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We will be opening The Miracle Worker the end of the month. Need a working water pump. Does anyone have any (ECONOMICAL) ways of making a working water pump?

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Antonio Moon
Theatre Teacher

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I've never made a water pump, but it occurs to me that you could construct whatever you want out of a series of varying widths of pvc pipe, lamp parts and use a cut out profile piece of wood for the handle.  We have however, made it rain before, and that is pretty simple-- just use flexible hose and a fountain pump.  Stick the pump in a bucket of water and turn it on.

Hope that helps.

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Michael Johnson

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The quickest and most reliable solution is to purchase a water hand pump. You can purchase one from amazon.com (but look around on the internet you may find one cheaper or locally). You should be able to purchase one for less than $50.

When I did the show, I built a casing for the pump with a trough. The casing served to elevate the pump above the trough. Inside the plywood casing I placed a plastic rectangle shaped planter box to hold the water, and for the water to return to. Hand pumps work on the draw system so once you have the pump it's easy. I used a plastic tube submerged in the water and connected to the pump and it worked like a dream.

Good Luck :)
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Jeannie Brzovic

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When I dud the show many years ago, we bought a pump from the Sears catalog and then a tech kid rigged a water supply that was all self contained and rolled on to the stage. ------------------------------------------- Joanne Karr -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 01-11-2014 10:18 From: Antonio Moon Subject: Miracle Worker (Working Water Pump) We will be opening The Miracle Worker the end of the month. Need a working water pump. Does anyone have any (ECONOMICAL) ways of making a working water pump? ------------------------------------------- Antonio Moon Theatre Teacher -------------------------------------------

When we did Miracle Worker I found an old, non-working pump from someone's grandparents (an antique store might loan you one) and ran a hose to it.  Pump for wah-wah and technician turns on the sink we attached the hose to.

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[William] [Myatt] [Drama Director]

[Pleasant Valley High School]

[myattw@pleasval.k12.ia.us][563-332-5151][Bettendorf][IA][USA]
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I've used a standard compressed air pump container, the plastic ones available at Home Depot or Lowe's, for making a sink faucet work on stage.  You just fill it and pump it up before each performance and connect the hose to the faucet with pipe tape.  I would assume that would work with a pump.  A feed and seed store ought to be able to tell you where to get a pump.

You might first Google "The Miracle Worker" and your area to see if a community theatre or college has done the play lately. 
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C. J. Breland

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Antonio,

I think you might want a "pitcher pump", like this, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Pitcher-Pump-No-Lead-PP500NL/203449574#.UtM8tLSK2uk
When I did a few years back, I used one like this, it's about $50 and it worked well.  The pumps have a standard inlet that you can connect a flexible hose (I used cheap sump pump hose, http://www.homedepot.com/s/Sump%2520Pump%2520hose?NCNI-5. I used a large shallow container like this, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-Commercial-Products-16-qt-Bus-Utility-Box-in-Gray-FG-3349-GRA/100642673#  to pump the water into and back out of (this seems like something that you could probably borrow).  I only left a small portion of the container open as it's suppose to be a pump and you wouldn't have a large open pool near the pump.  The pump takes a few strokes to get primed which we did every night before the house opened. I've used the pump on several other shows that required a rustic look so maybe the costs be a bit more palatable knowing you can re-use it.  Sorry I don't have a picture....


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Michael Cordonnier
Theatre Instructor/Performing Arts Center Manager
Centerville High School
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Debbie Corbin may be able to lend some advice. Her troupe just this past weekend performed The Miracle Worker at the Missouri State Thespian Conference. I've sent her a message asking her to come check out this discussion.

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Duncan Kinzie
Region II Rep

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