...but, I cannot think about water and pumps without my mind turning towards those for whom the daily grind of water collection is still a reality (not to mention those who have no access to clean water at all) and I wanted to write about a scheme which I think is brilliant in it's simplicity.
Meet One Water. The water itself is from Powys, but One is rather special because 100% of the profilt from sales of this water is pumped into a scheme which brings clean water to communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The scheme is called Playpumps. It works like this...
A borehole is sunk into a source of clean water, usually close by a school or other place where children gather. At the top of the borehole is installed a pump. The pump is in the form of a specially crafted children's roundabout. As the children play on the roundabout, water is pumped out of the ground into a 2,500 litre storage tank and piped to a tap, providing instant clean water for a community. The children no longer have to walk to collect water.
The Playpump is capable of producing up to 1,400 litres of water per hour, from a depth of 40 metres, if the roundabout is rotated at 16rpm. Boreholes can be deeper than this though, because the pump is effective up to a depth of 100m.
The storage tank, which stands 7 metres above ground, can now also function as an advertising hoarding. All four sides are leased as billboards; two to advertise products and the other two for health and educational messages. The money raised from leasing the billboards pays for the upkeep of the Playpump, so, once installed, the whole system is self sustaining.
What a brilliant idea - the children get to play and the whole community benefits from clean water!
And the daffodils are still dancing.
