Wells For The World's Vision for the Future
We want to raise funds, supplies, and support for water projects to build and perpetuate them. One of our first objectives is to raise the funds needed to outfit a well maintenance pump hoist rig (vehicle - see right), which would likely consist of a one-ton truck with a pump hoist A-frame setup to service existing wells needed maintenance. It appears that many charities have installed and are installing wells, but are not provided for their maintenance, which leads to existing wells that are no longer providing water due to various pump or other issues. Therefore, WFTW would like to fill this niche, which would provide a source of income for at least two to three Maasai families.
Where wells can be installed and sustainable water is available, wells offer one of the best opportunities to help the most people. This goes for Maasailand and Africa, but also many other world areas where sustainable sources of groundwater are available. Therefore, one desire we have is to raise enough funds to secure (whether through purchase or donation, or a combination of both) drilling rigs either in Africa or elsewhere and have them transported to Maasailand and then train locals to operate the drilling rigs and install wells and perpetuate the installation and maintenance of wells by providing each drilling rig with the fuel and drilling supplies necessary to perpetuate the installation and maintenance of additional wells. This would provide several Maasai families with a living wage and provide clean sustainable drinking water for hundreds to thousands of people per well. Rain barrels and retention basins are awesome, but they can only provide so much relief, wells can provide a more sustainable source of water, especially for the most remote areas assuming that the hydrogeology allows. In addition to providing drinking water to the Maasai people, if the hydrogeology will allow sufficient sustainable withdrawal, then we would also like to provide an emergency source of water for the Maasai's herds, and possibly to allow some farming. The Maasai are herdsmen and what wealth and livelihood they have are in their herds. However, the lack of water, especially during times of drought, which Maasailand in Tanzania is currently experiencing, causes the loss of these precious resources.
Once we have established a process in Kenya and Tanzania, WFTW would like to duplicate those efforts in other areas that desperately need sustainable sources of clean drinking water - through wells, rain collection/catchment systems, surface water and filtration/treatment and by providing better sanitation as well. In many areas of the world where sufficient water is available, the water still might not be healthy to drink because the source of these waters may be from contaminated surface water or aquifer systems, or may be contaminated due to poor infrastructure, such as old, leaking or lead piping systems.
... These waters simply need proper filtration, and unfortunately most household systems may not be sufficient to properly filter/treat the water. That is why Wells for the World envisions setting up microbusinesses that provide clean bottled drinking water at a reasonable cost within cities that have poor quality tap water.
At WFTW, we have some unique ideas for repurposing of existing drilling or filtration materials and equipment that might otherwise be wasted to help us perpetuate the installation of drinking water wells and filtration systems. We will keep you posted as we develop our connections and plans, and we will look to you and other scientists and engineers to help us provide cold cup of clean sustainable water to those in need.
