prove that the energy spent on taking a stroll in the garden or the neighbourhood could be effectively harnessed to pump water from a bore well.

The inventor has come up with a water pumping mechanism that works without electricity or fuel. The system is powered by the weight of a person walking and can be installed in crowded areas like footpaths, schools, colleges or markets. It uses a metal platform concealing a set of underground piston pumps connected to a bore well and a sump. Every time a pedestrian steps on the platform, his weight depresses the platform by about a centimetre. This movement is enough to power the pumps and draw water from the well. The prototype can pump water from a depth of 10 metres even if a child weighing 10 kg walks over the platform.

"A series of such platforms within a 100- metre stretch can be used to store water or operate an irrigation system. There are no recurring expenses. The system is pollution-free and it does not cause inconvenience to pedestrians. It can be used to solve water scarcity in urban areas," says Mr. Sajikumar.

The prototype was developed at a cost of Rs. 6,000. The National Innovation Foundation has shortlisted Mr. Sajikumar's invention and has allocated Rs. 3 lakh for its implementation.

An undergraduate with an innovative spirit, Mr. Sajikumar had earlier developed another pump that is currently in operation in the Vembayam panchayat. The 40 families in the Mottamoodu colony depend on that for their water needs.

The device works on common principles of physics. The water from a perennial stream is collected in a small check dam and directed through a pipe to fall on the cups attached to the leaves of a turbine. The rotation of the turbine activates a shaft-driven piston-pump that sucks water up from the stream or a nearby well to a tank, 47 metres above. The stored water is then delivered through a network of pipes. The system distributes 5,000 litres of water every day. The State Planning Board is working on a project to install similar pumps in the four other panchayats in the district.

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