See Hippo Roller video at www.serumlab.com

The Hippo Water Roller

Can see Peter Macomber’s  The Hippo Roller video at   www.serumlab.com

www.metaefficient.com has story about the Hippo Water Roller:

Rain ‘n Roll – The Hippo Water Roller

The HippoRoller is a heavy-duty plastic drum that can be filled upright, then sealed and rolled like a steamroller across rough terrain. The 24-gallon (90L) tank weighs 200 pounds when full, but the rolling drum has a functional weight of just 22 pounds, so virtually anyone can use it. The current design has been tweaked to ease shipping and transportation of the carriers, which are manufactured in Johannesburg, South Africa. They are distributed mainly by local NGOs to communities throughout southern Africa, along with training on water purification and sanitation.

A single HippoRoller can hold a day’s water for an entire family of five. Great potential here to work with RainCatcher systems to help people transport water more easily and efficiently from a central location in a village out to individul homes. And what an improvement to go…

...from this...

...to this! (All photos: HippoRoller.org)

Another simple solution to the water problem: Rain ‘n Roll.

For more information, visit the HippoRoller website at  www.HippoRoller.org.

A global clean-water shortage

Los Angeles Times article: A global clean-water shortage, November 10, 2006.

A global clean-water shortage

A U.N. agency report calls for action to save lives and energize economies by boosting supplies and sanitation.

By Robyn Dixon, Times Staff Writer
November 10, 2006

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — While people in wealthy suburbs of Africa use water to maintain lush lawns and fill swimming pools, many slum dwellers struggle to obtain the crucial resource and pay much more per gallon for what little of it they can get, according to a United Nations Development Program report calling for an end to “water apartheid.”

At the same time, dirty water is the second-leading cause of death among children globally, after respiratory infections. It kills 1.8 million children younger than 5 each year, more than do HIV/AIDS, malaria, war or traffic accidents, says the U.N. report released Thursday in Cape Town.

“In the year 2015 they plan to send a spaceship to Jupiter to search for water, yet in Africa or India we can’t get water to people who need it,” Kevin Watkins, the report’s author, said at a briefing for media in Johannesburg.

The report’s main contention is that if countries increase access to clean water and sanitation simultaneously, the rates of child survival in developing countries can rocket “almost overnight,” Watkins said. Globally, 2.6 billion people have no access to proper sanitation. The 1.1 billion people who don’t have clean water use about 1.3 gallons a day.

“It is hard to find anything that has a greater impact on human life than water,” Watkins said.

In cities such as Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, people pay more for water than do New Yorkers, Watkins said. The water and sanitation crisis in sub-Saharan Africa slowed economic growth by 5% of gross domestic product per year, more than the region receives in foreign aid, the report says. A big increase in spending on water and sanitation would pay for itself in economic growth.

“No other investment could bring greater benefits,” Watkins said.

Collecting water is a colossal waste of labor, he said, with the burden falling overwhelmingly on women and girls. Sub-Saharan African women spend about 40 billion hours a year walking and queuing to collect water.

Some countries spend much more on their military than on water.

In Pakistan, where diarrhea caused by dirty water kills 118,000 people each year, the government spends 0.1% of its budget on water and sanitation. It spends 47 times that on the military. India, where 450,000 die of diarrhea annually, spends eight times more on its military than on water resources, and Ethiopia, which has one of the highest rates of infant mortality due to lack of clean water and sanitation, spends 10 times more on the military.

The global cosmetics industry is $200 billion.

African Valentine

Notice of travels in Africa: I’ll be in Kenya for two weeks, from 2/14/07 to 2/28/07.

In Africa my work is to catch rain, elsewhere it is to light fires, to inspire people to help secure reliable sources of clean drinking water for everyone in need, especially children, who are most at risk to waterborne diseases. If you are moved to give a valentine to Kenya, there are three components needed for the successful completion of this project: Water Storage tanks $500-each; Katadyn water filters-$250 each and rain gutters-$250 per structure. We will set up as many RainCatchers as we receive funding for. To participate email jack@raincatcher.org and I’ll give directions for electronic funds transfer to Kentainers in Nairobi.

