Go Beyond's Water for Life project addresses the urgent need in many remote villages for a sustainable water supply. Rainwater harvesting, improved tank construction and water pumping solutions are implemented using local materials.
Clip-on rainwater harvesting and concrete tank constructed by Go Beyond
The project provides excellent volunteering opportunities for students, and enables sponsors and other organizations to partner with Go Beyond in meeting a critical need, and simultaneously make valuable training available to students.
Volunteers working on the project
The name "Water for Life" is based on feedback we received from a village leader, who summed up the value of the project thus: "The water system being installed will provide a life-long water supply for a family." ‘Water for life’ provides one of the most basic needs for life, for a life-time.
A local materials rainwater solution was trialed by villagers and Go Beyond volunteers in 2007, in a Yunnan village which faced challenges collecting and storing sufficient water. With funding from Hong Kong sponsors, and grants obtained by student volunteers, materials such as PVC pipe were purchased locally, and metal brackets were manufactured to make installation as straightforward as possible.
Slotted bracket allowing for easy installation
Split 160mm PVC pipe used for gutters
The resulting rainwater harvesting system has now been adopted by the village and is an example to the area that rainwater is precious and needs to be stored. But more needs to be done in this village and in many other locations.
Receiving a ram pump in 2013, donated by World Vision, was an ideal opportunity to work with the village where we had installed rainwater harvesting, and introduce the use of ram pumps into the area for the first time.
The Green and Carter pump we received was an excellent commercial pump, and yet the cost of the pump itself was too high for it to become a widely used water powered pump. When looking at alternatives, one option stood out above the rest, as highly suitable and cost effective – utilize a locally manufactured pump, a concept proposed in a ram pump manual written by Mitchell Silver, published by UNICEF in Nepal in 1977.
Collecting the Green and Carter ram pump donated by World Vision
Village representatives and World Vision team watching the installed Green and Carter pump in operation
To train volunteers in assembling and operating ram pumps, we found that a live training session was far more effective than any other activity. In 2015, Go Beyond began offering ram pump workshops for students and volunteers, and started producing ram pump kitsets, which greatly streamlines the installation of ram pumps in the field.
A ram pump workshop in Shenzhen, China
A team in Kenya assembling a ram pump for which the impulse valve was donated by Go Beyond
A ram pump demonstration for high school students in Hong Kong
A Go Beyond demonstration pump (installed in a New Zealand park)
Machined impulse valve (polymer and stainless steel)
Set of welded kit-set parts
The above parts comprise the Go Beyond ram pump kit-set, which is scalable, and can be shipped anywhere worldwide for training activities and for installation. Alternatively the welded parts can be made in local workshops (To request plans and instructions please email Go Beyond).
The design of the polymer and stainless steel impulse valve shown above, created by the Go Beyond Water for Life Project, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. As an open source design, it may be used freely in projects anywhere, and no restriction may be placed on its use. You’re free to use the design, provided you give appropriate credit and provide a link to this page containing the license. Thank you!
Credits: The valve is an adaptation of a valve made at the Motueka Community Workshop in New Zealand. During its operation from 2013 to 2015, the workshop offered access to tooling machines for a monthly fee of NZ$20, which provided opportunities for those lacking personal resources to create new products.
To purchase an impulse valve from Go Beyond, please contact us at: info@gobeyondnow.net.
With STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) activities being used more frequently in school science curricula, and with many communities in Africa and Asia seeking to overcome water scarcity, a unique opportunity exists for students to have an impact – by first working with ram pumps on campus, and then, in addition to rainwater harvesting and solar pumping from wells, using ram pumps in actual service projects related to water.