Roundabout Outdoor Play Pump, South Africa

Organization: Roundabout Outdoor
Geographic Area: South Africa

In rural South Africa, the gender divide dictates that women and children must forage for water for household needs. On average, they trek 2-5 kms to the closest river or pond to fetch water, and this activity takes up 4-5 hours of their day, every day. According to a South African water department survey, the rural poor are actually paying more for water than their urban counterparts, in terms of loss of employment for both women and children, as well as loss of educational opportunities for the latter.

An obvious solution would be motorized pumps to siphon off water from a river to a pond, and feed this via pipes to borewells. The rich have done precisely this, with good results. However, cash flow is a problem for the poor, who cannot afford electrification or the pumpsets for that matter.

In 1999, "Roundabout Outdoor," a private organization, came up with an innovative design that harnesses the abundant energy of children. Their "playpump" couples a low-maintenance pump with a roundabout (or "merry-go-round") on which children can play.

As the roundabout rotates, water gets pumped from a borehole to a water storage tank. Each "roundabout playpump" is capable of providing water to up to 2,500 people.

The organization persuaded the government to provide logistical assistance, including finding suitable locations such as schools where children congregate. At a price tag of about $5,000 per playpump, the organization had to rely on international aid – $165,000 from Development Marketplace – and the selling of advertising to fund the project. Local philanthropists also donated some playpumps.

A year ago, more than 200 playpumps were up and running near 40 village primary schools throughout South Africa, with 320 ready to go. Laughing, joyful children shriek with delight as they go round and round – most of them have never experienced a slide or a swing – and it's tough to get them off their joyride.

Tapping the energy of children at play, the pumps generate upwards of 1,400 liters of water per hour. Approximately 200,000 villagers have benefited from the program. The community finally has access to clean, safe water (open water sources breed cholera and other germs).

The project won the World Bank Development Marketplace award in 2000. This acted as a catalyst for more funds to pour in for scaling up the program, and donors are insisting on matching funds from the South African water and forestry departments.

Requests for their design are flowing in from other countries in Africa, and Australia, China, India and Pakistan.

Information on this topic can be found at http://www.worldbank.org/afr/findings/english/find218.pdf

Information about the contributor:

N. Harideebika is a senior year high school science student in Madurai, India. Her ambition is to work toward solving the world's environmental problems in collaboration with international organizations. Her particular interest lies in water and sanitation for rural and urban schools. She has volunteered on several drinking water projects in her city and prefers work on the ground, rather than laboratory experiments. Email: navaraj789@sify.com