Pump draws interest

Press, 2 June 1981, Page 12

Pump draws interest

PA ' Dunedin A pump run by small amounts of waste water has been invented by a Dunedin man who has already developed an internationally successful pump. Mr Roy Martin's latest invention built in his backyard workshop has attracted considerable interest in New

Zealand and overseas. His plata pump is already successfully marketed throughout the world. The new unit, which Mr Martin describes as a “waste water operated turbine,” uses small amounts of water from sources such as springs and waterfalls,- and even rainwater from roofs. This

water can be used to create energy for various, mechanical devices, pumping for trickle irrigation or spraying, water supplies for homes and camping areas, and also for draining low-lying areas.

The Forest Service has already expressed interest in the pump.

Water reservoirs could be made with the help of tl;e pump, which can lift water 100 metres or more, on' forest hill tops during wet seasons for use during fires in the summer.

In the pump, water enters through an inlet, spinning a. turbine, which works the primer to lift the water. A flywheel keeps the pumping regular and there is a supply pipe which can be used if waste water is unavailable and continuous pumping is; desired. The pump uses no fuel.

Mr Martin says its use and installation are simple. Special sockets and attachments mean that it "can be moved about like a wheelbarrow making it suitable for backcountry work.” The biggest problem facing Mr . Martin is finance for development. During a visit to Europe, one of the biggest overseas engineering consortiums had urged him to move there to do his development work, and had offered him $5 million for financial backing, Mr Martin said.

“I like to see local people taking advantage of the project . . . people now unemployed here might be in the factory making them,” he said.

Some companies in Dunedin had supplied materials for the pump and were keen to get involved, he said.