During the technical workshops specific knowledge and skills are transferred. The duration of a workshop depends on the type of workshop some of them take an evening while others are a whole weekend. The stick welding (or shielded metal arc welding) workshop is mostly given to students of the University of Twente. The workshops are given in consultation and for the stick welding, there is no minimum number of participants. If you want more information about the different workshops or discuss the possibilities of organising a workshop on location please contact us.

The following workshops are organised by the WOT:

Fabrication of a solar-powered hot water system

This workshop teaches how to make a solar collector, which is the main part of a hot water system designed by Bart Deuss, known as the “Deuss system”. This is a simple system that used solar radiation to heat water. The system needs no pumps and electricity but uses natural circulation to induce the flow of the water.

Rope pump fabrication

A rope pump is a water pump that can be manufactured and maintained cheaply and easily. Rope pumps are mostly used by small scale communities, families and for small scale irrigation. For the workshop you can choose between a wooden and steel design, where the wooden one is less durable but easier to manufacture. For the steel version, specific skills and jigs are necessary but the design is more durable and can be commercially manufactured in local workshops. About 100,000 rope pumps are in use worldwide.

Fabrication of EMAS PVC pumps

The EMAS pump is a piston pump made from PVC parts, which has the benefit of being cheap, easy to manufacture, and insusceptible to rust. This type of pump is very suitable as a family pump as the water can be pumped directly from the well to a storage tank at a higher level. About 20,000 EMAS pumps are in use in Bolivia alone.

Stick welding

This workshop, mainly taught to students of the University of Twente, teaches the participants the basics of stick welding, also called shielded metal arc welding.