The FairWater School Pump
FairWater School Pump with a large reservoir and several water taps
The Fairwater SchoolPump or SwingPump is a simple design for a sturdy handpump to be used at schools or hospitals.
The basic idea is that the water is pumped directly (so no additional complex maintenance) into a water tank of about 2.000 L. to store the water. From time to time, the water in the tank can also be chlorinated for disinfection when needed.
The purpose of this chlorination is more to provide a buffer of chlorine in case the water from the tank is brought home and the water is stored at home. Studies show that most of the contamination of drinking water takes place at home inside unsafe storage containers.
The idea of the Swing pump comes from the old and famous Dutch community handpump that was in use in most Dutch rual communities some 100 years ago. It was a sturdy design, often placed at the main square in a small town, see picture below. The picture was taken at the main square in the Dutch Parliament building, were an old pump is till present as an example.
The large vertical swing allows conveniently pumping for kids, or can be operated as weel with the help of a simple machine (diesel of solar).
The pumping system is based on the FairWater BluePump system.
To raise additional money for the maintance, the walls and the roof of the house can be used for advertisement. The main advantage of the FairWater School pump are:
- Water storage at low lift, so the users (kids) can have water from more taps at the same time. This is important when the kids all rush to have some water after or before school.
- Convenient pumping with the large vertical swing, this is not tyring and kids can even pump water from greated depth with this system, up to 80 m deep is no problem.
- Spare part free pumping system in the borehole. This is a proven design that allows many years of trouble free pumping, so no regular breakdowns and intermittend water supply anymore.
- Regional backup service of one of the FairWater partners in case of any problem with the water pump, through a lease contract is one of the maintenance options.
Old Dutch Community handpump