At the recently concluded HWB BoD retreat we occasionally wandered away from vision and mission statements and 'lapsed' into discussions about water well drilling methods in remote areas of emerging regions.
One of the problems faced in such areas - especially mountainous terrain - is the lack of access for motorized well drilling rigs and the lack of supporting supplies (drilling mud, cement, gasoline, etc.). So what should be done, especially if surface water is not an option?
Manual well-drilling rigs are a potential solution. I can see some of my well-drilling friends cringing,
Last 31 July I posted about two manual water well drilling methods: the BYU method and the Terry Waller method or so-called 'Baptist' method. During our retreat John Cherry brought another one to my attention: that developed by Wolfgang E. Buchner in Bolivia. In fact, Buchner has developed more than a drilling method but a system - EMAS, a Mobile School for Water and Sanitation:
EMAS [Spanish acronym] is a Mobile School for Water and Sanitation based in Bolivia, and run by Wolfgang Eloy Buchner. EMAS is also a whole technical and social concept of water and sanitation which includes manual drilling, rain water harvesting, solar water heaters, wind power, hydraulic rams, water treatment, small tanks and sinks, a variety of hand and foot pumps, and ferrocement water storage tanks.
More movies are available in the second EMAS channel: vimeo.com/channels/emas2.
More information at emas-international.de
This channel was developed in cooperation with Akvo.org
Here is a video introducing EMAS:
This movie gives an overview of all the technologies used in the EMAS concept: manual well drilling, hand-powered water pumps, pedal-powered water pumps, windmills, ferrocement tanks, spring catchment, latrines, solar heating, drip irrigation, hydraulic ram.
Buchner has about 20 years' experience with this approach. Those of us at the HWB retreat felt that this is an approach we need to learn more about.
Be sure to visit the vimeo site to view more videos.
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." - Arnold Bennett
Hi, Bill,
You have a URL for a drilling company in Alberta. You don't know the answer to your own question?
Check with your government (provincial) authorities; I don't know. Here in the States, you generally need a license to be a driller and then often need a permit to drill a well.
Posted by: Michael Campana | Friday, 08 March 2013 at 09:20 PM
If I want to do (http://www.blackdogdrilling.com) water well drilling, will I have to get some sort of permit? I would like to not get arrested for doing this.
Posted by: Bill Shields | Friday, 08 March 2013 at 07:01 PM
Thank you for sharing this article! I've been curious about the process of water well drilling. I'd love to go on a humanitarian trip to Africa someday to install a water well like this.
Posted by: Water Well Drilling | Thursday, 14 February 2013 at 08:24 AM
Interesting. Do you think that (http://www.schroepfers.com) well drilling is something people should do if they live up in the mountain areas, or down in other areas where they need water? Or should they just talk to a water provider? -St. Louis
Posted by: Bill Shields | Monday, 28 January 2013 at 05:41 PM
This is something that the government should not be able to restrict. It is something that most people do not get water well drilling done for free, so I think if someone wants it, they can have it.
Posted by: James Norris | Tuesday, 18 December 2012 at 10:47 AM
I have wondered what people do that live in an area where water well drilling machines can't access them (ex. http://www.blackdogdrilling.com ). It's interesting to see how they are able to still do well drilling on their own. How long does it take them to drill one hole?
Posted by: Janey | Monday, 19 November 2012 at 12:19 PM