A metal hydride water pumping system for low head and high discharge applications is analyzed. A gear system converts the large desorption to absorption pressure differential into large volume displacement. A parametric study is carried out for LaNi5 alloy for various pump heads, absorption temperatures and gear ratios. It is observed that higher the desorption temperature, the higher is the optimum desorption pressure maximizing the specific water discharge. (C) 2003 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.