Dale Barnes during his placement at a rutile mine in Sierra LeoneStudents from The University of Manchester want to use scrap metal to improve the lives of people in Sierra Leone, but need industry sponsorship to realise the project.Dale Barnes and Greg Quinn, who have just celebrated graduating with first class honours in Mechanical Engineering, along with Rainer Gonzalez Palau want to manufacture and install a water transport system for the rural village of Bunumbu in Sierra Leone.
With a strong focus on sustainability, they hope to source the majority of materials needed locally, and are aiming to starting a business in Sierra Leone that offers the local community fairly-paid jobs and training opportunities.
The hydraulic ram pump system is a simple but highly effective mechanical device that allows water to be transported uphill from a river. The design has been around hundreds of years and can essentially be made from sheets of scrap metal and some bolts. It has only two moving parts, meaning it is highly reliable, needs little maintenance and has a long life.
The Manchester team, busy building and testing a prototype pump in University labs, hopes the water supply will improve sanitation and health in the village. It will allow people to spend less time collecting water by hand, giving them more time to pursue education or earn a living, and also bring benefits for local agriculture.
The project's origin
The project came about after Dale, who has just completed a MEng in Mechanical Engineering, did a three-month placement at a titanium oxide mine in Sierra Leone in 2008.
He had earlier worked on a project to build and test ram pumps, and recognised the potential benefits the water system could offer rural communities in developing countries such as Sierra Leone.
Now he’s joined forces with Greg, a fellow Mechanical Engineering graduate, who is looking after the technical side of the project and Rainer, a postgraduate student in the Institute for Development Policy and Management.
They have established close links with the Eastern Polytechnic of Kenema in Sierra Leone, which will give them access to welding and cutting machines. And they are developing ties with engineering schools in the country, with a view to students manufacturing pumps for local communities and even refining the design over time.
The project is being backed financially by the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, with people working in all parts of the University providing expertise and guidance to the team.
But the bottom line is that they need to raise 35,000 pounds to build the first water transportation system and get the business up and running, and the trio are appealing to businesses in the Northwest and beyond to support them.
Dale said: “There are so many villages near to rivers in Sierra Leone that could benefit hugely from this technology.
“If the pump project is successful, we hope to start a business in the country to oversee the manufacture and implementation of this technology, where local workers will be paid a reasonable wage. Our aim is to bring something good to Sierra Leone, instead of taking all the good things out, which is what all the big companies operating there seem to be doing," Dale said.
If the team manage to secure the necessary funding, they plan to head out to Sierra Leone in the next few months to begin their work.
With a strong focus on sustainability, they hope to source the majority of materials needed locally, and are aiming to starting a business in Sierra Leone that offers the local community fairly-paid jobs and training opportunities.
The hydraulic ram pump system is a simple but highly effective mechanical device that allows water to be transported uphill from a river. The design has been around hundreds of years and can essentially be made from sheets of scrap metal and some bolts. It has only two moving parts, meaning it is highly reliable, needs little maintenance and has a long life.
The Manchester team, busy building and testing a prototype pump in University labs, hopes the water supply will improve sanitation and health in the village. It will allow people to spend less time collecting water by hand, giving them more time to pursue education or earn a living, and also bring benefits for local agriculture.
The project's origin
The project came about after Dale, who has just completed a MEng in Mechanical Engineering, did a three-month placement at a titanium oxide mine in Sierra Leone in 2008.
He had earlier worked on a project to build and test ram pumps, and recognised the potential benefits the water system could offer rural communities in developing countries such as Sierra Leone.
Now he’s joined forces with Greg, a fellow Mechanical Engineering graduate, who is looking after the technical side of the project and Rainer, a postgraduate student in the Institute for Development Policy and Management.
They have established close links with the Eastern Polytechnic of Kenema in Sierra Leone, which will give them access to welding and cutting machines. And they are developing ties with engineering schools in the country, with a view to students manufacturing pumps for local communities and even refining the design over time.
The project is being backed financially by the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, with people working in all parts of the University providing expertise and guidance to the team.
But the bottom line is that they need to raise 35,000 pounds to build the first water transportation system and get the business up and running, and the trio are appealing to businesses in the Northwest and beyond to support them.
Dale said: “There are so many villages near to rivers in Sierra Leone that could benefit hugely from this technology.
“If the pump project is successful, we hope to start a business in the country to oversee the manufacture and implementation of this technology, where local workers will be paid a reasonable wage. Our aim is to bring something good to Sierra Leone, instead of taking all the good things out, which is what all the big companies operating there seem to be doing," Dale said.
If the team manage to secure the necessary funding, they plan to head out to Sierra Leone in the next few months to begin their work.
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