Two out of every five people in Africa do not have access to clean drinking water.⁽²⁾ This means that there are currently 461,215,160 people living on the African continent who are at risk of being affected by illnesses caused by dehydration and poor sanitation.⁽³⁾ The number of people who do not have access to clean water in Africa is equivalent to the total population of the United States (US) and Russia combined.⁽⁴⁾ The United Nations (UN) estimates that Sub Saharan Africa loses 40 billion hours each year in activities relating to fetching water, which is the same as a whole year’s worth of labour by the entire workforce in France.⁽⁵⁾ Similarly, the average weight of water that is daily carried on the heads of predominantly women is equal to the average traveller’s airport luggage allowance: 20 kilograms. This figure excludes the additional weight of the young children that these women have to carry.⁽⁶⁾

In a country such as South Sudan, where homes are spread out and the installation of piped water is too expensive, women and children have to travel long distances in order to reach the nearest manual borehole pump. Currently, in South Sudan, there is no existing water infrastructure or running taps.⁽⁷⁾ The economy andthe health and wellbeing of the people,who do not have close access to clean drinking,are exposed to major hazards. Long-term spinal and neck injuries are common place as women and children are forced to balance the weight of a 25 litre jerry can on their heads over long periods of time, while as much as 80% of all reported illnesses are a consequence of poor sanitation and a lack of clean drinking water.⁽⁸⁾

Fortunately, a South African initiative called the Hippo Water Roller Project has sought to tackle the water crisis Africa is currently facing. It does this through a bespoke design that is aimed at alleviating the daily challenges African people face when transporting water. This CAI paper discusses this project and its benefits for African people.

What is a Hippo Water Roller?

The Hippo Water Roller is a barrel-shaped container designed to transport 90 litres of water at once. The design allows water to be placed inside a rolling wheel, which results in a total weight of only 10 kilograms on level ground. Fetching water is therefore made easier as they can now carry larger amounts of water along the ground by holding on to the handle with which the drum is pushed or pulled. This means that people are able to transport almost five times the amount of water in one trip, without having to carry 20 kilograms on their heads.

The Roller is specifically designed for use in rural areas, where tarred or even surfaced roads do not exist. With the military engineering experience of its designers, the Roller has proven to be a reliable product in the field for over 19 years, while its flexible design has awarded it an average lifespan of six years. While transporting water is the Hippo Water Roller’s primary use, the design is also used for drip irrigation. Furthermore, the wireframe that has been designed to attach on to the Roller, transforms the device into a movable casualty bed for the sick or wounded, a transportable ‘spaza’ shop that includes a shade cover as well as a trolley that can be used to transport products to market.

The Roller has been used in test cases as an anti-personnel demining device, whereby it is rolled along the ground to absorb the blast of landmines when filled with water. To date, 39,000 Hippo Water Rollers have been distributed among 21 African countries. These include South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The initiative is also currently involved in assisting people who do not have access to clean drinking water in South America and India.

Tangible benefits

Apart from the Roller being able to transport up to five times the amount of water in one journey, at half the average weight of much smaller containers, it also increases access to safe drinking water andimprovesoverall sanitation levels. In addition, it prevents long-term spinal injuries caused by carrying heavy loads of water, produce or people. The efficiency of the Hippo Water Roller gives people more timeto do other important tasks around the household and allows children to attend school.

Thanks to the Hippo Water Roller,women can now braid their hair, which is a practice previously impossible because they had to carry water on their heads. It has also decreased the rate at which women experience hair loss, thus generating higher levels of self-confidence and dignity.Men have also displayed interest in using the new technology, and have begun assisting women with the daily burden of collecting water.

The Roller has given people the opportunity to grow more produce and earn a higher income from the potential increase in sales, due to higher yields. Small-scale entrepreneurs are also able to transport and display their goods more effectively, while at the same time protect their produce from the sun. In South Sudan, the device allowed a local brick manufacturer to double the production rate because he was able to spend less time and effort collecting water.

Similarly, the Rollerprovides a flexible infrastructure that enables people to access multiple water points at a lesser expense in terms of distance and energy consumed. This is imperative considering that these points frequently change throughout a given year. Overall, the Hippo Water Roller has had a positive influence on the economic and social sectors it has been implemented in. With one Roller impacting an average of seven people and at an annual cost of about US$ 4,50 per person, the device is able to address some of the world’s most basic needs at a highly effective ratio.

