Access to clean drinking water is imperative for human survival; but more than one billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Poverty-stricken communities fall victim to water-related diseases, taking the lives of
6000 people a day worldwide and causing 80 percent of all sickness in the world.

In many communities the water that people need exists; however, it is located deep underground where it is impossible to reach without a well and pump. All this can change with the innovative and sustainable PlayPump® water system.

The PlayPump® water system is a children’s merry-go-round attached to a water pump. As kids play and spin, clean water gets pulled up from underground into the 2500 litre storage tank, standing seven metres above the ground.

A simple turn of the tap pours the water out, making it easily accessible for both adults and children. Excessive water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole. If someone wants water while the kids are not playing, an adult can easily spin the merry-go-round by hand.

Providing a clean water solution, PlayPump® systems are usually installed near schools or in the middle of rural communities in Africa where sanitation is poor. Benefits of the PlayPump® water system are threefold providing access to clean, safe drinking water, reducing barriers to education and promoting valued play and interpersonal skills amongst the youth.

By 2010, the combined efforts of PlayPumps International and the international organisations or individuals that fund the set-up of the PlayPump® systems aim to have installed 4000 pumps in 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, bringing clean drinking water to up to 10 million people. Expansion over the next few years will bring PlayPump® systems to Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda.