PUM-PIT: INTERACTIVE WATER PUMP

The basic concept of a water point took shape in the spring of 2011. Creating a comfortable module, an interactive piece of urban furniture, allowing for the combination of spending time in open air while at the same time, through mo­ving a swing or playing, activating a water pump, generated much enthusiasm.

In doing so questions about water use and water management also emerged. Because of the precarious state of water in many (by now most) parts of the world (water is scarce, expensive, badly managed or wasted), contacts were made within the North-South movement with organisations that have experience in knowledge exchange from the global South to the North.

A small core group consisting of City Mine(d) and design studio Urban Room lead the project, in close collaboration with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), the Brussels-Malian organisation Tilwat-Azawat, Engineers without Borders (ISF) and the people of Maelbeek dans Tout ses Etats (MDTSE) who for quite a while already had been exploring ways to symbolise the presence of water in the Maelbeek valley.

The re-invention of a pumping system took central stage in the project. On the chosen Friche Egge­voort in the Maelbeek Valley, water is not visible but never far away. It was therefore a matter of deciding from where it could be pumped up. The large pond in the Parc Léopold turned out to be just too far away, meaning a hand propelled pump unaided by electric force would be unable to bridge the distance.

So with the help of MDTSE, aided by historic and topographic maps, attempts were made to locate sources in the nearby Parc Léopold. A friendly hydrologist was prepared to do soil boring tests by hand in order to establish the depth of the groundwater table underneath the marshy Egge­voort land.

To continue work on the pu­blic water point, in the meantime named PUM-pit, an open design weekend was organised in RBINS on 11 and 12 June 2011. Urban Room facilitated workshops to create true scale models of interactive and alternative designs for powering a water pump. The workshops were introduced by a professor in movement analysis, after which the bulk of the work consisted of building, folding and trying. Tilwat and Azawat, organisations of Brussels Touaregs along with some Engineers Without Borders took part and contributed their experience on the use of water pumps in the desert.

Four of the models were fina­lised and exhibited a month later at the Friche Eggevoort during a festive reception (13 July). It was also an invitation to those closely or more remotely involved to test the models and comment on their functionality. Specific questions were asked on the movements people make when powering a pump, ergonomics, weights and counterbalances, comfort in pu­blic space, artistic merit, possibility for interaction with passers-by, local residents, etc. The feedback was meant to contribute to the final choice of shape and ways of activating the final PUM-pit mo­dule. Additionally, during the Water Fête (27 August), and on a daily basis from 21 July to 30 September in EGEB’s headquarters, the models could be tried, tested and commented upon.

A state of affairs was made at the end of the summer of 2011. Although the shape the PUM-pit module was supposed to take became increasingly clear, the delivery of water by means of the installation remained a thorny issue. Around the time of the Water Fête, relations with the owners of the Eggevoort land somehow soured, while pumping water at the Friche Eggevoort turned out to be possible only by drilling to a depth of between 10 and 15 metres. Bud­gets and licences required to do th­is would stand in stark contrast with the ephemeral and emblematic character of the project. 

Obvious conclusion: installing the PUM-pit prototype on the Friche Eggevoort would be nigh impossible before the end of 2011. Nonetheless the idea of a temporary water installation in the Maelbeek Valley had stirred people’s imagination and had brought together a unique coalition of active citizens, scientists, engineers, ­local residents, Eurocrats, Touaregs, NGO’s and artists.