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In 2012 the Oxford research team started a trial in Kenya where hand pumps in 60 villages were fitted with data transmitters. The idea was they would monitor the motion of the pump and the amount of water extracted on an hourly basis - if the pump wasn't working, a message was sent to a repair company and workers were dispatched to fix the problem.
Now the scientists have found another way to interpret the data from the accelerometers fitted to the pump handles. They discovered that when the water is being drawn from a deep aquifer, it produces different vibrations than when the liquid comes from a shallow one.
"It's quite a simple and elegant solution to estimating groundwater and how it varies over time," co-author Dr Rob Hope from Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment told BBC News.
Farah E. Colchester et al, Accidental infrastructure for groundwater monitoring in Africa. Environmental Modelling & Software. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364815216308325
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @09:03PM (8 children)
Different AC here. I'm tempted to mod GP +1 Agree.
Why do there need to be sensors on water pump handles in order to enable maintenance? Especially why do there need to be sensors with that kind of precision on water pumps?!
There's a rustic campground I like to camp at that has manual water pumps. They don't need smart text everything to keep them maintained. Either a ranger will catch the problem when he's making his rounds or somebody will report a problem to the office (or flag down the ranger, etc). These pumps are not essential to quality of life for a whole community. Imagine how much quicker a problem would be reported to the authority/manager/etc responsible if they were. All this can happen without a single cell tower.
Why are we treating Kenyans like dumb animals? (Please, no chimpout or Obama jokes.)
I would be beside myself if the cloud knew whenever I pumped myself a bucket of water at that campground. The sheer arrogance of whoever thought of this solution... to presume that Kenyans are unable to reporting broken equipment... to presume that they must be essentially radio-collared like animals... that's what personally causes me distress at this story.
I don't know... maybe they are. If they are, I'm even more distressed.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday February 28 2017, @12:10AM (6 children)
Yeap, sure, how dare they install, for every pump, sensors one can buy at under $1 in retail [aliexpress.com]?
And what would be the usefulness of knowing how deep the underground water table is and map afterwards an entire region? Either there is water or there isn't - there's nothing extra knowledge can do.
Instead of knowledge, we should have a little faith; in fact the more faith the better - faith creates water when needed.
No, seriously, it can be so much better to give every villager a mobile phone to call the technician when needed, this way we can help the bottom line of some big mobile manufacturers, the international stock exchanges will be grateful.
Besides, the life of villagersi will be highly improved, those mobile phones will bring the ultimate experience of Flappy Bird and Candy Crush into their life. They'll be even able to watch the Oscars.
Now, see?, this is progress-done-right.
Listen to the mighty AC camper, he has extensive experience... sensors are not needed. Dixit!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28 2017, @03:04AM (5 children)
> No, seriously, it can be so much better to give every villager a mobile phone to call the technician when needed,
Actually... Feature phones have been a driving engine for improvement in africa. They help farmers find better prices for their crops. They help people find jobs outside of their villages. They help to get medical services to patients. They help people do mobile banking. Etc. So if they could afford it, it probably would be a lot better.
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21711511-mobile-phones-are-transforming-africa-where-they-can-get-signal-mobile-phones [economist.com]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/08/africa-calling-mobile-phone-broadband-revolution-transform-democracies [theguardian.com]
http://www.oafrica.com/mobile/mobile-first-why-mobile-phones-are-transforming-lives-in-africa/ [oafrica.com]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/footnote/how-mobile-banking-is-tra_b_12944438.html [huffingtonpost.com]
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/13/world/africa/mobile-phones-change-africa/ [cnn.com]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200809180986.html [allafrica.com]
http://www.aefjn.org/index.php/archive-381/articles/cell-phones-make-life-easier-in-africa.html [aefjn.org]
https://10innovations.alumniportal.com/africas-mobile-revolution.html [alumniportal.com]
http://citizen.co.za/your-life/your-life-technology/813880/cellphones-are-transforming-africa/ [citizen.co.za]
http://pulse.com.gh/telecom/transformation-how-cell-phones-in-africa-are-becoming-more-than-communication-devices-id4352211.html [pulse.com.gh]
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/mobilizing-a-revolution/ [harvard.edu]
https://www.aho.afro.who.int/en/blog/2015/03/10/mobile-health-transforming-face-health-service-delivery-african-region [who.int]
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/why-mobile-phones-make-a-difference-to-healthcare/ [globalcitizen.org]
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/africas-mobile-phone-e-learning-transformation/2007120.article [timeshighereducation.com]
http://qz.com/625258/more-phones-few-banks-and-years-of-instability-are-transforming-somalia-to-a-cashless-society/ [qz.com]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday February 28 2017, @03:19AM (4 children)
I'm not diminishing the importance of communication means for Africa. But...
And if they aren't copying with the everyday life, would you rather spend money on mobile phones rather than creating survival conditions? (see hierarchy of human needs [wikipedia.org]).
Can you make a difference between the initial investment for "200 phones/village" vs "1 sensor+1 mobile/village" to solve the water pump maintenance problem?
Once they are no longer in a precarious survival condition, you can step on the higher level of needs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28 2017, @04:24AM (3 children)
On what basis have you decided that they couldn't afford it?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday February 28 2017, @04:54AM (2 children)
The only reason they installed a manual water pump must be that they really want to preserve some sort of traditional authenticity, to attract tourists, right? Right???
Otherwise, all the other necessities are solved; the only problem for them still remaining is their participation into agricultural futures exchange through SAFEX/AMD [wikipedia.org], for which they certainly need mobiles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28 2017, @03:19PM (1 child)
The only reason they installed a manual water pump must be that they really want to preserve some sort of traditional authenticity, to attract tourists, right? Right???
Simplicity means less failure modes. If a manual pump gets the job done with the fewest problems, that's not a cost-savings choice, its an effectiveness choice.
But you go ahead and assume the stupidest interpretation that supports your preconceived biases rather than make a rational evaluation. You're just as good at it as VLM, mighty butthead, runaway, etc...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday February 28 2017, @03:41PM
I see you relish living with hypotheticals. Every man to his taste, who am I to object.
And having a sensor+wireless modem+small solar panel for less than $20-$30/pump to measure the water table level over a large area is a waste, right?
Thanks, I'm striving, nice to see I'm getting recognition from an AC (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 28 2017, @12:23AM
There need to be sensors because the people who use the handpumps can't be bothered to report back to the people who supply the handpumps when they break - they're too busy schlepping to the next water hole so they don't die of thirst.
The people that supply the hand pumps can't be bothered to visit them on a regular basis due to cost of the trip, potential dangers, etc.
It may seem crazy, but once you've gone to the trouble to install a sensor on a handpump and get a satlink out for the data, you might as well put on a good sensor.
It may sound expensive, but when you consider the cost of a visit to every handpump installed, the sensors are cheaper, and the sensors can direct you to the pumps that need visiting first, so you're doing much more good with a limited budget.
🌻🌻 [google.com]