[OLPC India] Power generation

[K. K. Subramaniam]

I thought the following article may interest people on this list, especially 
those working in Khairat project.

http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/jan/eco-pathak.htm
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In rural India, the entire agricultural and economic system is against women. 
Women don't own bicycles and bullocks; and even though most of the 
bicycle-powered gadgets invented by Pathak can be run comfortably by women, 
cycling is still anathema for them in many parts of rural Maharashtra.

On a sudden inspiration, Mr Pathak landed on the swing -- a traditional mode 
of amusement and play for women and children all over India -- as a means of 
power generation. "The to and fro movement of the swing can be used to run a 
piston pump ten times as powerful as a hand-pump," says he. The swing pump is 
Mr Pathak's latest innovation, and can pump water from a depth of 10 metres 
and up to a height of 30 metres at the rate of 20 litres per minute. Some 
10-12 schools in the Pune and Ratnagiri districts are using this pump 
effectively to pump their drinking water.
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FYI,
Subbu