2160 (Sleaford) Squadron Air Training Corps had been looking for a project to mark the turn of the century. They wanted to make a lasting contribution to a global issue. By sheer chance one of the staff heard an interview on Radio 2 Drivetime with Trevor Field who had invented a revolutionary water pump for use in Third World countries called the Playpump. He was describing his unique water pumping system and we immediately knew we had to try to get hold of one. Trevor is an ex-pat living in Johannesburg and the system he invented is a simple mechanical pump sunk into a bore hole with a children’s roundabout mounted at the head. The action of the roundabout being turned pumps water up and into storage tanks mounted on towers. The Playpumps are sited at schools so there is never a shortage of willing children to play on the roundabout and therefore no shortage of water.

The Playpump was manufactured and supplied by PlayPumps International - http://www.playpumps.org

When the group went to Swaziland in 2000, some of the staff had already met Trevor and his engineer Gilles Preat, a Belgian living in Manzini with his family. Gilles had installed several of these systems already so we were in good hands as the digging for the pipework began at Nyamane Primary School. There were 12 cadets and 5 members of staff who had fundraised for a year so that they could go to install clean, fresh water at the school. The groundwork took over a week and was desperately hard work – not least because of the heat. When all the preparation was complete, the borehole sunk, the tower built (more holes to dig!), old plumbing found and replaced and new spurs added, soakaways built and leaks mended it was time to mount the roundabout. There was no Swaziland word for roundabout as they had never seen such a thing so it’s not hard to imagine the excitement when the school children were shown how to ride on it! The only problem was keeping the number of riders below 20 – 12 being the recommended load! The project took three weeks altogether with the cadets and staff living in the staff room and the domestic science room and taking turns with the domestic duties. On the last day the school put on a celebration for us with the children singing and demonstrating traditional dance. It was very moving for everyone.

The principal behind the Playpump is brilliant: advertising boards are mounted on the sides of the elevated water tank and the income from the advertising pays for the upkeep of the Playpump. Two sides are sold for advertising HIV/AIDS awareness – well placed in the school grounds to educate the next generation. Ours is sponsored by UNICEF. The other two sides are to advertise commercial products (e.g. mealy maize). Our Playpump was the very first one in Swaziland and has been visited by other charities and organisations which has led to many others being installed. It has been operational for almost 8 years now and, with regular maintenance, has given clean, safe water to the school and community ever since.

For the technical amongst you the pump can deliver 400 gallons of water an hour at 16 rpm, 40 metres deep. It can be effective up to 100 metres deep. For comparison, a traditional hand or treadle pump will deliver, typically, 20 to 40 gallons an hour.