Children rush to use a PlayPump, which pumps fresh water to a storage tank
'The number one thing we as investors were looking for was sustainability. PlayPumps are sustainable'
Duncan Goose
Claims that water-pumping children's roundabouts are an expensive marketing gimmick that rely heavily on child labour are 'laughable', according to the boss of a social enterprise that funds them.
PlayPumps are colourful roundabouts that provide fresh water to thousands of Africans when turned by playing children.
So far, 420 of these have been funded by UK-based One Water, providing clean water to an average of 2,500 people each.
A comment article in yesterday's Guardian claimed that the PlayPumps were 'far too expensive, too complex for local maintenance, over-reliant on child labour and based on flawed water demand calculations.' Teacher Andrew Chambers, who wrote the Guardian piece, asked: 'Are we just buying into yet another feel-good marketing gimmick?'
The Guardian also highlighted a statement from Wasrag (Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group), which said that international water charity WaterAid declined to use PlayPumps because they cost $14,000 each, were difficult to maintain and risked injury.
However, One Water founder Duncan Goose said the article and its claims were a 'mishmash of incorrect information' and called for a debate with the critics.
'PlayPumps are a niche and by no means a magic bullet,' he said.
'But the number one thing we as investors were looking for was sustainability. PlayPumps are sustainable.'
Goose also dismissed claims made by Chambers that PlayPumps International was receiving $10m in US government aid. He said this funding was cut when Barack Obama's government came into power.
He continued: 'He [Chambers] says out of 375,000 handpumps in Africa, more than 150,000 are abandoned due to poor maintenance or poor construction. Only six per cent of PlayPumps are currently out of action and we have maintenance teams who fix them within 30 days.
'As for child labour, it's a roundabout! Children play on them for ten hours a day and you can't get them off. You can't put crash mats around every roundabout in the world in case a child falls over.'
Goose added: 'I find the whole thing hysterical and laughable. I don't feel threatened at all. It's just a misguided opinion.
'I agree these pumps are more expensive than hand pumps, but new technology does cost more. I welcome a debate on this wholeheartedly.'
One Water has invested £3m in rural Africa. Water projects make up around three quarters of this, but it also funds vegetable gardens through its vitamin drink and HIV education through its condoms.
Read the Guardian article here
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Comments
Shared research on the PlayPump
I am in the final stages of my PhD which uses the PlayPump as the main example of a recent trend for multi-functional, communicative development objects that serve many interested parties apart from the immediate user. Duncan Goose seems unaware of the recent letter by PlayPumps Internation CEO Gary Edson which takes a big step back in the claims made for the PlayPump (posted on the PPI website).
I concur with much of Andrew Chamber's article and comments here, and would appreciate corresponding further - Andrew Chambers/TangerineDream could you please contact me via the email address on my website? ralphborland.net
some problems noted in the
some problems noted in the 2007 Unicef report:
From
"An Evaluation of the PlayPump® Water System as an Appropriate Technology for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programmes"
A Unicef report October 2007. These are just a selection of some of the noted disadvantages of the scheme:
1) The PlayPump® "merry-go-round" design does not protect children from falling off, especially when the rotation is very fast, and the fact that the base is
concrete presents a hazard to users
2) The PlayPump® has a relatively low discharge rate due to the short pumping stroke. In Mozambique some stakeholders reported that it takes approximately 4 hours of continuous pumping to fill the 2,500 liter reservoir tank.
3) All women interviewed in Zambia reported that they did not like operating the pump and at one installation site in a community adults actually paid children to "play" on the pump.
4) Installation of PlayPumps® on boreholes which previously had a different type of pumping system (e.g. India Mark II or Afridev handpump) brings a lot of controversy to communities, since some users prefer the previous system.
5) Users at 63% of PlayPump® sites visited in Zambia indicated that they were not adequately consulted, were presented with no technology choice, and preferred the previous handpump that had been removed to make way for the PlayPump®.
6) Public service messages were observed on approximately half of installed
PlayPumps® only.
7) Lack of involvement of the user communities in the management and/or
maintenance of their PlayPumps® is contravening many country policies and
regulations.
8) PlayPumps® installed at some institutions had adverts and messages on the tanks, while those at other institutions carried none without clear reason. In Zambia, 38% of PlayPump® water systems visited had tanks which were
completely blank , and 75% carried no advertisements.
