[BwanaNdege]

I teach water well drilling to villagers in the developing world using a hand powered auger. The first young man I taught in Kenya had done 260 wells between 1987 and 1996. He would charge about $120 to $150 to drill the well and install a home made PVC hand pump. These wells were usually 25 to 45 feet deep, occasionally going to 65 feet. Usually 3 to 10 families would use the well to get “Cleaner water, Closer water, More water”.

Some of my early students here in the US, Steve & Jennifer Lorch have really “taken the ball & run with it”. They have started HydroMissions, http://www.hydromissions.com/ to make & market well drilling kits.

If you need to hand drill through harder formations, see http://www.wellspringafrica.org/ for instruction on hand powered percussion drilling.

EMAS in Bolivia http://www.emas-international.de/index.php?id=32&L=3
have an excellent series of videos on how to make the PVC pumps. http://vimeo.com/8365884

The mission I belong to teaches well drilling, pump repair, BioSand water filters and many other things at our training center in Marion, NC. http://www.equipinternational.com/training-courses/ati-water-well-drilling.htm

This shameless plug has been brought to you by BwanaNdege.

[BwanaNdege]

Here’s a brief video of the young man showing a well he made near Kitale, Kenya.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4629383911705480631#

[freeandfreezing]

And that is why Free Republic is such a wonderful resource. Where else do you find posters with expertise in just about any topic you can imagine?

Helping people in poor countries obtain better water supplies and learn to apply basic engineering skills is a truly noble use of your time. I don't need to tell you that though, I'm sure you can see the gratitude on the faces of the new well owners.