what is tarua ®
Understanding positive displacement pump technology
What is a positive displacement pump?
A positive displacement pump is a type of pump designed to move fluids or mixtures by trapping a fixed volume of material and forcing it through the system. Unlike centrifugal pumps, it is particularly suitable for handling sludge, viscous materials and mixtures containing solids.
Tarua ® is an advanced self-priming positive displacement pump designed and developed by IDEE E PRODOTTI to handle these challenging materials efficiently in demanding industrial and environmental applications.
The Tarua ® system builds on positive displacement technology, combining it with a vacuum-assisted mechanism that enables continuous suction and reliable transfer of difficult materials. This configuration ensures stable performance even in demanding conditions, compared to conventional centrifugal or valve-based pumping systems.
Thanks to its full-passage design and self-priming capability, Tarua operates as a high-performance solids handling pump, capable of transferring sludge, sewage, sand, debris and other complex materials. This makes Tarua an effective dry-running pump for industrial applications where continuous operation and reliability are essential.
What is a positive displacement pump used for? Industrial applications
Tarua ® is used across a wide range of industrial and environmental applications where reliable handling of complex materials is required.
Typical use cases include industrial processes, wastewater treatment plants, environmental remediation activities and emergency operations, where the ability to transfer dense and heterogeneous materials is critical.
Its versatility makes it suitable for managing materials such as sewage sludge, sand, debris and organic waste in conditions where traditional pumping systems often struggle to operate efficiently.
Compared to traditional industrial peristaltic pumps, Tarua technology offers greater versatility in handling solids and complex materials, ensuring consistent performance in demanding operating environments.
Unlike centrifugal pumps, which rely on rotational velocity and struggle with solids or viscous materials, the positive displacement pump principle guarantees a consistent flow rate regardless of discharge pressure — making Tarua ® the reliable choice for applications where other pump technologies consistently underperform.
How Tarua ® works: the membrane technology behind the pump
Tarua ® operates on a double-acting membrane principle — two flexible membranes (the “lungs”) alternately expand and contract, generating a powerful vacuum that draws in any material through the suction port and forces it through the pump body without contact with rotating components.
This mechanism is what makes Tarua ® a true full-passage pump: solids, fibres, sludge and debris pass through the pump body intact, without shear stress or mechanical damage. There are no impellers, no filters and no grinding elements — only a clean, continuous transfer path from suction to discharge.
The result is a self-priming reciprocating positive displacement pump that handles heterogeneous materials efficiently, continuously and without clogging — even in dry-run conditions where no liquid is present.
A patented positive displacement pump with international recognition
Tarua ® is a patented positive displacement pump developed and entirely manufactured in Italy by IDEE E PRODOTTI. Its innovative approach to pumping difficult materials has earned several international recognitions — confirming its effectiveness across the most demanding industrial and environmental applications.
Among these, Tarua ® technology was selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation within the Global Growth and Opportunity Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme — a global initiative supporting access to safe sanitation in developing countries. The programme recognised Tarua ®’s ability to handle dense sludge and difficult materials efficiently in challenging infrastructure conditions, where reliability and operational simplicity are critical.
This recognition positions Tarua ® not only as a high-performance industrial pump, but as a proven technology trusted at an international humanitarian level — a benchmark for reliability in the most demanding pumping applications worldwide.
