Table Of ContentDOCUMENT RESUME
ED 241 770
CE 038 574
Brush, Richard E.
AUTHOR
Wells Construction. Hand Dug and Hand Drilled.
TITLE
Appropriate Technologies for Development. Manual
M-9.
Peace Corps, Washington, DC. Information Collection
INSTITUTION
and Exchange Div.
PUB DATE
Sep 82
NOTE
294p.
.
PUB TYPE
Guides - Classroom Use - Guides (For Teachers) (052)
MF01/PC12 Plus Postage.
EDRS.PRICE.
DESCRIPTORS
*Construction (Process); *Construction Materials;
Developing Nations; *Extension Education; Guidelines;
Hand Tools; Machine Tools; Planning; Postsecondary
Education; *Rural Development; Rural Education; Site
Development; Tables (Data); Trade and Industrial
Education; Volunteers; Volunteer Training; *Water
Resources
*Wells
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This manual is intended for use by development
workers involved in the construction of wells to supply water to a
local population for personal consumption. Discussed first are the
basic points to consider when planning a well. Various aspects of
constructing hand-dug wells are explained, including well design,
supplies, the lowering and-raising of workers and equipment, digging,
lining techniques, construction,of the middle section of a well, and
construction of the bottom of a well. Addressed in the chapter on
drilled wells are drilling and casing techniques; the hand rotary,
hand percussion, sludger, and driven and jetted methods of well
construction; and the bottom section of a drilled well. Appendixes to
the marvial include conversion factors and tables as well as
discussions of.the use of vegetation as an index of ground water, the
uses of dynamite in hand-dug wells, cement, leveling and plumbing a
mold, pipe, pumps, water treatment in wells, and rope strength.
(MN)
***************************************4*******************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
*
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
INFORIATION COLLECTION & OCCHANGE
Peace Corps' Information Collection & EXchange (ICE)
was
established so that the strategies apd technologies devel-
oped by Peace Corps VOlunteers, their co-workers, and their
counterparts could be made available to the wide range of
development organizations and individual workers who might
find them useful.
Training guidei, curricula, lesson plans,
project reports, manuals and other Peace COrps-generated
materials developed in the field are oollected and reviewed.
Some are reprinted "as is"; others provide a' source of field
based information for the production of manuals or for re-
search in particular program areas.
Materials that you sub-
mit to the Information Collection & Exchange thus become
part of the Peace Corps' larger contribution to development.
Information about ICE publications and services is available
through:
Peace Corps
Information Collection & Exchange
Office of Program Development
806 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20526
Send ma-
Add your experience to the ICE Resource Center.
terials thattyou've prepared so that we can share them
Your tech-
with others forking in the development field.
nical insights serve as the basis for the generation of
ICE manuals, reprints and resource packets, and also
ensure that ICE is providing the Trost updated, innovative
problem - solving' techniques and information available to
you and your fellow development workers.
Peace Corps
3
S
..
WELLS CONSTRUCTION
Hand Dug and Hand Drilled
.
,.
written by
(
4
Richard E. Brush
Illustrated by
Gould
Laura KP .
edited by
Eugene Eccli
Sandy Eccli t
David Tyler
t
Peace Corps
Information Collection and Exchange
Manual M-9
September 1982
ACTION Pamphlet 4200.35 (8/79)
4
w
INTRODUCTION
Purpose
This manual is intended for use by development
workers involved in the construction of wells to
supply water to a local population for personal con-
It has been designed to help field workers
sumption.
with little*or no construction experience to assists
communities in
%
planning and designing a well, or wells,
C
appropriate to the needs of the local population;
assessing the advantages or disadvantages of
locally available construction materials;
deciding on the most appropriate construct'.
techniques;
constructing a well, or wells, capable of
meeting the community's needs.
Most of the materials, tools, and methods covered
in this manual are applicable throughout the world in'a
The techniques are designed
variety of local situations.
to be useful in the rural areas of most developing
Step-by-step plans outline construction
countries.
materials and techniques to be used where skills may be
Although all potential situations cannot be
aritted,
covered, this manual provides enough background to allow
workers to assess unusual situations, and determine what
available techniques might be useful.,
organization of This Manual
The manual is organized into three sections.
Section One, Planning, introduces the knowledge needed
for wells planning and discusses those aspects of water
development and wells construction that should be
considered before a wells project is begun.
It also
presehts an outline of the different methods of con-
These are covered in greater detail
structing wells.
Section One will give you some
in the next two sections.
basic ideas about the kind of well that might be most
appropriate in your situation.
ill
.5
Section Two, Hand Dug Wells, provides information
by band:
on wells that can, or must, be dug
in wells
a detailed= outline of the tasks involved
construction;
a discussion of the top, middle and bottom
sections of a hand dug well, their parts, and methods
used in constructing them;
the tools, equipment and materials needed:
if tools and supplies can safely be lowered
into and out of the well;
the operations that must take place in the
hole;
details of the construction of the middle
section;
details of the construction of the bottom section.
