Merry-Go-Rounds and Clean Water = PlayPumps!

What happens when you connect a merry-go-round and a water pump..........clean water amidst children's laughs. Playpumps was started in 1989 in South Africa by Trevor Field. Playpumps' mission is to "help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions across Africa."

The science behind the Playpumps is not rocket science...putting the two together is:

• While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground.
• A simple tap (5) makes it easy for adults and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6).
• The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.
• The design of the PlayPump water system makes it highly effective, easy to operate and very economical, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum.
• Capable of producing up to 1,400 liters of water per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40 meters, it is effective up to a depth of 100 meters.

Check out the Playpumps in action:



If your a lover of handbags like myself, you can support Playpumps in away that benefits yourself through the purchase of a flashbag.

Flashbags were created by two entrepreneurial women in Burlington, Vermont with the intention of 'carrying a conversation'. You can purchase bags to benefit organizations like and PlayPumps or Women for Women International or you can have can use your own pictures to create a own-of-a-kind bag all for yourself.