Pitcher Pump

This pitcher pump you see on display is a manually operated pump which uses human power and mechanical advantage to move fluids or air from one place to another. The first iron pitcher pump was cast and assembled in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. These pumps were designed to be strong, efficient, and overcome the disadvantages of earlier wooden pitcher pumps. This small pump was mostly used outside as indoor plumbing was still a novelty during this time, and its purpose was to pump water for food preparation, to wash hands, or drinking. Most of the water that came for these pumps were underground aquifers, and the Pitcher Pump
would pump this water to the surface, however, as water was drawn directly from the soil, it is more prone to contamination. If such water is not filtered and purified, consumption of it might lead to gastrointestinal or other water-borne diseases. And with his house beginning close to Brighton, farms, and civilization in general, most water (below ground or on the surface) more than likely has contaminants in is not safe to drink without being filtered and purified.