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dam-l S. Africa water

This is a little piece from the Television Trust for the Environment on a
fun way to get water.
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>  Play Pumps-- South Africa
>19 January, 2000
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>Introduction
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>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 familyís 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.
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>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.
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>Childís play
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>A South African company has come up with a new device 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.
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>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.
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>Operation of the play pump
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>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.
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>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.
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>Capacity and cost
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>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.
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>The installation cost of the play pump is 30,000 Rand (US$6000) compared to
>the cost of 10,000 Rand (US$2,000) for installing a standard hand pump.
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>Sustainability through advertising
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>The play pumpís 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.
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>Site maintenance
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>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.
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>Transferable technology
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>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.
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>For further information, please contact:
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>Roundabout Outdoor (Pty) Limited,
>PO Box 449,
>Rivonia, 2128,
>South Africa.
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>Tel: +27 11 807 4280
>Fax: +27 11 807 1639
>E-mail: roundabout@roundabout.co.za
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>Intermediate Technology would like to thank Roundabout Outdoor, in
>particular Trevor Field, for providing the original material on play pumps.
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>This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for
>International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries.
>The views expressed are not necessarily those of the DFID.
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>Other Hands On episodes about Water and Sanitation.


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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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