9) The cost of PlayPump® water system is high (approx. $14,000) and has
increased dramatically in the last 2 years from the previous $6,500 without
explanation to clients. Many partners had expected the cost to reduce to about
$4,500 by now.
10) Many partners view the PlayPumps International implementation strategy as over-investing, since it focuses primarily on replacing existing pumps instead of installing on new boreholes in schools that do not already have safe water supplies.
11) Governments in some countries such as Zambia and Malawi were subjected to considerable pressure from non-traditional water sector donors to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with PlayPumps International.
12) In Zambia, PlayPump® water systems have been installed without consultation with local Government authorities, thereby circumventing Government policies and planning frameworks.
It concludes with:
the implementation
"[The] strategy adopted by PlayPumps International and its partners requires serious and urgent revision. The current PlayPumps International implementation strategy clearly contravenes several Government policy directives and water sector development principles common to the countries under consideration."
Some questions for a
Some questions for a debate.....
Does Brian genuinly believe the 2500 figure? Should it be used to promote the scheme?
At $14,000 (four times other simplier and more easily maintainable pumps) does Playpumps represent value for money?
If the model requires significant long term funding to provide a South African maintainence hub is this sustainable? Especially when the data from the advertising revenue would suggest that advertising is not going to bring in much (and in many cases any) extra funding.
Does the estabishment of the Playpumps project by an advertising company not call into greater scrutiny any of the market literature? Especially when a large chunk of all charitable donations are actually getting handed over to the parent private company for the manufacture and maintainence of the pumps?
thanks
Andrew Chambers
reply to article
hiya
firstly the article perpetuates the Playpump claims that each pump can provide water for 2500 people each. This is wildy wildy optimistic (to be kind).
In terms of capabilities, the company literature states that the Playpump can pump 1,400 litres per hour at 16 revolutions per minute.
So to service 2500 people (using the the Sphere Project minimum daily water requirements of 15 litres) would require children to be “playing” non-stop for 27 hours in every day!
Under more reasonable assumptions, a Playpump could theoretically provide the bare minimum water requirements for about 200 people a day based on two hours “play” every day.
The idea that you are going to get children spinning for 10 hours a day every day i'm afraid is pretty "hysterical". Even this vastly inflated figure would only provide water for about 1000 people.
And even then we're taking the "1600 litres per hour") claim at face value....which the 2007 Unicef report cast significant doubt over this "The PlayPump® has a relatively low discharge rate due to the short pumping
stroke. In Mozambique some stakeholders reported that it takes approximately 4
hours of continuous pumping to fill the 2,500 liter reservoir tank."
So is it acceptable to market such a product with wildly inflated claims about its capabilities? If Playpumps was being marketed as a "niche product" with limited application then that would be fair enough but it has consistently been oversold.
UNICEF produced a comprehensive review of Playpumps in 2007, outlining a staggering number of problems and concluding that the Playpump International implementation strategy “requires serious and urgent revision,” as it currently “clearly contravenes” local government policies and water sector development principles.
(i'll post some quotes from that report in a minute)
As for the sustainability of the project, well you would hope that there was only a small number currently out of action because installation has only taken place in the past 3 years or so. The real question is how the maintainence network will work in 10 years time. The Unicef report notes this concern:
1) "The installation of PlayPumps® is carried out by local installation teams
contracted by Roundabout Outdoor from South Africa. Given the physical
distance between the contractor and Roundabout Outdoor (especially for pumps
outside South Africa) there is no onsite supervision, and where the quality of
workmanship is of a poor standard there is a significant time lag before this is
identified.
2) A number of poor quality installations were observed in Zambia,
including pumps with concrete aprons that were heavily eroded only months after
installation and pumps with leaking pipes. Roundabout Outdoor reported that the contractor responsible for these installations was no longer under contract with them and yet no remedial action had been taken to rectify the defective results of the poor quality workmanship."
3) "The guarantee by Roundabout Outdoor to maintain the playpumps for 10 years
only is a concern for some users, who believe that this will be the time when
serious breakdown may start with the aging of the pump, and hence they will
need the Roundabout Outdoor services more than now."
4) "The cost of PlayPump® water system is high, in part, because of long distance
transportation of bulk components (e.g. message boards) from South Africa to
countries of use."