LIFELINK water supply PSS
Grundfos LIFELINK (a subsidiary of water pump manufacturer Grundfos) offers services for automatic water systems in rural areas in third-world countries, with an automatic payment system operated via mobile telephones and data transfer.
It allows rural communities to access safe water and pay for it through the M-PESA money transfer service. A subscriber’s M-PESA balance is transferred to a smart card which can then be used to draw water at subsidised rates from specially-calibrated pumps.The users – typically small villages – purchase the system and finance it through a local micro-financing partner. Repayment of the loan is made by the users paying for their water via their mobile telephones. In addition to the repayment, the account which receives the money for the water will allocate a certain amount towards ongoing service and repair work.Calculations show that – using this method – a system will typically be repaid within a 5-year period. After that, the village owns the system and may, for example, continue to pay a reduced price for the water in order to cover ongoing service work.System map:
Links:
http://www.grundfoslifelink.com/
http://www.grundfos.com/web/grfosweb.nsf/Webopslag/HMTE-7QBGWM
http://www.safaricom.co.ke/index.php?id=745
