Goals

The goal of the pilot project is to establish a successful cooperation between (Dutch) companies, producing, selling and distributing innovative compact and mobile water treatment systems wherever fresh surface water is available in rural areas all over the world.

Details of current status

The Villagepump 700 has been introduced at the Aquatech Amsterdam, beginning of November 2011. The product has received widespread interest due to its outstanding features.

The preparations for the implementation in Mali (beginning of March 2012) are on schedule. A team of our people will visit Mali in January 2012 to finalize the project plan and its implementation.

Details of project plan

During the project a complimentary cooperation agreement will be signed between two or more Dutch companies to establish a lasting relationship with the mutual ambition to produce and sell the Villagepump.
With suppliers of certain components agreements will be closed to strengthen the supply chain.

As this is a demonstration project, the requirements for and the engineering of the Villagepump will be amended, based on the location study. Five almost identical installations will be produced and tested in the Netherlands, after which they will be transported and installed in five different areas in Mali.
In Mali itself a maintenance organization will be founded and trained. Besides this, a local campaign will be developed to enhance the adoption of the Villagepump and its advantages. During the project the quality of the used surface water, as well as the produced drinking water, will be strictly monitored through regular lab tests.
The results of all these activities will be published on a weblog and wiki (internet) application (password protected).

Further the participants will develop and test several business models in order to establish how the Villagepump can be exploited in a profitable way (including the necessary investments).
The project will be concluded by a final report, detailing all the ‘lessons learned’. This report will be published through several communication channels.

Spin off and market impact

This project presents new market opportunities for the participating partners and other parties in the Dutch water sector.

The main innovative features are:
- At least 700 litres of pure, clean and cool drinking water per hour
- Water quality meets WHO standards
- No need for an external power source
- Geared to small communities of up to 500 people where fresh surface water is available
- Completely mechanical, self cleaning (automatic backwash) and mobile
- Modular design with minimal maintenance needs or costs

Technologies used

Leading solution for rural areas without requiring external power source
The VILLAGEPUMP 700 yields at least 700 litres of fully purified, cool drinking water an hour or over 5.5 m3 per day, all of the qualities that meets WHO standards. Each Villagepump employs multi-stage filtering that reduce diseases by removing waterborne pathogens that can cause diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera and hepatitis. The units can operate from all forms of surface water, including ponds, lakes and streams.

The VILLAGEPUMP 700 is ideal as a compact mobile water treatment system wherever fresh surface water is available or with water storage systems (e.g. rainwater harvesting). Pure water can be directly dispensed without the need to any intermediate storage facility.

Durable & Dependable
Built using proven technology and without any vulnerable electronics, the pump is fully mechanical and hand-powered. The use of robust materials gives an expected life span of at least 10 years with normal use. As the mechanical components are assembled in a modular manner, the VILLAGEPUMP 700 is very easy to maintain and exceptionally user-friendly. Above all, the use of modular components facilitates easy assembly and production can be locally subcontracted. Component parts are easily disassembled and made of recyclable materials.

Smart filtering
Filtering is performed in two stages: 1) pre-filtering: binds any heavy metals and restores the water’s flavour, colour and smell. 2) Ultra filtering: this technology is based on membrane techniques removing bacteria, viruses, protozoa and cysts, while still allowing vital minerals to pass through. The membrane filter employs a self-cleansing ‘smart valves’ (backwash). A patent is pending.