Earlier this week, PBS”s Frontline ran a story about the
PlayPump, a technology that was supposed to bring drinking water
to thousands of African communities by harnessing the power of
children at play. The title of the Frontline story, “Troubled
Water” indicates that all didn’t go as planned with the
PlayPump. As Frontline reports, dozens of PlayPumps in
Mozambique sit idle, and in many villages, PlayPumps have been
removed and hand pumps reinstalled. The idea behind PlayPump is
simple, and it’s not hard to see why so many people got so
excited about it. A merry-go-round type device is installed and
connected to a water pump. As children play on the merry-go-
round, water is pumped into a storage tank, and is then
available on demand. Frontline originally reported on the
technology in 2005, leading to a tremendous amount of
excitement, including support from Laura Bush and AOL Founder
Steve Case. As the new Frontline story reports, however, it
seems that PlayPump hasn’t lived up to its original promise and
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