Section Three, Drilled Wells, provides information
on drilling techniques that can be used in certain
situations:
the basccomponents and procedures used in
drilling for water;
the different possible sinking methods;
a detailed description of equipment and
procedures used in a variety of hand-drilling methods;
how the bottom section of a drilled well is
constructed and finished for use.
Several appendices follow, giving useful information
on:
Metric-English measurement conversion;
101
vegetation as a possible indicator of water;
iv
6
C
use of dynamite;
use of cement;
techniques Of levelling and plumbing molds;
piping;
pumps.
Following these, the two figures (A and B) Which a
appear inside the front and back covers are.reproduced
at the beginnings of Section Two and Section Three re-
spectively. The manual concludes with a glossary and an
annotated bibliography.
How the Manual Can Be Used
You can use this manual:
as a text to teach and train people about wells
and their use;
to locate the information necessary to construct
a well;
D
to stimulate thinking about possible useful
modifications of presently used techniques;
to.,loc4te other sources of information.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks are due to F. Eugene McJunkin for his technical
Thanks to Sam
rovi(,w or the material in Wells Construction.
1\unkle 1411,; wrote Appendix IT,,Vegetation as an Index of Ground
Water.
Thanks also to the many people who helped in the preparation
of this manual, especially Craig Hafner, Howard Ebenstein, Brenda
Gates, Francis Luzzatto, Laurel Druben, Sde
Chappelear,-
Pascal Pittman, Mary Ernsberger, Vic Wehman, Vicki Fries,
Vernell Womack, and Teri Barila.
v
7
TABLE OP CONTENTS
SECTION ONE:
PLANNING
Chapter
Introduction to Wells Planning
1:
1
SECTION TWO:
HAND DUG WELLS
Chapter
Introduction to Hand Dug Wells
19
2:
Chapter
Well Design
23
3:
Chapter
Supplies
37
4:
Chapter
Lowering and Raising Workers
5:
and Equipment
43
Digging
57
4.--1 Chapter
6:
Chapter
The Middle Section:
Overview
7:
of Lining Techniques..
63
.
Construction of the Middle
Chapter
8:
Section
77
Construction of the Bottom
Chapter
9:
Section.
99
DRILLED WELLS
SECTION AAREE:
Introduction to Drilled Wells
Chapter 10:
117
Drilling and Casing Techniques
'-----Chapter 11: 129
Hand Rotary and
Construction:
Chapter 12:
Hand Percussion Methdds
147
Chapter 13: Construction:
Sludger Method
165
Driven and Jetted
Construction:
Chapter 14:
173
. . .
The Bottom Section
Chapter 15:
191
vii
8
APPENDICES
Appendix
Conversion Factors and Tables
.209
I:
.
.
.
Appendix
Vegetation as an Index of
II:
211
Ground Water
Appendix
Uses of Dynamite in
III:
-213
Hand Dug Wells
~
221
Cement
Appendix
IV:
Leveling and Plumbing the Mold
Appendix
.239
V:
.
.
243
Appendix
Pipe
VI:
249
VII:' Pumps
Appendix
261
Water Treatment in Wells
Appendix VIII:
267
Rope Strength
Appendix
IX:
269
Glossary of Terms
273
Annotated Bibliography
viii
.
*
a
V
2
as
a
Is.
.
yr
sa
..
I%
Section
11.
1:
PLANNING
-
s
r
6
/
,
1 0
s-,
1
w
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO WELLS PLANNING
Overview
A.
There is water at some depth almost everywhere beneath
the earth's surface.
A well is a dug ordrilled hole that
extends deep enough into the ground to reach water.
Wells
are usually circular and walled with stone, concrete or pipe
eb prevent the hole from cyailng in.
They are gunk by
digging or drilling through one or, more layerp of soil and
rock to reach a layer that is at least partially full of
water called an aquifer.
The top of the aquifer, or the
level beneath whic
ground is saturated with water, is
called the water table:
In some areas there is more than
one aquifer-Beneath the water table. Deep wells, such as
those sunk by large motorized equipment, can reach and pull
water from more than one aquifer at the same time.. However,
this manual will only discuss sinking wells-to the first
usable'aquifer with hand-powered equipment.
The Need for Adequate Water Supply
,10 B.
A new properly built well can provide people with more
But the new well itself may have little
and better water.
or no impact on the surrounding community's health if the
well users do not know how to make effective use of the
watcr.
It is important to leant the water needs of 'a local
populatipn in order to construct an appropriate water source.
In all locales an adequate supply of clean water is essential
Many ofthe most com-
for 'maintaining and improVing health.
mon and serious diseases in developing countries are closely
related to the amount and quality of water people use.
With-,
out an adquate supply of clean water/ little can be done to
control diseases that spread through contaminated water
supplies.
In order to ascertain` ocal needs, you must consider_
two limiting aspects to the provision of water: 1) the
quality of the water and 21
.he quantity of water available
16cally.
Good quality water does not contain chemicals and
The quality
bacteria which are hazards to health and life.
of water can be assured by:
Description:drilled wells are drilling and casing techniques; the hand rotary, hand percussion, sludger, and driven and jetted methods of well construction; and the
