Thirsty officers help fund water pump in Zimbabwe

Tuesday, 26 January, 2010

Staff at an African school have thanked Morecambe police officers for helping fund a special water pump in their village.

Morecambe police station has recently had four mains-linked water coolers installed, supplied in connection with charity Pump Aid, which has in turn raised enough money to pay for an Elephant Pump at Masato School in the district of Rumpki in Zimbabwe.

Pump Aid uses cost effective, community-centred technology to establish sustainable sources of clean water. Once set up, Elephant Pumps, which are operated by hand, can be maintained by communities without any further assistance from the charity. The pump can lift water from 50m below ground and can provide one litre of clean water every second.

Morecambe station has now received a letter and photos from the school, thanking them for their help.

The letter, written by student Ireven Munthak, says: "We are pleased with Pump Aid for providing us with an Elephant Pump. Our school is having plenty of water for drinking and watering vegetables such tomatoes and cabbages and onions. We are also using the water for domestic purposes. Thank you."

The possibility of rolling out the water coolers at stations in Lancaster and Fleetwood is now being explored.

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