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Clean water is child's play

A company called PlayPump International has devised an ingenious, low-tech, low-maintenance device that brilliantly meets the challenge of obtaining clean, fresh water in sub-Saharan Africa, an area of the world most vulnerable to. Called a PlayPump, the device is a type of merry-go-round for kids who, with each spin, activate an attached pump that pulls water from the ground and linto an above-ground tank, which then uses gravity to move the water through the tank's spigot.

Globally, water-related disease kills about 6,000 people every day. And dirty water is responsible for approximately 80 percent of all infectious diseases in the world.

A company called PlayPumps International has devised an ingenious, low-tech, low-maintenance device that brilliantly meets the challenge of obtaining clean, fresh water in sub-Saharan Africa, an area of the world most vulnerable to water woes.

Called a PlayPump, the device is a type of merry-go-round for kids who, with each spin, activate an attached pump that pulls water from the ground and linto an above-ground tank, which then uses gravity to move the water through the tank's spigot.

This video will show this miracle of child's play better than I could ever describe it. And it makes me wonder, where else can we harness the natural energy of play - adult or child's play makes no difference - to improve lives in equally affordable, sustainable ways?