The research developments with renewable energy source water pumping systems (RESWPSs) are reviewed in this paper. The reported investigations are categorized into five major groups as follows: (i) solar photovoltaic water pumping systems (SPWPSs), (ii) solar thermal water pumping systems (STWPSs), (iii) wind energy water pumping systems (WEWPSs), (iv) biomass water pumping systems (BWPSs) and (v) hybrid renewable energy water pumping systems (HREWPSs). More than a hundred published articles related to RESWPSs are briefly reviewed. Additionally, the limitations with RESWPSs and further research needs are described. This paper concludes that renewable energy sources (RESs) play a vital role in reducing the consumption of conventional energy sources and its environmental impacts for water pumping applications.