The Problem with Hand Pumps: Why We Don’t Install Them

“Safe water is not just about access. It's about quality, sustainability, and dignity.”

Across rural communities in Nigeria and many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, hand pumps have long been seen as a go-to solution for delivering clean water. They're low-cost, easy to install, and politically attractive.

But after years of field experience and scientific assessments, Fairaction - an Australian water charity, has made the deliberate choice not to install hand pumps in the communities we serve.

Why? Because hand pumps are no longer fit for purpose – not in the way they're currently being deployed. Here's why we believe it’s time to rethink this widespread solution.

For decades, hand pumps have been considered the symbol of rural water access. They're frequently used to meet water-related development goals, especially Sustainable Water Solutions like Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): Clean Water and Sanitation for All.

But while hand pumps may improve access, they often fail to guarantee safety – and that’s where the problem begins.

Fairaction, a committed water charity organization in Australia, conducted water quality assessments on community boreholes across four Nigerian states. Many of these boreholes were built in good faith, funded by government projects, NGOs, and water donation organizations.

Here’s what we discovered:

These contaminants – both microbial and geogenic are invisible to the eye but harmful to health. And yet, they flow freely from hand pump systems installed under the banner of "safe water."

While hand pumps solve the problem of access, they come with several blind spots:

Groundwater isn’t always safe. It can be contaminated by:

Yet most hand pump systems lack any form of treatment, leaving communities exposed and undermining long-term water sustainability.

Once a borehole is commissioned, there’s rarely a smart water management system in place to monitor water quality over time. If contamination creeps in (and it often does), there's no warning until illness appears.

Studies show that more than 30–50% of hand pumps stop working within 2 years due to:

These systems become abandoned – monuments of good intentions gone wrong.

Studies show that more than 30–50% of hand pumps stop working within 2 years due to:

Hand pumps are attractive because they’re cheap. But without factoring in ongoing costs (repairs, quality testing, spare parts), they’re not cost-effective in the long run for water donation charities or local governments.

At Fairaction, we do not install infrastructure that cannot guarantee safe, reliable, and dignified water access.

Instead, we implement Smart Water Kiosks – a holistic system built with science, sustainability, and community dignity at its core. These kiosks are part of our broader commitment to a sustainable water project in Nigeria.

These systems aren’t theoretical. They’re already working in multiple locations across Nigeria, with:

This is Water Charity Nigeria done right—proof that technology, community, and vision can align.

It’s time to face a hard truth: cheap water projects are often the most expensive in the long run.

The Hidden Costs of Hand Pumps

Investing in water systems that don’t treat or monitor the water is like giving someone a spoonful of medicine in a dirty cup.

We urge donors, water donation organizations, and governments to move beyond token access metrics and invest in true impact models like smart water kiosks in Nigeria.

Before funding a clean water charity in Australia or abroad, ask:

If the answer is no, the solution may do more harm than good.

Hand pumps are often celebrated with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, community dances, and photo ops. But we’ve seen too many of these same pumps stand abandoned, broken, or contaminated just a few months later.

Real change means moving from symbolism to substance, from basic access to smart water management systems that ensure safety and longevity.