The Playpump
A bit late on the Friday spotlight, but here we go: the Playpump. Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe you haven’t, but few aid innovations have sparked levels of international outcry similar to that surrounding the Playpump.
The Playpump was invented by a South African named Trevor Field, who saw children playing in a school yard and decided to harness this youthful activity as a means to pump water (why let fun go to waste?). The Playpump operates similarly to a windmill, using the spinning motion of the merry-go-round to pump water from a bore hole into a large tank above ground that feeds into a spigot.
The concept was instantly embraced by the aid community. Smiling children spinning on colorful toys in the name of clean water made for unbeatable PR, and in its first tests the Playpump was very successful. Trevor Field left a well-paying job to manufacture Playpumps full-time, and the demand for Playpumps soared: Bill Clinton and Laura Bush sang its praises, and Jay-Z held a charity concert solely in the name of the Playpump. And then? Crickets. Hardly any aid organizations advocate using the Playpump nowadays, and several have released public statements refusing to use Playpumps. The media coverage has (ironically) decreased to a trickle.
So what happened to Playpumps? Where did all the criticism come from and was it deserved? Watch this excellent Frontline Special by Amy Costello and find out.
Then, make up your own mind with a showdown between the Playpump and an AfriDev hand-pump from Barefoot Economics. [Spoiler alert:: Time it takes an athletic 22 year-old to fill a 20L bucket with a Playpump: 3:07. Time to fill a 20L bucket with a hand-pump: 0:28.]
What do you think?
