Technology for handling water: Hand pumps are vital tools in rural communities, but their use is poorly regulated in most African countries.

摘要

OF THE 35 sub-Saharan African countries, 20 do not have formal pump standardisation policies. Handpumpshuman-powered pumps, including pedal-powered pumps - are a particular point of concern. More than 1 80mn people out of the 930mn in sub-Saharan Africa depend on handpumps for water, with around one million handpumps installed and 60,000 more being addedto that figure annually.Zambia's loose recommendations and possibly unexamined preference for a certain model of pump exemplifies one of the downsides of informal handpump standardisation. Standardising a region's pumps can improve the supply of spare parts and the availability of people who know how to fix and operate the machine. A good policy can also dictate the best model of pump for different regional conditions.