The Village Drill is a game changer for AHP’s Village Water Projects in Liberia. With this new technology developed by WHOlives.org, we’ll be able to bring clean water to more remote villages more quickly and safely, and with lower cost. Thanks to our friends at
Live News Interview with Andy Jones about the Village Drill (download link)
=”_blank”>Tifie Humanitarian, PlantTherapy.com, Joseph & Ashley Atkin, and other donors, Africa Heartwood Project purchased our own Village Drill, which is being shipped to Liberia along with other donated goods.
Lower Cost
Our Village Water Project program has completed 17 bore holes and hand dug wells for communities in need since 2009. We’re proud of our work and grateful to donors who have made it possible. Each well has cost between $3,000 and $7,000 USD to complete, depending on location and whether it was hand-dug or bored with a drilling rig. We anticipate the cost of a bore-hole dug with our new Village Drill in Liberia will drop to as low as $1,800. Our fundraising goal for each well will remain at $3,000 until we have the necessary equipment to transport the Drill from village to village.
Safer and More Efficient
The process of digging a well by hand can take up to two weeks, and puts the well technicians in danger as they work at the bottom of a 3′ wide hole that is up to 40′ deep. The risk of walls caving in, electrocution from the pump, and oxygen deprivation are inherent with all hand-dug wells. If rock layers are discovered while digging, or if the water table is too low, the entire effort can be wasted. The Village Drill can dig up to 60 feet in a single day, which is deep enough for a sustainable year-round supply of water in most villages we have worked in thus far. The effective digging season for hand dug wells is only March to May, the peak of the dry season, when water tables are lowest. However, the Village Drill can be operated year-round because it can drill up to 250 feet, thereby allowing us to drill far beyond the water table. At maximum capacity we could drill up to 100 wells a year!
More Effective and Sustainable
The Village Drill will allow us to work with communities that up to this point were inaccessable for our drill teams. With the ability to drill through up to 12 feet of bedrock, and up to 250′ deep, thousands of more communities are now within our reach. The bore hole system is more stable and easier to maintain than a hand dug well, and uses locally sourced materials that are inexpensive to replace. Community members can participate in the drilling process, which helps to creates understanding and ownership of the water source. Rather than hiring water contractors for each project, we will develop our own Water Team, thus providing sustainable income for long-term contractors, some of whom may include previous residents of our Heartwood Orphan Home. This will give us more control over the process and delivery of our Village Water Projects.
To sponsor a Village Drill well in Liberia please make a donation to our Village Water Project fund. Or, start a change-collection fundraising drive with our Change the World program. Learn more about our Village Water Projects at www.africaheartwoodproject.org/water.