Smart Phones and Water Pumps!

Can a smart phone app help save a village?

New smart phones are being plugged into hand operated water pumps in Africa. As reported in the Journal of Hydrinformatics, UK researches say they developed the technology to help millions of people across rural Sub Saharan Africa get reliable access to water. Unfortunately, many of these pumps are in such remote locations that if the pump breaks down, the people there often don’t get their pumps repaired for a month or more. However, with the new technology, if the pump breaks down, a special smart phone sends a text message directly to the repair center who then can make arrangements to get the pump fixed immediately, instead of waiting for a hand delivered message to make its way to civilization. 

So how does the pump know if its broken? Oxford University students developed and tested a mobile transmitter into the handle of the pump that measures the amount of water flow into the hand pump. I then periodically sends a message back to a central office that analyzes the data. If needed, they can then send out a repair team to fix the pump when needed.

The pilot program will begin with 70 villages in Kenya.

The reason this story is important on the grand scheme is not just because of the water pump saving individuals from drought, but because of terrorism. If a village is not being helped, or villagers need basic services that are not being satisfied by their own government, then terrorist groups step in to fill the void. They don’t do this out of any goodness of their heart, they do it to gain support from local communities who then end up allowing their children and young adults to join the terror groups. It may not the only reason people join terror groups, but never-the-less, it has been proven that if a government cannot protect and give the people the things they need to survive, then terror groups thrive by providing the humanitarian aid the government cannot, or will not. 

Fighting terror by using a telephone app to provide fresh water. Seems pretty good to me.