Well Drilling Details

The following are details on Water Win's well drilling:

• Our Water Wins Nigerian drilling team consists entirely of Nigerian nationals. They are trained and supported by Water Wins team personnel from the U.S. and Canada who specialize in well drilling, pump design and maintenance, and business operations.

• Our drilling operations are based out of our Kamfani compound, located in the state of Niger. Here, we have a tool yard and storage containers that contain rig tooling, well and pump supplies, and tools and supplies for equipment repair and maintenance.

• Our Nigerian team receives requests from villages, individuals, and organizations that need a well. After evaluating these requests, we set a drilling schedule. We then meet local representatives at each site to evaluate the best place to find water. Other criteria we consider include finding a central location for the well that will best serve the entire group, and situating the well in an area where it is physically protected from flooding, standing water, and vandalism (to avoid contamination).

• Before drilling begins on a well, a village committee is formed to take responsibility for the maintenance of the borehole and hand pump and for proper use of the pumping equipment. Committee members also are educated in effective methods for keeping the borehole area sanitary, by making sure animal watering, clothes washing, and bathing occur at a safe distance from the wellhead.

• Our current drill rig is a Bucyrus-Erie 20 W percussion cable tool rig mounted on a Mercedes Benz truck. We drill within an approximately 50-kilometer radius of Kamphani. The average borehole is 100 feet deep and drilled into bedrock.  The average well takes one week to complete. We operate with a crew of three to four members, so we are continually training new workers. Not only do we train them in well drilling, equipment maintenance, and proper use of tools, we also provide education in the areas of English language study, math, discipline and character development, and Christian life.

• Well construction involves drilling a six-inch diameter borehole, into which we install  four-inch diameter PVC casing (with a minimum thickness of 0.3”). The lower 10 feet of casing is perforated and sieved gravel is placed outside the casing next to the perforations as a filter to keep the well clear of sand. After conducting pump testing and clearing the well, the top of the borehole is grouted to prevent contaminants at the ground surface from entering the well. A yield of 1,200 liters per hour is the typical pumping capacity of the wells. This is more than enough water to supply the hand pumps that will soon run nearly around the clock to provide clean water for villages that have never had access to safe water.
  
  
• We then install a hand pump set into a solid concrete apron, which is cured for at least seven days. Each community borehole our team completes also includes a separate concrete washing slab to ensure that water used for drinking is kept separate from water used for other purposes.

• Part of the Water Wins team is the trained pump repair crew which is responsible for year-round maintenance and repair of all the wells we drill. We service existing wells for groups that need well & pump maintenance.