Meeting the Promise of ‘PlayPumps’

Five years ago, Frontline/World correspondent Amy Costello reported on a new kind of water pump being developed in southern Africa. The “PlayPump” operated like a merry-go-round, with the added benefit of pumping clean water into a tower that the whole village could access. The original report attracted international investors and PlayPumps started rolling out to villages throughout southern Africa. But, when Costello returned for a follow-up report, she found a less promising scene.

“Troubled Water,” which airs tonight, explores where the PlayPump fell short.

Also on Frontline/World Tuesday, Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money reports on Haiti’s economic troubles and you’ll also see a profile of a painter whose subject, the bowerbird, can only be found in the jungles of West Papua.