Pump inventor wins sustainable innovation award

RNW, 4 December 2010

Auke Idzenga won the BBC World Challenge 2010 award

The Dutch inventor of a pump powered by water has won a prestigious British prize for sustainable innovation. Auke Idzenga won the BBC World Challenge 2010 award, which comes with a 20,000 dollar cash prize.

Mr Idzenga, who lives in the Philipines, has developed a hydraulic ram pump, which uses the power of a river's flow to push water uphill without any other energy input. Over the past twenty years, the simple device has brought clean drinking water to over 150,000 poor villagers living in mountainous regions. The pump saves both hours of back-breaking work and cash where expensive pumps are replaced. The pump is soon to be introduced in Laos, China and Afghanistan. .

The award ceremony will be boradcast today on BBC World.

(Photo Auke Idzenga)

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