Fetching water is kid’s play

In remote areas of South Africa, the chore of fetching water usually falls to women or children who travel large distances to get it.

Traditional sources of water collection are from dams, springs, rivers, streams and farm reservoirs. But where these are unavailable, boreholes are often drilled. Until now, however, such boreholes have been operated by handpumps as the use of modern alternatives such as diesel, petrol or electric pumps are too expensive to install and maintain.

Now, a new patented South African invention has simplified the whole exercise!

Called the Play-Pump, it uses the energy generated by children playing on a roundabout to pump clean water from a borehole into water storage tanks. As the children spin, water is pumped from underground into a 2500 litre tank, standing seven metres above the ground. A simple tap provides easy access for the mothers and children drawing water.

The pump design itself converts rotational movement to reciprocating linear movement by a driving mechanism consisting of only two working parts. Capable of producing 1400 litres per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40m, it is effective up to a depth of 100m.

Four landscape billboards screen the tank creating an advertising opportunity. Two sides are used for health messages and the other two sides are rented out as billboards for commercial messages which help to sustain each project.

To date, over four hundred installations have been completed, a large percentage at primary schools.