The drought-busting magic roundabout
Christina Lamb
A BRITISH entrepreneur has won the backing of Nelson Mandela for his ingenious new device which eases water shortages in African villages by turning the arduous task of pumping from a well into childs play.
He has pioneered a magic roundabout which harnesses the energy of children playfully pushing a carousel to power a pump which raises clean drinking water from below ground.
NI_MPU('middle');Like the immensely successful clockwork radio, which was co-designed by Trevor Baylis, the device is ideal for poor parts of the world with no electricity.
The magic roundabout has impressed both Mandela, the former South African president, and the World Bank, and is poised to be installed in villages across Africa.
Trevor Field, 53, who was born in Birmingham but now lives in Johannesburg, came up with the idea when he saw a device at a trade fair to transform circular motion into vertical pumping.
He bought the patent and 10 years ago installed his first roundabout over a borehole in a dusty village in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. I had no idea how it would work, he said. It was pretty crude to start with. But when he went back some time later, he found that it was a huge success.
As the children play on the roundabout, pushing it round, water is pumped up into a tank. Villagers can then collect it from a nearby tap.
Its a win-win situation, said Field. Children enjoy riding on it, particularly as these are places with no toys. Villagers no longer have to walk hours to the nearest well.
Nearly half the worlds population has no access to clean water, something the United Nations has pledged to change, declaring the next 10 years the Water for Life decade. A child dies every 15 seconds from preventable water-related diseases, according to Water Aid, a charity based in London.
The beauty of the roundabout pumps is that they are really simple, low-tech and exactly what Africa needs, said Field, who gave up his job as sales director for a publishing company to pursue what he calls his mission.
At a busy site the 2,500-litre tank will be filled twice a day with water from up to 300ft beneath. The borehole is also covered by the roundabout and so protected from pollution by animals.
To fund the scheme, Field is using the water tank to carry advertising. Each play-pump costs just £5,000 to install and maintain for 15 years. Fields company trains local maintenance crews, providing employment in rural areas.
The Roundabout Company has formed a public-private partnership with South Africas Ministry of Water Affairs, and the Henry Kaiser Foundation has donated funds for the tanks to carry public health advertisements concerning Aids.
About 650 pumps have been installed in South Africa giving more than 1m people access to clean water. This week the first six will be installed in Swaziland, sponsored by Unicef (the United Nations Childrens Fund) and MTN, the mobile phone company. After that will come Mozambique, Zambia and Uganda.
Having the play-pump has changed peoples lives here, said Nicole Cloete, who runs a retreat for 200 street children at Botshabelo, northwest of Johannesburg, with her husband, parents and sister. Before, they were having to walk a long way to collect water in wheelbarrows. Now, having access to water means they can even grow vegetables. And the pump still works whether or not there is a power cut.
Angela Wright, owner of Crealy Adventure Park in Exeter, Devon, and a member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, wants to install the roundabouts at 200 top attractions in Britain.
Next to each roundabout will be a cash machine where children can make donations. As people insert money or swipe a credit card, a screen above will show children in Africa riding on the roundabout and shouting, Thank you! The money raised will go to install more roundabout pumps in Africa.
Mandela is so taken with the pumps that he has agreed to lend his face to Fields project. Last week Field received a letter from the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund confirming that it wants to go into partnership. Im really beginning to believe that we can change the world, said Field. o Protesters including Vanessa Redgrave, the actress, Ronan Keating and Beverley Knight, the singers, and Pete Postlethwaite, the actor, held an overnight vigil and a march in Whitehall this weekend to demand fair trade for the worlds poorest workers
(Times on line)
Christina Lamb
He has pioneered a magic roundabout which harnesses the energy of children playfully pushing a carousel to power a pump which raises clean drinking water from below ground.
NI_MPU('middle');Like the immensely successful clockwork radio, which was co-designed by Trevor Baylis, the device is ideal for poor parts of the world with no electricity.
The magic roundabout has impressed both Mandela, the former South African president, and the World Bank, and is poised to be installed in villages across Africa.
Trevor Field, 53, who was born in Birmingham but now lives in Johannesburg, came up with the idea when he saw a device at a trade fair to transform circular motion into vertical pumping.
He bought the patent and 10 years ago installed his first roundabout over a borehole in a dusty village in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. I had no idea how it would work, he said. It was pretty crude to start with. But when he went back some time later, he found that it was a huge success.
As the children play on the roundabout, pushing it round, water is pumped up into a tank. Villagers can then collect it from a nearby tap.
Its a win-win situation, said Field. Children enjoy riding on it, particularly as these are places with no toys. Villagers no longer have to walk hours to the nearest well.
Nearly half the worlds population has no access to clean water, something the United Nations has pledged to change, declaring the next 10 years the Water for Life decade. A child dies every 15 seconds from preventable water-related diseases, according to Water Aid, a charity based in London.
The beauty of the roundabout pumps is that they are really simple, low-tech and exactly what Africa needs, said Field, who gave up his job as sales director for a publishing company to pursue what he calls his mission.
At a busy site the 2,500-litre tank will be filled twice a day with water from up to 300ft beneath. The borehole is also covered by the roundabout and so protected from pollution by animals.
To fund the scheme, Field is using the water tank to carry advertising. Each play-pump costs just £5,000 to install and maintain for 15 years. Fields company trains local maintenance crews, providing employment in rural areas.
The Roundabout Company has formed a public-private partnership with South Africas Ministry of Water Affairs, and the Henry Kaiser Foundation has donated funds for the tanks to carry public health advertisements concerning Aids.
About 650 pumps have been installed in South Africa giving more than 1m people access to clean water. This week the first six will be installed in Swaziland, sponsored by Unicef (the United Nations Childrens Fund) and MTN, the mobile phone company. After that will come Mozambique, Zambia and Uganda.
Having the play-pump has changed peoples lives here, said Nicole Cloete, who runs a retreat for 200 street children at Botshabelo, northwest of Johannesburg, with her husband, parents and sister. Before, they were having to walk a long way to collect water in wheelbarrows. Now, having access to water means they can even grow vegetables. And the pump still works whether or not there is a power cut.
Angela Wright, owner of Crealy Adventure Park in Exeter, Devon, and a member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, wants to install the roundabouts at 200 top attractions in Britain.
Next to each roundabout will be a cash machine where children can make donations. As people insert money or swipe a credit card, a screen above will show children in Africa riding on the roundabout and shouting, Thank you! The money raised will go to install more roundabout pumps in Africa.
Mandela is so taken with the pumps that he has agreed to lend his face to Fields project. Last week Field received a letter from the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund confirming that it wants to go into partnership. Im really beginning to believe that we can change the world, said Field. o Protesters including Vanessa Redgrave, the actress, Ronan Keating and Beverley Knight, the singers, and Pete Postlethwaite, the actor, held an overnight vigil and a march in Whitehall this weekend to demand fair trade for the worlds poorest workers
(Times on line)
