HYBRID DUG WELL TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
HYBRID DUG WELL TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
BY
SHEHU M.A., SHAIBU-IMODAGBE E.M. and U.D IDRIS
Samaru College of Agriculture, Division of Agricultural Colleges,
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
According to the most recent Joint Monitoring Programme
(JMP 2012) statistics, 2.3 billion people (one third of the global population) obtain their drinking water directly from groundwater and it is reasonable to assume that at least another 1.7 billion people (one quarter of the world’s population) representing 40% of those who enjoy piped water are also supplied from groundwater.
It is estimated that only 30% of the rural population of subSaharan Africa have access to a clean potable water supply of 25 litres per head per day, the minimum quantity specified by the
World Heath Organisation (Macdonald, 1995).
Houston (1992) compared. two rural water supply projects, in
Zimbabwe and in Nigeria where groundwater was developed with boreholes.
In Zimbabwe, the required abstraction rate was 0.2 l/s. The success rate was over 70%. In Nigeria, where electric submersible pumps were fitted to completed boreholes, the required abstraction was 1 l/s. The success rate here was less than 45%.
It is estimated that 30% to 50% of boreholes in Nigeria are broken down at any one time (Dotun et al, 2009 and Eduvie
2003; 2004). This constitutes a massive waste of investment and is probably the main factor in pulling down rural water supply coverage.
Water supply to rural communities requires the use of technologies that can be operated and maintained by the communities themselves.
Hand dug wells are very useful in formations with low
permeability due to their capacity to store water.
They vary widely in terms of cost and quality. In some countries hand dug wells are dug in clay without any lining at a cost of less than US$ 100 while a hand dug well lined with concrete rings will approach the cost of a machine drilled
well,
COUNTRIES
BY
SHEHU M.A., SHAIBU-IMODAGBE E.M. and U.D IDRIS
Samaru College of Agriculture, Division of Agricultural Colleges,
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
According to the most recent Joint Monitoring Programme
(JMP 2012) statistics, 2.3 billion people (one third of the global population) obtain their drinking water directly from groundwater and it is reasonable to assume that at least another 1.7 billion people (one quarter of the world’s population) representing 40% of those who enjoy piped water are also supplied from groundwater.
It is estimated that only 30% of the rural population of subSaharan Africa have access to a clean potable water supply of 25 litres per head per day, the minimum quantity specified by the
World Heath Organisation (Macdonald, 1995).
Houston (1992) compared. two rural water supply projects, in
Zimbabwe and in Nigeria where groundwater was developed with boreholes.
In Zimbabwe, the required abstraction rate was 0.2 l/s. The success rate was over 70%. In Nigeria, where electric submersible pumps were fitted to completed boreholes, the required abstraction was 1 l/s. The success rate here was less than 45%.
It is estimated that 30% to 50% of boreholes in Nigeria are broken down at any one time (Dotun et al, 2009 and Eduvie
2003; 2004). This constitutes a massive waste of investment and is probably the main factor in pulling down rural water supply coverage.
Water supply to rural communities requires the use of technologies that can be operated and maintained by the communities themselves.
Hand dug wells are very useful in formations with low
permeability due to their capacity to store water.
They vary widely in terms of cost and quality. In some countries hand dug wells are dug in clay without any lining at a cost of less than US$ 100 while a hand dug well lined with concrete rings will approach the cost of a machine drilled
well,