Project · Protection for borehole pumps
Meerkat
the watchful guard for your borehole
Where we farm, the borehole is everything. When the pump is stolen, people, livestock and the wildlife all suffer — and a farm can stand dry for weeks. Meerkat keeps watch like the little sentinel it is named after: it notices the very first tampering with the system, raises the alarm in several stages, and gives you the minutes that decide whether the pump is stolen or not.
Status: pilot in preparation
Why & for whom
Why we build Meerkat
A submersible pump hangs 70 to 280 metres down and costs a small fortune to replace when it is stolen. Thieves come to the farm on foot at night, haul the pump out by sheer muscle power, and carry it to the nearest ride — usually a taxi waiting on the closest road. The stolen pump has to be replaced at great cost; otherwise that farm is left without water — for people, livestock and the wildlife.
Farmers
Livestock and crops depend on the borehole.
Lodges & guest farms
Guests, kitchens and pools need reliable water.
Large properties
Own borehole, far from town, far from quick help.
We build this openly and transparently. Meerkat is meant to work within the community — and to carry itself economically, not to cost a fortune.
What it can — and can't (yet)
Honest about what Meerkat does
Meerkat can today
- A 3-stage alarm: pre-warning → wellhead warning → pump-lift warning
- Siren, light and a photo of the thieves straight to your phone
- A risk-night indicator for the night ahead
- An incident memory for every borehole
- A community alert chain: neighbours + police contact
- A decision countdown: how many minutes you still have to stop the theft
Not yet / planned
- Track a pump after it is carried off — the tracker sits on the surface unit, not on the submerged pump. Pump-tracking is a planned extension.
- Replace insurance or a good fence — Meerkat buys you time and evidence.
As the pilot runs, Meerkat learns from real data and gets sharper over time.
The build
How Meerkat is installed
A single, self-sufficient unit at the borehole — built for sun, dust and storms.
- Sturdy mast (~5 m) for a clear view and good reception
- Solar-powered — no mains, no wiring across the farm
- Weatherproof housing (IP68) against rain and dust
- Climb-guard (with sensors) securing the equipment on the mast
- Earthed and lightning-protected for bush storms
The staged alarm
One alarm is never enough
The further the thieves get, the louder Meerkat answers — several independent stages, with no single point they can simply switch off.
The pre-warning sets off no loud alarm (siren and light), but it sends a message to your phone. Whoever tampers with the climb-guard never knows they have already been seen.
Set up a borehole
Every borehole is different
In the app you enter your data for each borehole: the weight of the pump, the total depth of the borehole, how deep the pump hangs, the measured water level, and the travel time from the farmhouse to the borehole. From that, Meerkat works out how long a theft would take and how much time you have to react — your countdown.
Three example boreholes: the deeper the pump hangs, the longer a theft takes — and the more time Meerkat gives you.
Try it
See Meerkat react
A live demo with fictional boreholes. Tap the borehole in the alarm state (red) and watch the countdown run. The demo app is strongly time-compressed, but you can see the guidance change from green (‘drive out now’) to yellow-red (‘let the neighbours intercept, set up roadblocks’).
Demo with fictional data only — no real farm or borehole.
Questions farmers ask
Frequently asked
What happens the moment someone touches the borehole?
Can the thieves not just switch it off?
What if the thieves just saw off the mast?
Does it work without mains power and mobile signal?
Will it find my pump once it is gone?
How is Meerkat different from the system already here?
When can I get a Meerkat system?
What about the price?
No price yet — and we would rather say so
We cannot name a price yet. Not even all the components have arrived from overseas. Everything first has to be built, tested and costed under real conditions. Only then can we name a fair price.
What we can promise is the goal: Meerkat will be affordable enough to carry itself. The expensive replacement of stolen borehole pumps will be a thing of the past. As soon as we have prices for the different Meerkat levels, you will find them right here.
Questions, ideas, or want to follow the pilot?
Meerkat is a ‘self-learning’ system — and it gets better the more people share their personal feedback.