Kenyan Windmill: Bicycle Parts and Roofing Materials

4 brothers in Western Kenya have begun solving water problems by creating waterpump windmills out of old bicycle parts and roofing materials. They have created 30 of them and are making good money doing it. This is another story of Africans solving their own problems using local materials:

The four Ututu brothers had inherited a large area of fertile farmland, which had been terraced by their father in the late 1950s. Despite this resource, they were experiencing problems because they lacked water both for drinking (meaning wasted time, fetching water from 15 km away in the dry season) and for irrigation (thus low yields from the meagre rainfall).

(Read the whole story at Farming Solutions)

Kenyan Waterpump Windmill

(via Timbuktu Chronicles)

11 comments for this post.

Comment from Gadget Lab - Wired Blogs
11 May 2007 - 7:01 am - :

[...] fans family fortune [Farming Solutions via Afrigadget] Posted by Rob Beschizza 9:10:31 AM in HacksReddit It | Digg This | Add to [...]

[...] fans family fortune [Farming Solutions via Afrigadget] Posted by Rob Beschizza 9:10:31 AM in HacksReddit It | Digg This | Add to [...]

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Comment from sokari
16 May 2007 - 1:39 am - :

brilliant

Comment from White African
16 May 2007 - 7:08 pm - :

pickups by major news outlets out of all the blogs that I write. More than 500 people pull the blog feed, and it has shown up on very large sites ranging from MAKE:magazine to BoingBoing to Wired. Recent posts: Solar Power in Madagascar (Video) Creating Windmills from Old Bicycle Parts and Roofing Materials African Children’s Toys: Ingenuity Starts at a Young Age Summary I want to thank everyone who links to, comments and contributes to all of these web sites. If you see a great example of African ingenuity, have news to share, or come across

pickups by major news outlets out of all the blogs that I write. More than 500 people pull the blog feed, and it has shown up on very large sites ranging from MAKE:magazine to BoingBoing to Wired. Recent posts: Solar Power in Madagascar (Video) Creating Windmills from Old Bicycle Parts and Roofing Materials African Children’s Toys: Ingenuity Starts at a Young Age Summary I want to thank everyone who links to, comments and contributes to all of these web sites. If you see a great example of African ingenuity, have news to share, or come across

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Comment from Alison Lowndes
19 May 2007 - 4:17 am - :

Eric,
Have been introduced to you via a friends blg comment .. if we can help in any way let me know. We have about 24 volunteers coming to Kenya in July/August.

Comment from Kenyan Wind Turbine: Bike Parts and Roofing Iron | Auto
23 May 2007 - 3:59 pm - :

[...] Afrigadget and Farming [...]

Comment from EcoGeek: Technology for the Environment
23 May 2007 - 9:30 pm - :

to make the most of their own imaginative design capability to solve local problems in the most relevant way. We should therefore recognize and encourage initiative where it occurs, and support such creativity with “scientific” knowledge. Via: Afrigadget and Farming Solutions

to make the most of their own imaginative design capability to solve local problems in the most relevant way. We should therefore recognize and encourage initiative where it occurs, and support such creativity with “scientific” knowledge. Via: Afrigadget and Farming Solutions

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Comment from Momanyi jared
17 June 2007 - 11:48 pm - :

another kenyan windmill spreading to other parts of Africa. See our website for details of these affordable turbines made with 99% local materials. We are situated in Kibera slums Nairobi and are using locally trained jobless guys to build these turbines.

Comment from Grassroots Science
13 September 2007 - 5:08 am - :

Email: absATabsakDOTcom The two main websites of this combined “Me Tech” news feed are Afrigadget and the Malawi Windmill Blog. AfriGadget http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/06/21/the-knife-sharpening-bicycle/http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/05/09/kenyan-windmill-bicycle-parts-and-roofing-materials/Malawi Windmill Blog http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/williamkamkwamba/2007/07/hacking-my-wind.html Another version is from MAKE magazine. MAKE: Blog: Bicycle blenders There’s a Starbucks in Washington that has a bicycle powered blender

Email: absATabsakDOTcom The two main websites of this combined “Me Tech” news feed are Afrigadget and the Malawi Windmill Blog. AfriGadget http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/06/21/the-knife-sharpening-bicycle/http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/05/09/kenyan-windmill-bicycle-parts-and-roofing-materials/Malawi Windmill Blog http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/williamkamkwamba/2007/07/hacking-my-wind.html Another version is from MAKE magazine. MAKE: Blog: Bicycle blenders There’s a Starbucks in Washington that has a bicycle powered blender

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Comment from Old Bicycle Parts - Dogpile Web Search
18 December 2007 - 5:55 pm - :

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25 December 2007 - 7:02 pm - :

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Comment from Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG)
28 December 2007 - 5:01 am - :

[IMG Kenyan windmill with bicycle parts and roofing material]4 brothers in Western Kenya have begun solving water problems by creating waterpump windmills out of old bicycle parts and roofing materials. They have created 30 of them and are making good money doing it. This is another story of Africans solving

[IMG Kenyan windmill with bicycle parts and roofing material]4 brothers in Western Kenya have begun solving water problems by creating waterpump windmills out of old bicycle parts and roofing materials. They have created 30 of them and are making good money doing it. This is another story of Africans solving

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