RP-01638

program is being curtailed by the lack of the
30% counterpart financing that is a prerequisite
for obtaining "soft" loans from the
World Bank (World Water 1982).
Only a limited number of handpumps exist
at present, whether locally manufactured or
imported. The imported pumps corne either
from India or Bangladesh and, for shallow
wells, cost about $100-250 each. In view of
their limited usage and the lack of experience
in their construction, there are no data on
either their cost or reliability.
Provided that funds are not a constraint,
the potential demand for the IDRC-sponsored
PVC pumps is approximately 20000 pumps
per year between now and 1990. This is based
on the assumption that at least half the rural
population can be served by shallow wells and
that each pump serves five households.
Thailand
After some laboratory testing, a modified
version of the below-ground composent of
the IDRC-sponsored PVC pump was installed
in 54 selected wells in central, northeastern,
and northern Thailand. These wells were
being used daily by villagers, and had been
fitted with a Department of Minerai Resources
(DMR) (Demster or Red Jacket) or an Accelerated
Rural Development (ARD) (modified Korat)
pump. The project team retained the aboveground
components of these 54 pumps and
only altered the below-ground components.
Thus the pump that was tested was made up
of a combination of plastic and cast-iron
components.
These pumps were field tested for 15 months
and the results were generally satisfactory.
The major problem encountered initially was
that of foot-valve leakage, especially in sandy
areas where sand particles lodged under the
plate valve and caused the leakage. However,
after some modifications to the design, this
problem appears to have been solved.
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
group also designed a new PVC pump that
had both above- and below-ground components
of PVC, but only three of these
pumps were tested in the field. The project
team considers that the IDRC-PVC handpump
can be used for wells to a maximum
depth of 65 feet (20 m).
The drilled depth of the selected wells
ranged from 52 to 112 feet (16-34 m). However,
the water level ranged from 4.9 to 52
feet (1.5-16 m). The water level in most wells
was less than 16 feet (5 m) in depth.
Economic analysis
The cost of the AIT-designed PVC handpump
is comparable to the cost of the DMR
and ARD handpumps. Excluding the cost of
the riser pipe, which varies with the depth of
the well, the cost of the AIT-PVC handpump
is $135 as compared with $122 for the DMR
and $139 for the ARD handpumps. The AIT-
PVC handpump cost is for individually fabricated
models, whereas the cost for the DMR
and ARD pumps is for mass production.
Hence, it would be possible to reduce the
AIT-PVC handpump cost substantially if it
were produced on a large scale.
Water supply situation
Nearly 30% of Thailand's population of
38 million people live in rural areas and 60%
of these rural inhabitants, or 2.6 million
households, do not have access to clean water.
Although there is no definite figure on the
number of handpumps installed in Thailand,
it has been estimated that over 5 million people
in the country depend on handpumps for
water. If it is assumed that 200 people are
served by one pump on average, then an
estimated 25 000 handpumps are currently
being used in Thailand. Of this total, 19 000
handpumps have been installed by various
governmental agencies. The major problem
faced by government agencies is that, on any
particular day, 25% of these handpumps will
be out of service. The average cost of maintenance
for each of these handpumps is $71
per year.
The main government agencies involved in
the rural handpump program are: Department
of Minerai Resources in the Ministry of
Industry; Department of Health in the
Ministry of Public Health; and Department of
Public Works and the Office of Accelerated
Rural Development in the Ministry of the
Interior.
Each of these agencies has adopted its own
handpump design and the pumps are produced
locally, i.e., by local manufacturing firms who
are awarded government contracts for such
pumps. Their design is essentially similar to
models imported from western countries, but
they incorporate some minor modifications.
These agencies are also involved in drilling
wells and installing handpumps in the rural
areas. To date, they have installed about
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