Water well construction

BushProof is continually conducting research into technologies and methods that bring down the cost of rural or family-owned drinking water supply. Thanks to a range of techniques, we are now able to construct low-cost wells in most conditions.

Available drilling techniques where BushProof has experience include rapid well jetting, our own variation on 'EMAS' drilling (which we called "Madrill"), as well as more conventional rotary mud flush machine drilling using a portable rig.

Large-scale, low-cost well construction: a case in point
Recently, BushProof implemented several large-scale well construction projects in Madagascar. Combining a variety of appropriate techniques and effective approaches, hundreds of wells have been produced through BushProof contracts since 2004.

Jetting is suitable in sandy soils with a shallow aquifer, and since large areas of coastal Madagascar exhibit such conditions, large-scale application of jetting has been possible, sometimes at construction rates of greater than 50 per week. Thanks also to close partnering with NGOs, no other organisation has so far matched BushProof in terms of cost-efficiency and rapid, sustainable impact.

These successes were presented at the 2005 International Symposium on Household Water Management in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition, a paper was presented by BushProof at the 31st WEDC international conference in Uganda in 2005.

These projects have established beyond doubt that jetting holds much potential for scaling up. Using this technique, it is possible to provide sustainable, permanent access to clean water to hundreds of thousands of people within a matter of months - for a cost that is significantly below other types of village-level water infrastructure.

A recent BushProof study completed in 2006 that was sponsored by the World Bank has shown that at least 2 million people in Madagascar live in potential jettable areas. This corresponds to 10% of the country's population and 20% of its land surface. Similarly, in other countries, countless people live in jettable zones, yet often without access to safe drinking water. BushProof has shown through concerted effort and perserverance, that the scaling-up of innovative technologies is possible when funds are available. Click here to download the study (French).