Sustainable Concepts: Play Pumps

Exquisite Safaris and the Philanthropic Travel Foundation present; Sustainable Concepts, ideas that are making a positive and lasting difference in the communities Exquisite Safaris clients traverse.

Laughter. That's the loudest sound you'll hear at rural African schools with a PlayPump water system. This innovative water pump that doubles as a children's merry go round is bringing clean water and a better life to hundreds of thousands of families in Africa.

It's a simple idea. As children spin on a merry go round, water pumps from below the ground. It is stored in a tank just a few feet away, making a safe, plentiful supply of water available in the community.

American author Rachael Paulson and New Jersey teenagers raise funds to install Play Pumps in rural Africa.

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Learn how philanthropic travelers have been raising funds to donate PlayPumps in rural South Africa.

~ Each day in developing countries, women and girls spend more than 200 million hours collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.

~ Women and girls can get hurt carrying heavy water containers.

~ Girls in developing countries often can't go to school because collecting water takes them so much time.

~ Tanzanian households use 80 liters of water per person per day; Australians, 240; and residents of Phoenix, Arizona, 293.7

~ Unsafe water and lack of sanitation is now the single largest cause of illness worldwide.

~ Unless we act now, by 2025 the number of people who lack access to clean water could increase to 2.3 billion.

~ Half the people in developing countries are suffering from water-related diseases.

~ More than 4.5 million children will die of diarrhea and water-related diseases this year.

"All community of Winterveldt came in here because this Run About (Roundabout) does not get dry. There is always water, when government's pipe water finish, the whole community fetched water from Run About (roundabout)." -Patricia Mahlori Vuma, Winterveldt, South Africa

About Play Pump

In the rural areas of developing countries, the only access to water is from bore holes. The chore of fetching water is usually the responsibility of women and children who cover large distances in order to collect sufficient water for their family's daily requirements. It is estimated that the minimum amount of water a human needs each day is five litres which is a huge physical burden for the women and children drawing the water.

Traditional sources of water collection are from dams, springs, rivers, streams and farm reservoirs, with the introduction of bore holes where these traditional sources of water are unavailable. In the past, bore holes have been operated by hand pumps because the use of modern alternatives such as diesel, petrol or electric pumps are costly to install and carry a constant financial burden of fuel and maintenance costs.

Child's play

A South African company has come up with a new device called the play pump that reduces the toil of collecting water and uses the energy of children at play as the power supply. Cavorting on a roundabout has always been fun for children and now pure, clean bore hole water can be pumped into storage tanks while the playground roundabout equipment is in use.

The play pump is a specifically designed playground roundabout that pumps ground water from bore holes into sealed holding tanks. It is powered by the energy of the children turning the roundabout, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum, while entertaining the children. The low maintenance merry-go-round turns as easily as a standard playground fixture.

Operation of the play pump

The play pump operates on basic windmill equipment which is accessible in co-operative stores throughout Africa and can be found in most other parts of the world as well.

Below the ground is a positive displacement cylinder on rising rods and pipes. The equipment inside the unit converts the rotational movement into a vertical movement by a driving mechanism consisting of only two working parts. This makes the pump highly effective, easy to operate and very economical. Depending on the cylinder, it pumps up to about 4 litres per revolution which is much more efficient than the traditional hand pump.

Capacity and cost

The play pump is capable of producing 1400 litres of water per hour into an overhead storage tank, from a depth of 40 metres and is effective up to a depth of 100 metres. A typical hand pump installation only produces 150 litres of water each hour to ground level, where it cannot be stored hygienically and cannot compete with the delivery rate of the play pump.

The installation cost of the play pump is 30,000 Rand (US$7000) compared to the cost of 10,000 Rand (US$2,000) for installing a standard hand pump.

Sustainability through advertising

The play pump's 5,000 litre storage tank is erected on a 6 metre high stand and is a prominent land mark in low rise villages and townships. It is fitted with four 2m x 3m outdoor advertising signs, resulting in a unique advertising opportunity for the private sector. Three year advertising contracts are sold to companies selling things like soap products and toothpaste, flour and maize etc. The water pump is a natural gathering point for the women in a community and so it is an excellent place to advertise. Revenue from the advertising pays for the capital cost of the installation and guarantees funds for ongoing maintenance and sustainability of each play pump.

Site maintenance

As a contractual obligation with the advertisers, the sites are serviced at regular intervals for general maintenance on the signage and skilled pump maintenance crews are also included in these visits to the play pumps. Local people are being trained using funds provided by Roundabout Outdoors, so that eventually the ongoing preventative maintenance and repair work can be carried out in the rural community.

Transferable technology

Due to its practical, economic, ecological and social viability, the play pump is a progressive and creative way to provide free fresh water to rural communities. Children are being entertained and the women do not have to do a physical work out to collect their daily water requirements because the children have already pumped the water for the community.

Related Links:
How the New Philanthropy Works
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Teaching your Children Philanthropy
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