We take running water for granted, but millions of people in the developing world are forced to carry buckets of water home (sometimes from miles away). Innovation like this Q Drum rolling container makes their lives a little easier. Link – via Development Crossing
c-dub
There's something about the design of this that irks me: it's really inefficient, because the thing is essentially a 50 kg. wheel. The rolling inertia is much higher than that of, say, a small wagon, so the person pulling it is working much harder: they aren't just moving the water horizontally across the ground, they're also spinning it around and around, to no benefit.
Otherwise, it's a very elegant idea. It's cheap to manufacture, low-tech, apparently durable, and doesn't have any fussy little parts to break off. Quite brilliant.
Bryan
I suppose they had to sacrifice some efficiency and ease-of-use for durability cheapness. I hate having to do that, but sometimes it's gotta be done.
Still, it's better than hauling buckets of water.
Most of the farm that I live on doesn't have running water and having to haul four five-gallon buckets of water out to the pigs every day really sucks. Hey, maybe I should get one of these things!
Bryan
Uh, "durability AND cheapness" is what I meant to say.
toby
we had something extremely similar to this about 15 years ago for carrying water to our holiday caravan,
Dan
Pu a handle on it and they can roll their lawns.
Alex
It's probably better than lugging a bucket of water. Once you get the wheel going (and assuming that it's full, so the water don't slosh around), I think it's not that much work.
I agree with c-dub that it's actually a very elegant solution.
skh.pcola
I hope that the plastic isn't clear. Otherwise, that is some dirty-looking H2O.
aware
ever been gobsmacked by a water butt pump? this guy has.
i went to the "lawn roller" link and found this in a sidebar:
(26-05-07)
Water Butt Pump
"Can I just say that I have been absolutely gobsmacked at the excellent standard of delivery service displayed by your company. I ordered this bit of kit yesterday afternoon and it arrived mid-morning today.
Very impressive!.
Many thanks....I will return"
Mr A Clark
Dorset
Anita
I actually thought it WAS a lawn roller at first ... seemed very strange to be rolling the desert, but could work nicely for leveling a beach volleyball court of creating a pseudo-clay tennis court. 
Homr Jay
@ C-dub
I don't think it acts like a 50kg wheel since the water is not a solid. When you begin to spin the drum the water inside will not be spining, it will be more like pulling a cart with a bucket of water and light wheels. (the water will act as it's own bearing) only after the pulling the drum for a while the water will spin, but by that time you would have overcome the iniertia of the water. So I dont think its actually as inneficiant as it may look.
mmmark
This would be much more efficient if there were a hard plastic 2" diameter cylinder on the rope in the middle of the wheel. The tube could rotate as the wheel turns, acting like a bearing where the rope now touches the wheel. The wheel would revolve much easier, with less chance of the young man just dragging his load, pulling against the sand.
Kim H.
Where do I buy one of these? My sister is pregant and she can not carry the buckets from the well to the Trailer. She goes up North every weekend so it would be put to good use. I think she would need some kind of siphon(SP) also.
Thanks,
Kim H.
Keengardener
This is a great idea and could help many people in countries where water is difficult to transport.
joe
wer can i get these drums from...i want to give to the poor pll i c everyday
Bill Milmoe
Well the idea is good! Isn't that what wagons etc are good for?
The problems I see are the rope moves around the inside increasing friction and shortening the life of the rope.
The container is not one currently in common production so more costly to produce.
The container is rolling on the ground trampling all plants in its paths and risking puncture on all objects in the path.
Some ideas are best to not implement.
Peter k
Bill has inadvertantly pointed out another solid benefit, if you follow that same path to the water each day the roller tank will keep the weeds off the path! Over time the earth of the path would become ncely compacted, making it more resistant to becoming muddy and a better-smoother surface to walk on.
The poor boy does need a stick of some kind, to make the pulling easier, a broom handle would probably do the trick, threaded through the centre of the drum, with the rope tied on.
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