Richard Kwarteng has come up with an incredibly efficient solution to maintaining basic hygiene practices such as hand washing in places where access to water is limited. The 32-year-old’s invention is exactly what such locations need to contain conserve water and simultaneously ensure hygiene. When Richard first shared a video of his device online, it went viral in no time, as CNN reveals.
The idea of the innovative solar-powered device camo to Richard’s mind in an unusual way. The leather shoemaker who lives in the Ashanti region’s capital city, Kumasi, was simply staring at a recycling barrel, UP Worthy reports. He shares:
“My brother (Jude Osei) and I decided we would create a basin to encourage regular hand-washing etiquette.”
Richard and his brother developed the ingenious solar-powered hand-washing basin. Their invention is one of the first of its kind in Ghana.
The touch-free handwashing device encourages locals to follow basic hygiene practices set by both the World Health Organization as well as the United States Centers for Disease Control.
Richard’s solar-powered handwash station is equipped with a sensor and a timer. First, the basin dispenses soapy water. Then, it beeps for 25 seconds – the time needed for someone to wash their hands to kill the virus. After that, the basin dispenses just enough water to rinse your hands off. In only one ‘charge’, the device can help 150 people to wash their hands.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾In 48 hours, shoemaker Richard Kwarteng & his brother Jude Osei gathered supplies & turned an old recycled metal barrel into a solar-powered, hand-washing basin w/a 25 sec timer for his neighborhood in Ghana 🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭 #BlackExcellence https://t.co/s5juRgqNbw
— ure_too_close (@ure_too_close) June 7, 2020
The efficient invention was developed just as Ghana went into a national lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. In less than two days Richard and his team gathered enough scrap materials, so they could build the handwashing machine. They have also purchased a sink, a faucet, a motherboard, a solar panel, a sensor, and an alarm from the local market.
The ‘Solar Wash’, as they named the invention, was built in only 5 days!
It took only four days for the inventive solar-powered sink to certified by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA). Shortly after, it was made available for commercial use.
What’s more, the president of Ghana himself enforced Richard Kwarteng for his creative solution. President Nana Akuffu-Addo stated in early April:
“The Ghanaian sense of enterprise and innovation is beginning to be felt.”
The 32-year-old inventor hopes he would be able to help stop the spread of the virus by not just making the invention available in his own country, but throughout the continent of Africa as well. He shares:
“I pray this pandemic will go away and there are better days ahead. We hope this will help people to practice normal hand-washing etiquette and we are very grateful for everyone’s support.”
At present, in Ghana, there are 10,201 total coronavirus cases. The active cases are 6,398.
Inventions like the no-touch handwashing machine powered by solar panels are definitely helping communities to stop the spread of the disease.
