What it takes to drill a borehole
Mar 20, 2019
The size of the borehole also determines the price
Children fetching water from a village borehole in eastern Uganda. Boreholes have been instrumental in delivering clean water to rural communities in Uganda
As part of the remedy to water shortage, some communities and individuals opt to sink private boreholes. But what does it take it to sink a borehole? Ronald Lotet, a senior environment officer in Mubende district, says before one can drill a borehole, one has to get a geologist's report about the site where they want to sink it.
He says the report must explain the depth of the water table, the type of the soil/rocks found beneath the soil and the amount of water in that area. It is this report that will determine whether the area is suitable for borehole drilling or not. "Drillers may sink a borehole using a drilling rig. The machinery and techniques to sink a borehole vary according to the manufacturer, geological conditions and the intended purpose," Lotet says. "Such a survey is also used to determine whether the water is under pressure, its chemical composition (good for drinking).
Other factors are if it contains excessive hardness or sulphates and the most suitable depth at which to find an acceptable water supply," Felix Twinomucunguzi, an engineer at the Ministry of Water and Environment, says. Twinomucunguzi also says boreholes are a source of clean safe water free from water-borne diseases, which have become common in rural wells.
In some cases, drilling is impossible because of hard rocks or water scarcity. In such cases one is advised to identify other locations where it is easy to drill. Constructing Steven Sekate, who works for Water for Life, a company that drills boreholes, says the water source can be drilled as deep as 50ft (15 metres)-85ft (25 metres) to tap into deeper aquifers. Boreholes are normally drilled and can be upgraded to a fully integrated water system using a hand-pump or conversion into a simple water station with piped water fed to individual compounds. Sekate says a borehole does not require much space.
"A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for different purposes, including the extraction of water or other liquids," he says. Sekate estimates the cost of drilling a borehole at between sh20m and sh25m