MAWOITO VILLAGE IS URGENTLY IN NEED OF A SHALLOW WELL
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Mawoito community is urgently in need of a shallow well to enable the community access clean water. If this is done, it well help the community guard against water related diseases hence an urgent need that require immediate attention.
Thanks
Tonny
I have spent several hours researching this on the web - and will have to await replies from some people I emailed. I realize after all this that there must be some kind of shallow well drilling equipment in Jinja to buy or rent??? If you need to buy it, can it be shared with a couple of other villages? Everything I read is that the village must participate in the well building/buying/maintaining or it will not be considered a Part of the village. Have no other villages near you built a well? And this one will I imagine be built near the school? And is the school pretty close to the village?? Let's have a little research on both ends - and I'll let you know when I hear something.
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Ginger :)
Hi all, this shallow well is meant to benefit both the school and the community. The school has no near by water source and this makes it difficult for the children to move and collect water from ponds.On top of this, this type of water from ponds is not health hence need for a proper shallow well to avoid both the children and community members from being prone to water related diseases.
Thanks
Tonny
Tonny - awaiting your answer as to who has wells and what kind in/near Jinja and how/through water company they got them, and the cost? I cannot find this info on the web.
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Ginger :)
The wells are there in Jinja and when i contacted one of the drilling companys here in Jinja, I was told that this may cost close to 7 million Ug shillings.
The told them me that it would take them 3 weeks to do this work. That is why i was suggesting that we zero on spring well since its cheaper than a shallow well. The spring well can cost close to 3.300.000 Million Ug shillings.
Hope for your replies.
Thanks
Tonny
Tonny,
From your message - "The wells are there in Jinja" - I presume these are 'shallow' wells, and as you say, one such well will cost 7 million Ug Shillings, which converts to about USD 3700. A shallow well is only 10 to 20 feet deep, and should not cost so much. It is possible that the water table is a lot deeper in your region, in which case the digging has to be done a lot deeper than 20 feet and it is no more a 'shallow' well. Higher depths are a lot more serious, and that may be the reason why the drilling company has quoted 7 million Ug Sh. You will also preferably need to install a motorized pump for greater depths, and simple hand-pumps or pulling with rope and bucket will not work for greater depths. So what is the depth of the water table in your region?
You have yourself posted the task for 'shallow' well, and now if the task is converted to 'spring' well, in my last post above I have mentioned that springs do not occur in all regions. If your region has existing springs or 'spring wells' as you call them, how many such wells exist in your immediate surroundings, and is the water available through these wells all 12 months of the year? Does the drilling company guarantee availability of water for 3.3 million Ug Shillings (which is about USD 1760)? You must also discuss with the owners of the wells to get the real picture.
If the answers to all the homework at your end are positive, then you must contact the other drilling companies in your region. Discuss with them various options, technical aspects, guarantees for striking water, payment only after 100% completion, etc. Educate yourself through discussing with these companies. Get offers from a few other companies for your well. Also negotiate with each to get the lowest prices. From the owners of the wells in your region, you must verify the references of these companies, and discuss only with the more competent companies. Ask all these companies to keep their offers valid for 3 to 6 months in case you plan to raise funds for this well.
The next logical step would be for you to estimate the expenses from the lowest negotiated price of any good company whose competence and other terms have been found acceptable by you. Depending on how efficiently you have negotiated with various companies, this could be a lot lower than 3.3 million Ug Shillings. With this estimated expenses figure, you could then start arranging these funds. Issue your order to the company only after the funds are arranged.
Vijai
Hi all, thanks for all the above information. The village has neighboring wells that is why i zeroed on this because it looks a bit more cheaper than shallow well. Of course the company here in Jinja can reduce on the costs once we have get people to support the task. I can liaze with them so that the figure above is reduced to may be 2.800.000. This depends on the vaialbility of people willing to support the task. But the above price is their initial cost for the construction of a well spring.
On the issue of the water table, the area we are suggested has the potential to produce water throughout the year according to the specialist from the district water office. The area has been measured before so am not just gambling but am talking about something that has been researched before.
