The Abakus pump is an adaptation of the traditional rope pump, which can easily be built and maintained by local people using locally available and inexpensive materials. It is made from a bicycle wheel, a plastic pipe and a rope. The principle behind the pump is water lifting. The action of turning the handle pulls a loop of rope around a wheel, through a guide at the bottom of the well and up a plastic pipe (rising pipe) that is submerged under water. The rope has equally spaced circular disks along its length. These disks trap water in the rising pipe and lift it into an outlet spout.

The Abakus pump is as efficient and provides as clean water as the modern expensive pumps, but its simplicity and low cost means that communities are capable of funding, installing and maintaining the pump by themselves.