When we started Drop in the Bucket our initial thought was that would put in water wells and that that alone would fix everything. It was only once we were on the ground in Africa that we realized that just providing water alone only solved part of the problem.
We learned very quickly that we would need a system that addressed several issues, but mostly that water, sanitation and hygiene all went hand in hand, and to be most effective we would need to combine all three in a system that was easy to install, cost effective and required little maintenance
Step one was to install a well with a modified hand pump that sent part of the water into a container and the rest into a reservoir tank. Step two was to attach a roundabout pump to the reservoir tank.
When kids play on the roundabout it pumps water to a hand washing station. The hand washing station is located just outside two sets of flushing toilets, also powered by the roundabout pump.
The toilets are attached to a delayed septic system, which over a period of 28 days breaks down the sewage to the point that it's only output is pure water that is safe, 100% pathogen free and 85% pure. The whole system is completely self-sustaining and requires very little maintenance and unlike the pit latrines that are common in Africa, it will never fill up.
The first complete system was installed at the Nauyo Primary School in Mbale, Uganda. The children at the school were so happy with it that some of them drew pictures (click on the photos below to see them).
None of this would have been possible without the hard work, wit and insight of our good friends Bill McKay and Hunter Beattie who are truly the visionaries behind all of this |
