A new resource for arid zones

The draught animal power for producing electricity to feed water lifting pumps and other appliances

The transformation of the mechanical pumps, moved by draught animal power, in electro

mechanical pumps will increase the availability of water resources in developing

countires

The draught animal power is largely available in rural areas of developing countries. According to University of Edinburg evaluations, more than two hundred millions animals are engaged in agriculture in developing countries

A significant part of them is engaged in the lifting of water with

traditional mechanical systems

The technical improvement of these equipments is obtainable through the

transformation in electricity of the pulling power of the animal walking on a round path

This becames possible with a gear system that increase the number of round per minutes of the system up to a speed

sufficient to move an electric generator that feed the pump with electric energy

With these systems the water is lifted by a pump that is connected to the equipment with an electric cable and this makes very simple

the use of animal power for lifting water

The system to produce electricity utilize an equipment developed in Italy that is more

efficient of the approximately thirty types of equipment patented in several countries in the

last few decades

The Italian system is several time more economic than a photovoltaic generator and most of its costs are local costs and then there is not need of expenditures of

foreign currency

If we consider that most of the animals are engaged in agriculture only for one hundred and twenty days a year, we can appreciate the fact that the real cost is only that of a

bigger ratio of feed in the working day: really a negligible cost!

The production of electric energy with draught animal power is more appropriate than the more expensive connection to the

electric grid or photovoltaic, the less available wind energy and hydroelectric

power, the more fragile fuel engines

The advantages in the use electric pumps, better then mechanical pumps, are several

Furthermore, excess electric power could be used for medical devices (such as

surgical equipments and small refrigerators for vaccines), for lighting in schools, for

PCs to be used for education, telecommunication and also for TV and

radio sets

It is estimated that approximately one billion people has not access to water of good

quality. This people who would benefit of the proposed technology are those living in communities where is available the animal

working force. As above said animals engaged in agriculture are estimated

approximately at 250 million

The potential health benefits supplied by the system could be evaluated following the

table here shown.The table is published in the volume of

WHO Safer Water, Better Healthhttp://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/

2008/9789241596435_eng.pdf

Passing from the only drinking consumption to personal hygiene and clean food

preparation allows to reduce the risks of diarrhoea, malnutrition, intestinal nematode

infection, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, trachoma, malaria, dengue, Japanese echephalitis and

onchocerciasis

Generally speaking water is collected by women, water resources are public and

animals are private.All this elements should be coordinated for

an efficient management of the water resources

The initial steps to implement this technology is to open local workshops to produce locally the equipments, to start

with vocational training of people engaged in the projects and to crate technical

assistance team for the coordiination of the management of water resources and

animals

An e-learning process could be very useful for the transfer of the best practices to the training people engaged in the vocational

training of the farmers

One or more logistic centres should be implemented for the supply of those

equipment not easily available in the village

info@masseriacoppola.it

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