- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated September 24, 2006 at 7:24 am by PHARTY.
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September 23, 2006 at 11:18 am #1039356
Even with all the gadgets and computers etc I have encountered over the years I think this has to be one of the best engineering solutions I have seeen..
Why pumping water is child’s play
A company in South Africa has found a way to harness youthful energy in solving the perennial problem of water supply in rural villages.
It uses a playground roundabout to power a borehole pump.
Roundabout Outdoors is now hoping to take the concept to other African countries where water infrastructure languishes behind South Africa.
The play-pump benefits women and girls in particular who can spend hours each day fetching water.
“African and Asian women spend up to six hours a day walking to collect water,” Roundabout Outdoor’s Trevor Field told the BBC’s World Today.
“If we put a play-pump in, if you look at the saving on time alone it’s phenomenal, and it does have a massive impact on the health of children and people in general.”
Energy
Mr Field describes the device as “basically windmill equipment”.
“It’s a positive displacement water pump, and as the children spin around it transfers their energy into vertical or reciprocal motion, and that pumps water from an underground borehole or well to the surface where it’s stored in a tank for future use.”
With the children pushing the roundabout around 16 times a minute, the play-pump can produce 1,400 litres of water per hour from a depth of 40 metres.
The pump is effective up to a depth of 100 metres. Its manufacturers say a typical hand pump installation cannot compete with this delivery rate.
The play-pumps require an initial investment of 50,000 rand ($9000). Advertising billboards above the pump raise the funds for maintenance.
The South African Aids awareness organisation, LoveLife, is currently paying for advertising space.
Roundabout Outdoor has entered a partnership with the South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry to help it meet commitments to supply water to rural communities.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/4461265.stmPublished: 2005/04/25 11:50:17 GMT
© BBC MMVI
September 23, 2006 at 12:18 pm #1090648excellent plan :weee: :weee: :weee:
September 23, 2006 at 1:34 pm #1090649I think its a great idea…
But $9000..That’s a lot of money.
We are talking about Africa and Asia,the people who really would benefit from this roundabout,are not the people who have the money..
(or maybe i’m missing something here..Tranlation prop:hopeless: )
September 23, 2006 at 1:47 pm #1090645angel wrote:I think its a great idea…But $9000..That’s a lot of money.
We are talking about Africa and Asia,the people who really would benefit from this roundabout,are not the people who have the money..
(or maybe i’m missing something here..Tranlation prop:hopeless: )
The water is in a big hole in the ground – the cost involves digging the hole and laying pipes etc, and the pump itself which needs energy to operate its mechanism.. the people would need to spend that money anyway to get the water from the ground. there are stations like this in our countries as well but they are all computerised and cost much more than $9000 (and stil often go wrong!)
in other countries the pump is operated by electricity or a diesel engine, but it costs less to attach the childrens roundabout to the mechanism; and the kids create as much energy as an electric motor or engine..
in fact perhaps we should do this in Europe as well; not so much to get water but the roundabout could be used to generate electric power and charge batteries to light parks at night, so people can be safer walking through it…
September 23, 2006 at 2:10 pm #1090650I know the water is in the ground..I’m not totally stupid..:you_crazy :you_crazy
I said I think its a great idea..But its a lot of money..
Some woman uses a lot of hours a day to walk to the nearest river,to get water..
Just forget it,i cant explain myself in english good enough,for you to understand what i mean.:hopeless: :hopeless:
September 23, 2006 at 2:28 pm #1090646didn’t mean it like that – sorry….
but the underground water source feeds the rivers as well (and is less likely to be contaminated), so if this can be set up the source of water could be brought nearer to the village and the women wouldn’t have to walk so far.
For the project to work this must be the case as the families wouldn’t want their kids to wander off miles to the playground where the roundabout was.
I understand what you mean – it seems like a large cost, and the village will have to find the money from somewhere – but its a case of intermediate technology. To do it using engines etc would cost double the amount if not more, and then there would be the greater maintenance costs, and parts would often need to be ordered from overseas. A solution like this is more likely to stay running as the resources to fix it are readily available in modern South Africa.
It looks like they are getting the money from the government; in the same way that EU governments give out grants for projects in rural areas.
September 23, 2006 at 3:55 pm #1090647It’s always the simple ideas that go overlooked. When someone comes up with the idea we all wonder why we hadn’t thought of it already!
September 23, 2006 at 6:11 pm #1090651what a brillian idea! and as Bio alreaady menioned such a simple idea, and healthy all round
September 24, 2006 at 7:24 am #1090652angel wrote:I think its a great idea…But $9000..That’s a lot of money.
We are talking about Africa and Asia,the people who really would benefit from this roundabout,are not the people who have the money..
(or maybe i’m missing something here..Tranlation prop:hopeless: )
There are people out there who would think $9000 was a waste of money to help ease thirst in third world countrys but would willingly give much much more if it was to be used to buy arms in the same places……..its a crazy world or some of the people in it are:you_crazy
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