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Percussion drilling is a manual drilling technique in which a heavy cutting or hammering bit attached to a rope or cable is lowered in the open hole or inside a temporary casing. The technique is often also referred to as 'Cable tool'. Usually a tripod is used to support the tools. By moving the rope or cable up and down, the cutting or hammering bit loosens the soil or consolidated rock in the borehole, which is then extracted later by using a bailer. Just as with [[hand auger - general|hand augering]], a temporary casing of steel or plastic may be used to prevent the hole from collapsing. When the permanent well screen and casing are installed, this temporary casing has to be removed.
===Suitable conditions===
[[Image:Percussion drilling in action.jpg|thumb|right|200px| Percussion drilling in action]]
[[Image:Weighted drill bit.jpg|thumb|right|200px| Weighted drill bit]]
===Construction, operations and maintenance===
[[Image:Diagram of percussion drilling.jpg|thumb|right|200px| Diagram of percussion drilling]]
* Van Reekum Materials - Drilling equipment, hand auger and percussion drilling - http://www.reekum.nl
===Costs===
For cost comparisons between hand drilling and percussion drilling: [http://www.wellspringafrica.org/WebManual/costcomp.htm Wellspring Africa's Hand Powered Percussion Drill] illustrates costs for materials, tools, and labour.
===Field experiences===
Percussion drilling is mainly used in Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Liberia, Ghana, Central America and western countries.
===Manuals, videos, and links===
* Robert Vuik, Don de Koning and Arjen van der Wal. [http://www.practica.org/wp-content/uploads/services/publications/drilling%20manuals/EN/Percussion%20manual%20drilling%20PRACTICA%20EN.pdf Percussion: Manual Drilling Series. Technical Training Handbook on Affordable Manual Well Drilling]. Practica Foundation, June 2010. French version: [http://www.practica.org/wp-content/uploads/services/publications/drilling%20manuals/FR/Percussion%20manual%20drilling%20PRACTICA%20FR.pdf FORAGE À LA PERCUSSION: Série forage manuel].
*[[Solution_of_the_week_13|Akvo solution of the week 13]]
=== Acknowledgements===
* The basis for the material on this page was obtained from a desk study shortly to be published on the website of the [http://www.practicafoundation.nl/ Practica Foundation], and from the [http://www.rural-water-supply.net/ Rural Water Supply Network], and specifically its [http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/implementation/manual-drilling manual drilling section].
* [http://www.lboro.ac.uk/well/resources/technical-briefs/43-simple-drilling-methods.pdf 43. Simple drilling methods.] WEDC.
