ContraCostaTimes.com: Livermore resident Jim Stunkel is back from Africa, and his mind is racing with the possibilities unfolding from some discarded Tri-Valley pool water pumps.
Those pumps have already changed the lives of more than 100 farmers and their families, but many more are hoping to get one. Assist International, the nonprofit behind this project, is struggling to keep up, said Stunkel.
In September, I learned from him about the water pump invented by Livermore resident Andy Pierce that can be powered by riding a bike. Now, Stunkel and Pierce are making connections, including the president of Ghana, John Mahama, that may lead to this pump becoming a big deal in Africa, where hunger affects the lives of millions of people.
Last year, we delivered 100 pumps to farmers,” siad Stunkel. “This year, we hope to increase that to 2,600.”
The pump is already being distributed throughout Uganda and Western Kenya, and Stunkel and Pierce were invited to demonstrate the invention at a farming expo in Ghana. In the demonstration, someone riding a bike powered the pump, pulling water from a holding tank at the bottom of a hole. The water was pumped up into a holding tank high in the air, which then overflowed and poured down into another holding tank at ground level.
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