NGOs and corporate sponsors

The Hippo Water Roller has been endorsed and used by the World Food Programme (WFP), Nedbank Foundation, Operation Hunger and former South African President Nelson Mandela, to name a few. The Nedbank Foundation is the largest corporate sponsor of the project and uses its branding on the recessed lid, which is designed in such a way that it is not damaged when the roller is pushed along the ground. The Foundation is scheduled to hand over 600 Rollers to another community in KwaZulu Natal (KZN), South Africa at the end of March. The Hippo Water Roller Project has introduced a mobile manufacturing initiative, whereby Rollers can be built locally and at a lower landed cost. Exporting completed Hippo Water Rollers to other countries is often very expensive and sometimes doubles the cost of a Roller. The shipping capacity is also limited due to the device’s shape, which ultimately influences the cost of shipping.

Due to the cost involved in transporting large quantities of Hippo Water Rollers to countries who are in need, the Project has proposed that one container with a small manufacturing machine inside it would be more cost effective in the long-term. The continual provision of raw materials would ensure that Rollers are produced; ultimately enabling neighbouring countries, national sponsors and local NGO’s to purchase Rollers at a lower cost due to this optimised and more efficient local manufacturing strategy.

In fact, the savings fromongoingshipping costs would supplement the initial capital expenditure required to purchase the mobile manufacturing plant. Similarly, the crate which the machine arrives in can be used to build other structures, including small clinics, rural class rooms or it can be used as safe storage facilities.

The 6th World Water Forum and other exhibitions

Out of 1,100 initiatives, the Hippo Water Roller has been chosen, amongst 70 others, to be exhibited at the Village of Solutions during the 6th World Water Forum in France between 12 March and 17 March 2012. The Forum is considered to be the world’s largest water event, offering a space in which new innovations, skills and knowledge about the importance of water can be shared, and where new ideas can be created.

The Roller will be exhibited at the Roca Gallery in Barcelona, Spain until 13 May 2012 under the Dreams of a Faucet: Design with the Soul of Water exhibition and also at the Eco Design Initiative in South Africa between March 2012 and December 2012.

Conclusion

The benefits of this South African award winning invention are immediate and so is its potential to impact positively on the long-term negative effects of not having access to clean water. A child is now healthy enough to attend school on a frequent basis because they are not sick or bound to water-fetching activities. An adult is able to work longer hours on their land, increase their yields, and become active participants in their country’s economy by being able, in some cases, to double their rate of production.

Once asked by an enthusiastic supporter what Grant Gibbs’ wildest dream was, Grant replied by saying that it was “to reduce the number of people without adequate access to water by 1%.”⁽⁹⁾ Whilst 1% might not seem ambitious enough, “when you consider that according to the United Nations (UN), more than 1 billion people do not enjoy the luxury of water on tap, it would require the distribution of 10,000 Hippo Rollers per month for ten years to reduce the suffering endured by just that 1%.”⁽¹⁰⁾ Clearly the need for such innovation is enormous and the benefits of the Hippo Water Roller are endless. The Hippo Water Roller Project will continue to be a winning solution to achieving sustainable development in Africa and across the rest of the world for years to come.

Written by Daniela Kirkby ⁽¹⁾

NOTES:

(1) Contact Daniela Kirkby through Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Optimistic Africa Unit ( optimistic.africa@consultancyafrica.com).
(2) ‘Lack of clean water root cause of many problems’, The Water Project, http://thewaterproject.org.
(3) ‘Total African continent population: 1950-2050: United Nations estimates’, June 2009, http://www.blatantworld.com.
(4) ‘The world population and the top ten countries with the highest population’, http://www.internetworldstats.com.
(5) ‘Statistics on the water crisis’, The Water Project, August 2011, http://thewaterproject.org.
(6) ‘World water facts’, Africa Stories, March 2010, http://www.africastories.org.
(7) ‘Hippo Water Roller Case Study – South Sudan’, Hippo Water Roller Project, December 2010.
(8) ‘Statistics on the water crisis’, The Water Project, August 2011, http://thewaterproject.org.
(9) Interview with Grant Gibbs, social entrepreneur and representative of the Hippo Water Roller Project
(10)Ibid.