The PlayPump is an incredibly simple but effective invention that helps people in Africa access clean drinking water. While children are playing on a merry-go-round up to 1,400 liters of clean water can be pumped into a tank that stands seven meters above the ground. The tank’s walls are used to place ad billboards while two sides are reserved for educational messages. The revenue from ad-sales is put into the maintenance of each pump. Watch this special from National Geographic below:
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Inspiration to make things better.
The Tom Sayer effect – love it!
It’s the same trick I pull on interns when cleaning out the store cupboard…”C’mon it’s like High-Def Tetris!”
Not to make light of this idea, sorry, it’s fantastic concept.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Beautiful! Had to pass this one along myself — “A fully-formed idea is a beauty to behold. Find the kind that works in full strength on a number of levels, simultaneously fulfilling a range of needs, and you’ve got an effort worthy of putting full energy into.”
Of course, in the National Geographic video on Playpump’s site, they observed that now that the village children don’t have to walk to the dirty streams to carry water, they can go to school. Not sure how happy the kids are about that — but at least they do get a merry-go-round out of the deal! (And, of course, though they probably don’t get this, they won’t get sick as much.)
http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#5670811944253520571
(Saw this in the Boston Globe’s Business Filter, which as quoted your blog frequently:)
http://www.boston.com/business/blog/filter/2008/01/playpump.html
January 18th, 2008 at 2:44 pm