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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: 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.
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