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Customer: “Grundfos solar-powered pumps are a game changer for hand pump retrofits”
Grundfos is a very good partner for us. We have long-standing partnership with them. They organise trainings for our staff so we have more knowledge about the products
There are millions of manually operated hand pumps across Africa, thousands of them in Zambia alone. In some circumstances, they can be the most suitable choice. But one of the main drawbacks of such a pump is that only one person can operate it at a time, and it has a single tap that fills only one container at a time. If many people are trying to collect water at the same time, queues are likely to form.
NGOs and governments in Africa have recently launched initiatives to retrofit solar-pumping systems as an alternative to hand pumps. To support World Vision’s WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) strategy, Grundfos has provided cost-efficient SQFlex solar pumps, the SQF 1-30 and SQ 1-70.
In Zambia, World Vision is already using 80 Grundfos solar pumps to supply clean water to 20,000 people who would otherwise be using hand pumps.
In the Mapuloti village, World Vision Zambia has installed a solar powered water system using a Grundfos SQFlex pump
Grundfos’ solar-powered systems can be a really good solution for us as an alternative to hand pumps, because they are a game changer for hand pump retrofits in the rural communities where we are operating
A game changer for water collection, solar-powered pumps, eliminate the physical effort required to operate a hand pump. The Grundfos’ state-of-the-art solar submersible pumps are designed to require minimal maintenance.
According to World Vision Zambia, the SQFlex pump is easy to install, operate and maintain at modest costs and provides high water flow when installed within a suitable aquifer. It provides high water flow when installed within a suitable aquifer thus reducing queue time.
With the SQFlex pump, water is pumped to a tank and is readily available for people to draw and take home. The time it takes to collect water is often reduced to less than 30 minutes per round trip.
With a hand pump, women have to physically pump the water. Because of the low water flow rate, this can lead to a queue.
Most communities have not imagined a time they would see water being pumped using solar energy. Also, water being readily available for people to use is something unimaginable in the community. And these solar pumps from Grundfos are even easy to install and requires very little maintenance
The multi-tap solar system installation
World Vision are committed to ensuring that the new pumping system continues to operate efficiently into the future. Building local know-how further contributes to the sustainability of the system.
“We engage community members and we provide capacity-building to identify the most appropriate solution for maintenance to result in long-term reliable water delivery.” — Tiyezye Nyirenda, WASH Project Officer, World Vision Zambia
A better life for all
Grundfos’ expectation is that providing communities with the advantages of solar-powered pumps will improve their quality of life. The need to physically pump water has been eliminated and the time required for the task has been reduced.
"To fetch water from the borehole in the past would take a lot of time for a person to take 20 litres of water. Now it is better. Now it is easy” — Namuyamba Patrick Munde, Community leader, Mapuloti village