Thanks for all your contributions.
Tonny
Tonny,
This still does not answer the basic question - how deep is the water table in your region? How many feet below the surface? The level of the water table keeps changing during the year, and is also generally found to go down over the years. The water table going down over the year results in a lot of wells going dry over the years. The mapping done a few years back may not reflect the position as of now due to these changes in the water table.
In any case, you could have posted all this information under the title itself, so that neighbours are clear from the beginning that you have all the costs worked out, and your real interest is in raising funds for a spring well (and not on discussion about a shallow well as posted under the title).
It might also help if you could interact with the local government in your region to ascertain if they have a program to provide water to the population through their own funding. If you are lucky, you might get your well without spending any of your own money.
Nevertheless, I wish you luck with the fund-raising, Tonny !
Vijai
Hi all, we held meetings with the community members last weekend and the community with the guidance from the water development officer from the district agreed that we embark on a spring well since the area is most suitable for this. The children at the school will then be able to access clean water together with the community members. We therefore seek any assistance regarding any organizations that may help our community in accessing this spring well.
The community is willing to contribute something once we get any body who can assist in finding us people who can fund this task.
Its currently shining so heavily here in Uganda.
Thanks
Tonny
Tonny - if you are asking for financial help then you need to tell us what the costs are....and I would think the local water development officer was able to tell you that??? If not, go back and ask him.
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Ginger :)
I saw an old posting - $1,500 USD - that's quite a bit of money - I know nothing about foundations who give out money for water - I'm sure they exist and perhaps someone will take this task on to research.
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Ginger :)
Hi all, during our community meetings, the water officer told us that a spring well would cost 2.500.000 million Uganda shillings. This much cheaper than a shallow well.
Basically that is what the water officer told us and if we could get people who may help us raise that amount coupled with community contribution, then it will help us a great deal.
Thanks
Tonny
Again, for those who don't know the conversion 2 and 1/2 million shillings equals $1,500 USD - that would require 30 volunteers putting up $50 USD......
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Ginger :)
Hi ginger, thanks for converting it into US $dollars. We would actually need 30 volunteers to help us in this task. I will be happy to hear from all those willing to donate towards this noble cause.
As the saying goes that water is life.The water Engineer told us that the area where we want to lacate the spring well is okay and it can produce water all year round.
Hoping to hear from all those who can help us fund this task so that the children at the school and the community members are able to have clean and safe water.
Right now, the sunshine is too much and the community members find it really difficult to access clean water hence a need for a spring well that may help in curbing this problem.
Thanks
Tonny
Hello people,
A shallow well is possible only if you have a high water table at the location where you want the well.
To know how deep the water table is below the surface, ask around in your region. If the answer is 10 to 20 feet deep below the surface in the region 'close' to where you want your well, then your solution is here:
http://marionmedical.org/what_is_a_well.htm
Making this well does not need money - it needs work.
You do not need special tools.
You do not even need a pump to draw water - simply use a pulley and rope and pull up water by the bucket. Later, if the funds become available, you could install a hand-pump or a motorized pump.
All you need is some digging (use the village youths), bricks (which you can locally make), stones and other masonry material (which you can locally arrange). At the most you could get the local mason for overall guidance as a volunteer.
Caution -
- the local mason must have prior experience with such wells
- the danger of earth caving in can create serious mishaps. Adequate precautions must be ensured to prevent such mishaps
- if resources and confidence are low, then you 'must not' start the digging, and organize professionals to make the well for you. No adventures.
Vijai
This looks great, Vijai, thanks! - Tonny can you find out the cost of the bricks - or do you in fact make them there and they can be donated? Do you have a local mason to guide you? With school out, this would be a perfect time to start digging. I don't know how you dig without tools though - and I think a hand pump would be better and not too expensive to install than a bucket and pulley. Check with the mason about comparative costs - you really need to find these things out before making a plan. I don't know how you figure out what the water table is - just asking around in the neighborhood, maybe that will work, but if no one else in the neighborhood has a well, I don't know how you will find out.....
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Ginger :)