Remembering my last trip to Africa
I have never met a happier or more alive people. The ones who appear to have little have something we often lack — a sparkle, a smile, an openness, an ease, a faith, a way, all connected to some deeper well. To be there, to live there, in friendship, is like coming home. I went to Africa thinking I had something they needed. I returned with the knowledge that it is us who need Africa. My new pastime, therefore, is simply to encourage everyone I know and love, and the new friends I meet, to somehow get to Africa. It’s impossible to visit Africa and not be changed for the better. I will do what I can to help people have a safe and fulfilling journey to Africa, Africa will do the rest. Consider this the first installment of your invitation to Africa.

Average annual rainfall

March/April/May: Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda – long rain = 19 inches

Nov/Dec/Jan : Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda – short rain = 8 inches

Nov through March: Johannesburg/South Africa – rainy season = 17 inches

The East African equatorial highlands include Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the three countries that surround Lake Victoria, headwaters of the Nile. This region enjoys two rainy seasons: the long rain is March/April/May; the short rain occurs in Nov/Dec/Jan.

Johannesburg’s rainy season is summer, from Nov to March.

Average rainfall:

Kenya: long rain – March-140mm…April-191mm…May-155mm
short rain – November-86mm…December-102mm

Johannesburg: summer – Nov-117mm…Dec-105mm…Jan-125mm…Feb-125mm…Mar-91mm

Water For Africa

Recently, the World Health Organization estimated that 5 million people die annually from water-borne diseases. The Big Question: How can we help to bring safe, clean drinking water to the billions of people around the world who are chronically thirsty? In many places, once the rain hits the ground it becomes too contaminated to use. The challenge, therefore, is to catch the water before it touches the ground and store enough of it to last throughout the long dry season.

The rainwater that falls from the sky is unlimited — why should our capacity to catch, store and use it be limited? We are preparing for a second trip to Africa to catch rain. My first trip took me to South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania in April of 2004.  I traveled through Africa with a group headed by Vickie Butcher, called Water for Children Africa. Starting in San Diego, California, our first stop was Johannesburg, South Africa where we spent a week visiting settlements and hospitals delivering supplies for mothers and children with HIV/Aids. Most of these sites will be receiving RainCatchers on future trips. Then we visited Kenya and Tanzania, setting up water storage tanks to provide clean drinking water for schools in the Mua Hills north of Nairobi.

Many people, back in the States and in Africa, contributed time, creativity and resources  to make this work possible. Every step along the way we were received with open arms and high hopes. Securing a reliable source of clean water is the first order of business. Everywhere we went I was invited to travel out to rural schools, orphanages, farms and clinics to design RainCatchers. As I toured a wide variety of locations and situations another need  became obvious: Shade! After the rain comes the hot sun, then the big RainCatcher tent  becomes a giant parasol, providing shaded gathering places. In most poor areas there are no trees, no shelter from the sun. People will be able to have a clean drink of water and a little bit of shade. While  in Africa I  worked with  suppliers to carry the necessary tanks and tents for rainwater harvesting so that from  America we can raise funds and, through email, purchase more RainCatchers and have them transported to new locations. These will be set up by the truck drivers who deliver the tanks. The networks are already well established. An eager workforce awaits our green light.

The beauty, color and texture of Africa is indescribable, the people as friendly and open as I have ever met. Each country is very distinct from the others. South Africa is a perfect home base , reminds me of California, but more European. Very cosmopolitan, diverse, and hopeful in the face of extreme adversity. Remember, this ancient place is home to a ten year old democracy. The window for change is right now. Progressive ideas have a chance to bloom here. It is exciting to be a part of a story so historically rich and also open to advancement.

I wrote this story from an Internet cafe in Arusha, Tanzania, on the high plains near Kilimanjaro. After traveling to the edge of the earth I found myself in the middle of the world, meeting a novel’s worth of interesting characters from everywhere. The equatorial highlands of East Africa are tropical at 6000ft elevation, blending the best of mountains and jungle. It is truly a world crossroads, a wild west with Marco Polos and Maasai and every imaginable color and culture, all blended together.

The purpose of upcoming travel to Africa, along with actually setting up RainCatchers, is to document the installation process and display it on the Internet so  people in need of safe drinking water all around the world can learn how to make their own. Built in a day, using local materials, the RainCatcher will become an immediate source of drinking water. Overnight, with the first rains, a remedy for the age old problem of inadequate and dangerous water supplies can be implemented. While it may take years and decades, if ever, for new dams and delivery infrastructure to arrive on the scene, people can begin today to develop their own pure water supply, at very little expense, with no bureaucratic or logistical road blocks.

Let it rain.