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Technology

Children's roundabout turned into water pump

27 April 2005

Supplying fresh water could be child’s play. South African company Roundabout Outdoors has designed a playground roundabout that powers a borehole pump. Children spinning the roundabout at up to 16 revolutions a minute can raise 1400 litres of water an hour from a depth of 40 metres, says company spokesman Trevor Field. The positive displacement water pump is effective down to 100 metres, and costs around $900. It will stop many people having to walk up to 6 hours a day to collect fresh water, Field says.

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