APPROPRIATE ~ECHNOLOGY $10.50/yr. airmail, $7/yr. surface, quarterly, from: . Intermediate Technology Publications, Ltd. 9 King Street Covent Garden, London WC2E 8HN ENGLAND The London-based Intermediate Technology Development Group continues to put out a fine series of new publications (write for their publications list). Their quarterly journal, Appropriate Technology, is focussed primarily on the needs of developing countries. It provides a useful balanced perspective on our situation in relation to the rest of the world. Their May 1976 issue, for instance, contained articles on the following: • A Nigerian project making medical aids such as arm splints, spinal jackets and cervical collars from broken plastic drainpipes. The products are made by marking the pipe with a paper template, cutting out with a hacksaw and handstretching the plastic softened over a flame. The resulting equipment works better than previous products, as they can be easily adjusted by a nurse or doctor for a perfect fit for every individual and are waterproof, strong, cheap and reusable. C~ILDS 5PI~L JACKtr __.,RM ~~~ THt:RtlOPLAS TIC. f'ROI>UC.."F;. • A rice storage bin of non-reinforced cement mortar, costing less than $10 U.S. to build. • An oscillating water-pumping wind mill. • A process for hand-forming chain-link fences, by the same Nigerian group. A simple manual procedure was worked out that avoids the need for capital-intensive machines, resulting in a very competitive and profitable operaton. Four men make six rolls of fencing six feet wide and 25 yards long each week. Each roll sells for £60, paying workers £75 per month and still giving a gross profi ~ of £10-£15 per roll. FIG:l January 1977 RAIN Page 11 • A candle-making merry-go-round that produces 600 candles per hour with a single operator (could be solar heated?). • Nethouse horticulture in Botswana, where it is noted that a high percentage of a plant's water requirement is not for growth but to cool it during respiration. Nethouses shade and cool, reducing water use by 2/3, and keep birds, insects and hail out. • A simple, low maintenance water filter for villages that is buried in the bed of a stream and uses the sand and gravel already there to filter the water. Total capital costs per person served is figured to run 1 to 5% of any other clean supply. ~INTED TEMPLATE ~ ' \ \ . . El£1 • 8CIH• DIIA\JN TO 6 r£[T 1) Chain link fence forming 2) QJI/ betng drawn to 6ft 3) Links are corkscre'Wf!d together
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