Ergonomics and human water carrying

The simplest aim of many water projects is to reduce the distance that people carry water because that task is tiring, time consuming and has negative long term effects on health. However, there are places where the point of water collection cannot be brought closer to the user. In these circumstances it is necessary to focus attention onto the carrying task itself. Ideally in such situations humans should not have to carry the whole burden of the water but should use simple wheeled devices or animal haulage. However, these may not always be available in which case humans will be left carrying water in the traditional way: in some kind of container, supported on some part of the body. The aim of this paper is to describe a set of laboratory experiments comparing water carrying devices and to set out a simple methodology for further field studies. First, however, the general principles of good carrying will be established.