Water wells

How the water journey works

Eighteen steps between a district’s list of villages in need and the morning a community draws its first clean water.

Technology evolution

Hand-dug, then deep, then solar

In its first years the Foundation built hand-dug wells — roughly sixty feet deep — because it had neither the donors nor the expertise for anything deeper, and because getting water to people quickly mattered more than getting it perfect. After about five years it moved to deep wells: the shallow ones were drying up as the climate changed.

Stage 1
Hand-dug wells
Fast to build, shallow, and vulnerable to drought.
Stage 2
Deep wells
Drilled to a surveyed depth, far more resilient.
Stage 3
Solar-powered systems
Renewable pumping, storage, and taps the village can actually use.

From selection to switch-on

The process the Foundation documented in 2016, step by step.

01
The district identifies the need
The District Commissioner provides a list of villages in greatest need of water.
02
Meet the water engineer
The Foundation’s board meets the district water engineer to assess the list together.
03
Choose the village
Selection is made on need — not convenience, and not visibility.
04
Bring in village leadership
The village leaders and the well committee are met and walked through the entire process. Involving them from the beginning is what creates ownership of the finished well.
05
Survey the site
The topological department surveys the land and issues a certificate of depth.
06
Establish the drilling depth
That certificate determines how deep the well must go.
07
Drill under supervision
Contracted drillers do the work; the Foundation’s team supervises to confirm the depth is correct.
08
Install the pipes
Once drilling is complete the pipes go into the ground.
09
Flush the well
The well is flushed until the water runs completely clean.
10
Build the protective slab
A slab is built over the drilled area so surface water cannot run back in and compromise the water’s cleanliness.
11
Raise the tower
A tower of hard steel and concrete is built to carry the weight of the tank.
12
Install the tank
The storage tank is fitted on the tower.
13
Plumb it for access
Plumbing is completed so that water is genuinely easy to draw.
14
The community builds alongside
Villagers help with digging, bringing sand and laying concrete — and in doing so come to understand the system that will supply their water.
15
Mount the solar array
Solar mounting systems are installed once the structure is ready.
16
Fit the solar equipment and pump
Panels and pump are installed and commissioned.
17
Water
The system becomes operational.
18
The village celebrates
The community marks the moment, and takes on ownership of what has been built.

Specifications as published in 2016

The numbers, as they stood a decade ago

These figures come from The Village Heart. They record how the Foundation built at that time and are not a statement of current engineering standards.