The Roundabout: Harnessing Kid Power to Pump Water!
by Justin Thomas, Virginia 
on 10. 1.05
A South African nonprofit that developed a way to use children's merry-go-rounds to power water pumps in rural areas in Mozambique. More than 700 of these Play-Pumps have been installed in South Africa, and there are plans to install 100 more in Mozambique. The Play-Pump, invented by Roundabout Outdoor, uses a very simple method to alleviate the back-breaking chores of hauling water over long distances in rural Africa, where more than 300 million people lack safe drinking water. Through a borehole, the pump can siphon 1,400 liters per hour at 16 revolutions per minute from 40 meters below the surface. The water is pumped into a 2,500-liter tank that sits 7 meters above the ground.
This innovative idea lets kids play and pump water at the same time. The South African government has an ambitious plan to bring water to all of the country by 2008. The Play-Pump has been playing a critical part in fulfilling that goal.
:: Roundabout Outdoor via Sustainablog
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Absolutely brilliant! And talk about a sustainable source of energy!
Another wonderful why didnt anyone think of this before moment!
And there's the water-pumping seesaw design from Gaviotas, Colombia too.
I think I saw this technology in the movie Conan. From childhood to early adulthood, Conan pushed a large "merry-go-round" to power some sort of stone-age gizmo. Of course, he finally became fed up and ran for CA governor.
So can we expect "enterprising" parents and community leaders to "entice" their small ones to "play" even more when the crops need a watering? "Hey Mbolo, if I have to tell you again to put down that math book and go play merry-go-round, I'm gonna take a switch to you!"
I keep tinking of the Wheel of Pain from the movie "Conan The Barbarian". ;)
I remember there was an article in WIRED about the "Moneymaker", which was a very simple hand-driven water pump that could be carried to a well, and used to draw up water that was otherwise inaccessible, and enterprising Africans were making nice money pumping water for local people.
This device certainly could be abused, and turned into a bad child-labor situation, but if you've ever lived on a working family farm, you know that kids do alot of work, anyway, so what's one more chore? I had chores when we lived on a farm, but my parents also made me do my homework.
I want to open a gym where all the exercise machines generate electricity, and at the end of your workout, you get paid for the electricity you generated.
Hi Carl! I, too, have had this idea. I wonder how many of us have? Though there are absolutely logistical difficulties, I wonder what's stopped it from becoming a reality...
If you are a parent, or are around kids, the idea of somehow harnessing the energy of children has come to mind more than a few times. I think of the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. when I see this concept put into play.
We alrrady oun cows barn it's contained more than 300 cows , we are looking for word to getting the modern technology for solar cell to elivate water from depth of 150 metter from adeep water well beside that we need it to inlighten some houses.
Iwould like to inform you that the pipes size is around three inch therefore we need it work for around 18 aours.
With best regard and happy new year
hussin al_hassani
manager