PlayPumps

Playpumps (from South Africa) seem to be a superb concept in providing pumped water.

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 women 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.

A typical hand pump installation cannot compete with the PlayPump system’s delivery rate, even with substantial effort.

Paul’s Comments:

• They seem to cost around $14,000 per installation.
• I’m not really happy with the “leased as billboards” concept!
• Another thought would be building the water tank into a radio mast.