SA - NL Water Network Projects
Sector: Drinking water
Supplying clean drinking water to rural schools/communities in sub Saharan
Africa
Roundabout Water Solutions
Johannesburg, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
21 May 2009
The One Foundation, U.K.; Water is Our World: Wilde Ganzen, Gemeente Aa en
Hunze, Herderstocht, The Netherlands; The Netherlands Embassy, Lawrence's
Roundabout Well Appeal, U.K.; The Albion Trust, U.K.; Group Five, S.A.; Embassy
of Japan, S.A.; Vodacom S.A.; Tiger Brands, S.A.; Pan African Resources, S.A.;
Life HealthCare, S.A.; Foster Wheeler, S.A.; Transnet, S.A.; Golf Reef Resorts,
S.A.
Sandra Hayes,
Roundabout Water Solutions,
PO Box 3120 Pinegowerie, 2123, South Africa,
Tel: + 27 11 543 7928/ or +27 82 807 0370;/
email: sandra.hayes@playpumps.co.za
www.playpumps.co.za
Description of the project:
In South Africa alone hundreds of schools have
no clean drinking water available at their school. Girls are taken out of school
to collect water. A
Rural communities, who have no municipal water, are also forced to collect their water from streams, dams and unreliable water sources. Women and girls have to walk anything up to 5 kms a day to collect water for their household, with no guarantee that the water collected is fit for human consumption.
As the children play on the roundabout, borehole water, which has been tested at a recognized laboratory as being fit for human consumption, is pumped into and stored in a 2,500 liter tank, allowing access to the water when needed.
Since 2008 Roundabout Water Solutions has installed over 640 PlayPumps in South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland. The first ever PlayPump was installed in 1996 and now there are over 1 700 PlayPumps in sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in clean drinking water and sanitation for people who previously had no reliable or safe sources of water.
Roundabout Water Solutions conducts bacteriological and chemical testing is done on each borehole to ensure that the water is fit for human consumption. A step down test is also conducted to ensure that the borehole can sustain prolonged abstraction of the water and the flow is sufficient to meet the needs of the community. Each and every borehole is referred to a qualified geo-hydroloogist for analysis of the water results and a recommendation of the most suitable pump settings to ensure a sustainable flow of water and ease of use by the community.
The PlayPump is maintained free of charge for a period of ten years. Maintenance is performed by trained, locally sourced maintenance crews. The spare parts are provided free of charge to the community. All sites are inspected on a rotation basis and each and every site has a free pump repair SMS number whereby they can report a problem to our office.
