Category: UPGro in the news
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The Economist: An innovative cure for broken water pumps in Africa
An article published yesterday in The Economist has highlighted the role of innovative use of technology to unlock the potential of rural water service delivery in Africa. They report on the work being done by the Gro for GooD team, led by Oxford University, that is showing that by reducing pump downtime from an average of…
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BBC: ‘Good vibration’ hand pumps boost Africa’s water security
By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent Published: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39077761 The simple up-and-down motion of hand pumps could help scientists secure a key water source for 200 million people in Africa. Growing demand for groundwater is putting pressure on the resource while researchers struggle to accurately estimate the future supply. But a team from Oxford University says that low-cost…
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On the road to resilience in Ethiopia
by Barry Hague, NERC (re-blogged from NERC Planet Earth) It’s time to rethink roads. In the vital fields of flood prevention and water supply, they offer incredible potential to enhance and enrich the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. Dr Frank van Steenbergen of the Roads for Water consortium is helping to drive…
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Africa Groundwater Atlas: “X” marks the spot, but where’s the map? #60IAH2016
Drilling for water is a fraught business in Africa – like being a pirate without a treasure map. In many areas, the rock is old – some of the oldest on our planet. This cracked, shattered stone that is blasted by desert heat or soaked in tropical rains with often only a thin covering of…
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New UPGro YouTube Channel!
You can now find a wealth of interviews, presentations, field vlogs and more at the UPGro YouTube Channel.
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Grofutures launches in Tanzania
Under the heading “Using groundwater to reduce poverty” the GroFutures Team in Tanzania led by Japhet Kashaigili, Andrew Tarimo and Devotha Mosha hosted the GroFutures Inception Workshop in Iringa on March 31st 2016. It was opened by the District Commissioner for Iringa, Hon. Richard Kasesela, and was attended by national, basin-level and local stakeholders…
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How do you solve a problem like a broken water pump?
World Water Day 2016 article on The Guardian by Katherine Purvis, 22/03/2016 Long considered a symbol of development aid, up to 40% of handpumps in sub-Saharan Africa are broken at any one time. Technology is offering smart solutions. Over the past few decades, the humble handpump has become the go-to option for rural water supply…
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Commentary on UN Sustainable Development Goals
On September 25, 2015, the global development agenda for the next 15 years was set at the United Nations General Assembly following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). GroFutures Team members Simon Damkjaer and Richard Taylor comment on the limitations of current metrics used to assess progress toward SDG 6.4 – “to… substantially reducing…
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UPGro win at Stockholm World Water Week
Patrick Thomson, from the Oxford-led UPGro project “Gro For Good”, has won the prize for the best poster at World Water Week 2015 for the work that he and colleagues at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Oxford have been doing on shallow groundwater monitoring using Smart Handpumps in Kenya. This work will continue under…
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Zambia: Study Finds Shallow Groundwater Unsafe.
Originally posted on WaterSan Perspective: Water Journalists Africa (WJA) August 18, 2015 Kabwe is a transport hub and old mining town in central Zambia. One resident, Joseph, recounted how when he was growing up in the town in the 1970s, most houses had a tap and a reliable water supply from the municipal system. Few…
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