Program: Well Drilling – Global

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.
— Maya Angelou

Well Drilling – Global

About one in eight people alive today do not have access to clean filtered water. Solutions to this need are manifold. In some places commercially drilled deep wells are the only answer. Other places need filters for each user or community filtration systems. Hand-dug wells are in wide use but are usually only 10 or 20 feet deep. These wells bring up last week’s rain water that is as contaminated as surface water which needs additional filtering.

A great many places just need a borehole well and a hand-pump. A six to eight inch machine-drilled hole, 30 to 90 or more feet deep, with interior walls that are protected by a casing pipe and additional pipes inside on which the pump is suspended. A pump rod moves up and down to bring up the water. The pump might be electric but more often is a hand pump. The government of India developed a wonderful steel pump head that is produced and sold for public use. This pump head and handle are strong enough to withstand vigorous use.