Buckets and Buckets of Water

This week while the drillers were waiting for a resupply of materials, we went off to pump test some of the already finished bores. When we had first drilled each bore we had flow rate tested them to ensure they were yielding sufficient water before deciding to complete the bore or drill deeper. Now the goal of the pump testing was to pump a lot of water from the bore to see what level the bore could sustain a flow rate for. We estimated the village women could not pump faster than 500 lph or in their terms 25 buckets per hour. Hence we would start the pump testing with the QED Hammerhead pump (see www.qedenv.com)at 15 m deep below the top of the pump slab and let it pump to see if it could maintain that 500 lph flow rate or if it would draw the level down in the well to the level of the pump and the pump would stop and start as water trickled into the well. If it did this then we would lower the pump another 5 m and let it run again, if it drew it down again then we would lower the pump to 25 m etc. Once a sustainable level was found this told us how deep to set the hand pump intake valve in the bore. It was good for the bores to be pumped for a good amount of water too as this was the first time they had been really pumped so it was a chance for the bore to clean itself out. We also measured the water salinity before and after the pump test to see if there were any changes. The water clarity was also recorded before and after on a relative basis.
On the first bore we went to pump test it was at a site where we had encountered a good amount of water while drilling. We set the pump up and turned on the compressor. There were a few villagers and kids who had come out to watch as normal, but when they saw this clear water coming out of the hose and going onto the ground, they quickly organised the women to bring their 20 l plastic buckets to collect the water. Some even bought bigger containers to put water into as well, which made for a good picture when they put them on their heads to carry home. Even little girls of about 10-12 were carrying a 20 kg bucket of water on their head. How they balance them like that is a mystery. We pumped at 500 lph for over an hour filling buckets all the time. The women were so happy as this was close to their houses as compared to them having to walk a long way to get water from their normal source. Ramona started off holding the hose but then gave it to them to hold and fill their buckets. They were pleased to take charge. We’d get to a point where we would only have 3-4 buckets to go then two girls would show up with two more buckets and on it went like this. It was quite a good feeling to be able to help them like this and gave an indication of what it would be like when we actually mount the pumps on the wells for them to use the first time.
When we went to the next well and asked them if they had any plastic buckets they wanted to fill up, they quickly supplied them. By the time we got to the third bore in that village, the word had gotten around and women and girls with buckets were lining up.
We did 3 more bores in another village after that with a similar storey. Parts of the job like this are quite rewarding.