PlayPump

Last week I published an article entitled Harness Human Energy, this article explained ways scientist and inventors are attempting to convert the body’s energy into external usable power. This week my article is about an invention that does just that, a water pump powered by playing children.

Clean water is a resource often taken for granted. The ability to walk into the kitchen and fill up a glass of portable water is a luxury not available to all. Water is the essence of life; one can only survive three days without it. People in developing countries are often forced to drink water that is unclean, risking disease, because they will die if they do not. If there is a source of clean water, many people travel long distances to get to it.

PlayPump is a roundabout (see image) attached to a well. As the roundabout spins by children playing, water is pumped from the ground into an above ground tank.  The water can then be accessed by a tap. These wells are currently being placed in schoolyards and playgrounds around sub-Saharan Africa. Currently there are 1000 PlayPumps in existence. PlayPump was given $16.4 million dollars from the Clinton Administration to build more PlayPumps; by 2010 the objective is to have 4000 pumps built.

PlayPump

PlayPump is built, installed, and maintained by Roundabout Outdoor, a for profit company with a mission to help the water crisis in Africa. PlayPumps international is a non-profit organization that raises money to donate PlayPumps to places in need.

PlayPump

As well as providing clean drinking water, PlayPump also has another purpose; it bears a public health message to prevent the spread of HIV. Many children do not know about the AIDS pandemic and preventative steps they need to take to protect themselves. On the water tank there is a four-sided billboard, two sides are devoted to advertising, a necessary attachment to raise money, and the other two sides are for AIDS awareness.

The PlayPump is an invention, a marvelous combination of form and function, but it is more than that… It helps people, it saves lives, and it not only dedicates itself to solving one problem, but also goes beyond. It gives water and it gives knowledge, and most importantly it is fun. It is inventions like this, with good intentions that should be admired and others should aspire to do the same.

Brief Video Description: http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayPumps#p/a/u/2/pZjwh4XjoVU

5 minute National Geographic Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayPumps#p/a/u/1/uQu_Jppvzyk

The 7 steps of PlayPump

While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1) clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4) standing seven meters above the ground.

A simple tap (5) makes it easy for adults and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6).

The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.

The design of the PlayPump water system makes it highly effective, easy to operate and very economical, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum.

Capable of producing up to 1,400 liters of water per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40 meters, it is effective up to a depth of 100 meters.

Information from: http://blog.playpumps.org/home/