Roy Bird, the Managing Director of Glockemann Water Pumps, first saw the Glockemann hydraulic ram water pump working in the jungles of Papua New Guinea in 2009 where he had two shops, one in Goroka in the Highlands, and the other in Lae, the largest seaport in PNG.  He began importing the pumps from Australia and retailed them in the rural and remote areas of PNG.

 

In 2012 Glockemann Peck Engineers who had produced the pump in Australia for 25 years, ceased their operations, so supply to PNG and other countries could no longer be realized.

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On returning to Australia Roy Bird made contact with Ralph Glockemann, the inventor of the pump. An agreement was brokered giving Roy permission to manufacture 30 units as a trial run. After several months of negotiations a manufacturer was found. Ralph and Roy travelled to China to inspect the new product and to see if the quality was of highest standard.

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Subsequently, Glockemann Water Pumps Pty Ltd was formed on 6 January 2014, with ABN 13166428471. Its directors are Roy and Jean Bird.

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On 4 June 2015, an Innovation Patent (Number 2015100766) covering the Glockemann 320 Water Pump was granted to the company. The Term of this Patent is eight years from 8 June 2015.

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 Since 2018 Northern Iron & Brass at Wangan near Cairns have been making the pump casings.  

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In 2022 the company launched the Glockemann Aquarius, a smaller but equally powerful pump with a UV-resistant PVC casing. 

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The leading market is in Australia where the pump is used by farmers for crop irrigation, livestock watering and household use, and by people and organisations such as national parks in remote locations  The next largest market is Papua New Guinea, where the water powered pump is used in rural and remote areas to provide water for mine village and community water supply, as well as farmers for crops, livestock and aquaculture.

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The pumps are also used around the world, including New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Canada and Alaska, and the company is keen to develop markets everywhere.  It considers the small lighter Aquarius to have huge potential  with small-scale farmers and for humanitarian WaSH projects. 

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There is unlimited potential in developing countries for this type of self-powered pump as it runs without electricity or fuel, while petrol, diesel and electricity are often hard to come by and expensive for the local populations.