According to this paper, an alternative to standardised imported hand pumps is the locally manufactured rope pump, which is considerably cheaper and easier to maintain but has been rejected in the past because of fears of impaired water quality. This paper presents the key aspects of a study in northern Ghana that compared the performance of rope pumps with that of conventional hand pumps, to determine whether the rope pump provides a viable alternative for community water supplies across the subcontinent. The findings of the study indicated that the rope pump out-performed the conventional hand pump on the majority of counts and that, contrary to widespread perceptions, there was no significant difference between pump types with respect to the impact on microbiological water quality.