Drilling Program
We have an aggressive drilling program in the Mahanoro area. It is a combination of individual water wells in smaller villages, and potential source wells in larger villages if a water distribution system is justifiable and supported financially.
Up to 13 new wells will be drilled in the next 6 – 8 weeks, all completed with hand pumps. As the areal photo to the right shows, there is no shortage of villages in need.
New Wells
Three new wells were drilled last month. All were completed with Indian Mark III hand pumps. The well in Miakara, a village of 1500, is slated to be used as a source well for our next Mini-Municipal Water System. It tested at a rate of 3k liters / hour with fresh, sweet water. Three existing wells in the village, all much shallower than the MWP well, are not used because that have a high-iron, sulphur-like taste.
Ambohangimasina Miakara Ampasimbe
About This Page
This page is a new addition to our communication. I love whar we are doing and I like to share it with those that have a similar interest, many of whom are financing the work. This page shows the work we are doing today, as we speak. The projects come from our inventory and will eventually move to our list of accomplishments or learnings.
The work on this page is everything we have done since the beginning of the year. We are still in the rainy season so logistics is an issue. It is, however, in the Mahanoro area where we have worked extensively in the past.
In general, we are targeting larger inland villages that have no water and have been passed over by the other NGOs because they are remote and somewhat difficult to access. Myself, I have a hard time understanding their logic. The people in these more remote locations are no less in need or less deserving than everyone else. To make it possible to get to these places, we purchased, with the help of Water Charity, a Russian-made army truck that will go almost anywhere.
Inland villages often times have geology that is not favorable for finding water. Being larger, over 1000 people, they need multiple wells. The Madagascar Water Project has adopted a development model that uses one deep, high rate well as a water source that supplies a limited water distribution system fed by pipelines. The acquisition of our drilling rigs makes it possible and our experience in Marolambo and Fanasana makes it feasible. We are still drilling wells in smaller villages and completing them with hand pumps.
Ampitakihosy
Ampitakihosy is our first integrated Mini-Municipal Water Development Project. A village of 2000, it had only one open bucket well with a hand pump to provide “clean water”. The rest came from rice fields in the adjacent lowlands. The MWP drilled one well in the village and found only a minimal aquifer. The second well found 8 meters of high quality fresh water aquifer, which tested more than 3k liters / hour – capable of providing water to the entire village.
The MWP designed a water production and distribution system using the following:
- Downhole submersible pump powered by solar panels
- Cement holding tank – 25k liters, with chlorination capabilities
- Eight water stands
- 2 km of PVC pipeline.
Much of the labor will be provided free of charge by the village. The project is expected to take 30 – 45 days and cost an incremental $10k to build.
Once operational, a technician will be hired to provide maintenance, management, repairs and chlorination services. Like all our project, the MWP will maintain a presence and relationship with the village to ensure the long-term sustainability of the project.