Groundwater - Stone hammer well drilling
The previous drilling methods are not suitable for hard soil formations, so ongoing development led to the Stone-hammer. This method consists of a heavy hammer hitting directly on a hollow drill-head. Although it does not penetrate very hard stone such as basalt, it is a tougher option than the Rota-sludge method. This technology is being refined further in India and Nicaragua.
The Stone-hammer method has won a competition for innovative irrigation technologies organized by the World Bank, Winrock and IDE (International Development Enterprises).
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Cheaper and easyer to maintain than motorized drilling rigs. Drill in very hard soil |
Slower than motorized drilling rigs. |
Capacity
40 litres / min from 10 meters depth.
Costs
- US$ 20-120 depending on model.
Applying conditions
- Numbers: 50,000 in Nicaragua, 20,000 in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanaznia, Senegal.
- Range of depth: 1-35 meter (60 m with two cranks).
- Application Communal wells, houshold, irrigation.
- Cost of introduction: US$ 10,000-20,000 per project, including 20 pumps, engineering and hands-on training. US$ 60,000-100,000 per project, including 1,000 pumps, production workshop and hands-on training.
Rope pump building manual
PRACTICA foundation and the Technical Training Programme of the ETC Foundation (TTP/ETC) have put together a really excellent manual on how to build rope pumps (PDF, 2.5 Mbyte). It is an 86 page long document with detailed instructions.
External links
- Evaluations www.irc.nl
- Africa www.pumpaid.org
- General info www.ropepump.com
- How to build www.ropepumps.org
