Top end of pump tube

3D Model

On a day with exceptionally low tide in the mouth of Køge Å, Zealand, Denmark, a pedestrian discovered this pump tube (2887x1) on the exposed riverbed. Barnacles on the piece suggest that is was brought to the find spot from more saline waters. A likely scenario is that it was caught in a fishing net or discovered by divers and subsequently brought to the harbor and deposited in the harbor; perhaps awaiting reporting to the museum? The manual force pump is broken above the spout, but the iron handle bearing is preserved, its dimensions suggesting that the handle too was made of iron. The handle was connected to the pump rod, moving the piston up and down the tube. In maritime use, a pump like this would have lifted the ship’s bilge water to a level above the waterline, where it could be diverted outboard, either plainly over the deck or via a hollow deck beam. The pump is perhaps a ship’s most important piece of equipment. Without it, the ship may sink. H: 64cm (+handle 20cm), Ø: 22cm (outer)/14cm (inner).