Welcome to the Official PlayPump web site
Roundabout Water Solutions, who has an agreement with the South African Department of Water Affairs and the Governments of Malawi and Lesotho, is raising donor funds to supply rural communities, with clean drinking water, by means of a sustainable pumping system, called a PlayPump, that is powered by the play of children
In South Africa there are hundreds of schools without a reliable source of clean drinking water.
Girls in particular have to give up time that should be spent on their education to collect water.
The installation of a PlayPump brings with it several benefits:
The PlayPump is often the only piece of playground equipment at a school and provides the children with a constructive and rewarding way to use their energy. Improved health by virtue of a reduction in water borne diseases. This leads to a reduction in the number of cases of diarrhoea. An increase in time spent at school as a consequence of improved health, leading to an improvement in education. Increase in overall attendance at school as it becomes known that there is a reliable source of clean drinking water. Improved safety for the girls who don’t have to walk long distances to collect water from rivers and dams etc. The ability to educate school children and the surrounding community via the messaging opportunity available on the panels at the top of each PlayPump tank stand.
Prior to the installation of a PlayPump, each borehole is tested.
Borehole tests comprise both chemical and bacteriological testing to ensure that the water is fit for human consumption; as well as a step down test to establish the rate at which water can be drawn from the borehole without it running dry.
Test results are provided to a qualified Geo-hydrologist. Once they have certified that the water is fit for human consumption, they provide the pump set recommendations to ensure the ease of use of the equipment.
Rural communities, who have no municipal water, are also forced to collect their water from streams, dams and unreliable water sources. Women and girls have to walk anything up to 5 kms a day to collect water for their household, with no guarantee that the water collected is fit for human consumption.
The provision of funding for either the installation of a PlayPump, or the maintenance of a PlayPump, qualifies for Social Economic Development expenditure (SED) points. These points contribute to a businesses overall broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) scorecard. Over 75% of the beneficiaries of the PlayPump system are previously disadvantaged South Africans and sponsors can claim 100% of their expenditure for SED purposes.
Maintenance is performed by trained, locally sourced maintenance crews. The spare parts are provided free of charge to the community. All sites have a free pump repair SMS number whereby they can report a problem to our office.
The PlayPump is a niche solution to the problem of providing clean drinking water in improverished rural communities. It is designed to work best at schools with primary aged school children. The PlayPump is not an irrigation system, nor it is an answer to all water related problems around the globe.
Roundabout Water Solutions (RWS) is a South African registered non-profit (section 21) company (registration no 2008/009247/08) which is also registered as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO No 930027988) with the South African Revenue Services and is able to give South Africa companies a Section 18A tax certification on their donation. RWS is an independently run Nonprofit Organization (No 071-197-NPO).
