Water pumps are devices we all take for granted for the most part. They are out of sight and, because such, end up out of our minds. A water pump is essential to making a car’s engine run since it ensures your vehicle’s coolant moves through the engine block to maintain the ideal operating temperature. It is indeed a useful component of your vehicle, but it took many years for the modern water pump to get to where it is today. Here are some notable milestones in the history of the water pump:
2000 BC Egyptians use a long suspended rod with a weight on one end and a bucket on the other end to raise water.
200 BC Greek mathematician and inventor Ctesibius uses an air pump with valves at the bottom and a tank of water with pipes on top to create the water organ. It is the principle now known as the reciprocating pump.
During this time as well, Archimedes invented the screw pump. It is still used today to pump liquids and granulated solids and is the preferred way to irrigate agriculture fields.
1475 Reti, a Brazilian soldier and science historian, created the first machine that could be characterized as a centrifugal pump.
1636 German engineer Pappenheim creates the double deep-toothed rotary gear pump, which is still used today to lubricate engines.
1650 Otto von Guericke invented the piston vacuum pump, which uses leather washers to inhibit leakage between the piston and cylinder.
1687 French-born inventor Denis Papin invents the first true centrifugal pump with straight vanes intended for local drainage.
1830 Revillion invents the modern screw pump.
1849 The world’s first all-metal pump is cast and assembled by Goulds.
1857 Worthington creates the first horizontal and direct-acting steam pump for boiler feeds.
1868 Stork Pompen, of The Netherlands, engineered the first concrete volute pump for water drainage.
1901 Byron Jackson invents the first deep well vertical turbine pump.
1913 Engineer and inventor Albert Baldwin Wood develops the wood screw pump.
1916 Aldrich invents the first direct motor-driven reciprocating pump.
1918 Byron Jackson creates the first hot oil pump for the petroleum industry to use.
1937 Worthington invents the world’s first hydraulic decoking system.
1949 HMD Pumps creates and engineers the first magnet drive pump.
1954 The world’s first atomic-powered submarine is fitted with boiler-feed pumps and compressors.
1960s Goulds Pumps develops new lines of industrial pumps, including high-pressure pumps, large double suction pumps, and non-metallic pumps.
1971 Gusher develops a purge hole system that allows pumps to handle up to 30 to 40 percent of entrained air.
1980s Electronic controls are introduced to the industry, making pumps more energy efficient.
1995 Sims manufactures the largest structural composite pumps in the world. They are 40 feet long and three feet wide.
2002 Sims invents the first structural composite vertical in-line pumps.
While not all of these inventions are directly related to the water pump, they have all influenced its design and inner workings. To have your water pump repaired or replaced by experts, call O.T.S Auto Electric. We specialize in farm machinery and alternator repair in the Edmonton area.