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Hippo Roller solves access to water in Africa
SBGroup
Community Coordinator

750 million people around the world do not have access to clean water. More than half of those people are in Africa, where they struggle to find adequate access to this precious life-giving resource many take for granted.

 

This is typically done using heavy buckets that are balanced on their heads. Making the task even more difficult, physically challenging and time consuming is that water collection points are often located far away from their villages or homes, not to mention the increased long-term damage to the neck and spine.

 

Enter the Hippo Roller, a simple, but innovative and effective solution for rural communities struggling with water access. This 90-litre invention, created in 1991 by two South Africans, enables women, children and the elderly to collect approximately five times more water than a single bucket by simply rolling it along the ground. Since the solution makes water more easily available, more time is allowed for education, household tasks and food production.

 

Since September 2015, roughly 46 000 sponsored Hippo Rollers have been distributed in at least 20 countries, directly benefiting at least 300 000 recipients with an average of seven others to support.

 

This year, World Water Day falls on the 22 March and the theme is Water and Jobs. The focus is on how sufficient safe water can change workers’ lives and livelihoods, and even transform societies and economies.

 

Almost half the world’s workers – 1.5 billion people – work in water-related sectors, and nearly all jobs depend on water and the people who ensure its safe delivery. 

 

We support the international observance of World Water Day and the opportunity to highlight water-related issues.

 

Find out more about our involvement in several initiatives to solve water issues in Africa by clicking to explaore below:

 

Africa innovators crack water issues

 

The African sun to address water purification

 

Water on Tap for life