Playgrounds that make water!

These merry-go-rounds pump water out of the ground as children spin around on them. 500 of these pumps are currently installed in sub-Saharan Africa to help solve the clean water crises there. Check out the video from Frontline. Some notable characteristics of the system...

low-tech solution
It uses relatively simple and reliable technology to solve a serious problem. It reminds us that there are so many the lack the most basic of needs; the technology to address them is there and has been for a long time.

exploits (enjoyable) physical labor
Often we equate progress with the reduction of physical labor. Yet, many of the most enjoyable things we do involve physical work. The playpump wonderfully integrates the need for fresh water with the desire to play.

closed-loop system
The system is self-sustaining beyond it's innovative use of play as labor. Revenues from ad-space on the pump towers supports pump maintenance. Some ads also promote AIDS awareness to the children playing on the pumps.

aesthetic of integrated, well-maintained system
Children having fun as they pump their own drinking water is not just smart, it's beautiful. Sustainability should not be simply about avoiding the undesirable and reacting to crises, but creating a world of beauty and abundance. The look of the playpump may not be sexy enough for most American playgrounds, but the idea behind it is something that I'm sure many people can appreciate on an aesthetic level.

(relatively) sexy
I suspect a large part of the reason the playpump has received public attention, such as support from prominent figures like Jay-Z and First Lady Laura Bush, is that it is such a "neat" idea. The play pump story is a little more sexy them some equally important projects such as the work that Amy Smith or Brian Freling is doing. Although it's a shame, people are more likely to support fun projects because they make addressing real-need less depressing.


Summing up - The play pump highlights several qualities that design, for both the "developed" and "developing" worlds, can benefit from. In particular, I think the creative exploitation of physical labor as well as the aesthetic qualities of sustainable systems have great potential that has yet to be explored and realized.