Basic pump design requires two primary inputs: design head and fluid flow requirements. Based on these two inputs, practitioners may design a pump assembly that includes a pump and motor with sufficient power to raise a volume of fluid, e.g., water, to a desired height to satisfy both the design head and volumetric or fluid flow requirements. Often, the pump assembly is an electrically powered, off-the-shelf component.
Water is a valuable resource for raising crops, for raising animals, for cooking, for hygiene, and for human consumption. In many regions of the world, however, water is not readily accessible due to any of a number of factors that may include, for example, the depth to an aquifer or water table (which may change from time to time and from season to season), the cost of drilling and installing a well, the cost of a pump assembly to raise water to the Earth's surface, the cost and availability of electrical power for operating a pump motor or other device, and so forth.