Akvopedia:Featured content

Featured water solutions

Rope pump - For wells down to 35 m, rope pumps are often five times cheaper and more sustainable than piston pumps. Evaluations show that rope pumps on communal wells are being maintained by the users, if introduced properly. 90% of rope pumps remain operational, even after many years. Because of its low cost, the pump is also popular for domestic use. A survey among 5,025 rural families in Nicaragua indicates that a rope pump increases income, even if used for domestic purposes only. More about Rope pumps

Pepsi drip irrigation - Drip irrigation reduces water consumption but conventional drip technology is "high-tech" and expensive. To make drip irrigation affordable for small farmers, the Chapin bucket or IDE bucket and drum kits were developed. A bucket kit costing US$ 5 can irrigate 25 square meters and a drum kit five times as much. Based on this principle, farmers make a drip system made of plastic hoses that is normally used to package ice-lollies. More about Pepsi drip irrigation. Other water solutions.

Featured sanitation solutions

Co-composting - Composting is an aerobic process in which bacteria and other organisms feed on organic material and decompose it. The `recipe' of co-composting combines materials of high-carbon and high-nitrogen. Air is added to maintain aerobic conditions, either by turning the windrows or by forcing air through them. Adding excreta, especially urine, to household organics produces compost with a higher nutrient value (N-P-K) than compost produced only from kitchen and garden wastes. More about Co-composting. More sanitation solutions.

Featured organisations

The Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) is a co-founder of Akvo. NWP is an independent body set up by the Dutch private and public sectors. They nationally coordinate water activities overseas and provide relevant information regarding these activities. The organisation acts as focal point in the exchange of information among the more than 160 Dutch members. Read more about NWP.

The ASN Bank, set up in 1960, is currently the largest sustainable bank in the Netherlands. It is an enterprise which aims to promote a sustainable society and is guided by that aim in its economic activities. As such, the bank applies strict criteria to its capital spending and portfolio investment. Read more about the ASN Bank. Other organisations.

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre - Since its foundation in 1968, the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre has facilitated the sharing, promotion and use of knowledge so that governments, professionals and organisations can better support poor men, women and children in developing countries to obtain water and sanitation services they will use and maintain. IRC has a wide international network of NGOs that work at grassroots level. IRC is a co-founder of Akvo.

Featured approaches

The article Choosing sustainable technology helps you avoid failures from the past. Previously, many technologies introduced in developing countries failed. Major reasons for failure were that the techologies involved were too expensive, too complicated and/or had a lack of ownership.

The list should be a practical help to assess the viability of a specific technology in a specific situation. The article is part of the Approaches portal.

Rules about "featured" articles

Some simple rules to follow about the "featured" articles and organisations

• When you create a new featured article or organisation, put it at the bottom of the list above.
• Put the new article on the main page of the Akvopedia, replacing the one that is there now for the particular category.
• When replacing the featured articles on the main page (if you are not creating a new featured article), select the top article on the lists above to feature, move the article in the list to the bottom. This way we make sure that every featured article gets to be shown.

How to create a "featured" article

To create a "featured" article or organisation you need to create a summary version of the page and enter it as a template page. See the following example for the Template:Rope pump short featured article.

Note the following in the below example:

• You need to use a <div class="floatright" align=right> to place the icon in the right place.
• The short version should be between 70 and 90 words
• If the logo for an organisation is to big to represent well whilst floating right, then it is ok to have it centred above the text. As can see in the Template: Netherlands Water Partnership short

Example of formatting for a featured article

<div class="floatright" align=right>{{Icon|file=Rope_pump_icon.png|alt=Rope pump|width=94|link=Rope pump}}</div>

'''Rope pump''' - For wells down to 35 m, rope pumps are often five times cheaper and more sustainable than piston pumps. 
Evaluations show that rope pumps on communal wells are being maintained by the users, if introduced properly. 
90% of rope pumps remain operational, even after many years. Because of its low cost, the pump is also popular for domestic use. 
A survey among 5,025 rural families in Nicaragua indicates that a rope pump increases income, even if used for domestic purposes only. 
More about [[Rope_pump | Rope pumps]]