The construction of a new well costs around 15,000 Swiss francs. The villages and hamlets concerned contribute a share of around 10 percent of these costs, depending on their financial situation. Some contribute cash, but in most cases the contributions are in the form of assistance with excavation work and provision of accommodation and meals for specialized work crews. In any case, at least 90 percent of the costs for each new well have to be covered via third-party funding.
1. Informing the population
Before a new well can be built, it is important to inform the inhabitants of the villages in the region, which are often many kilometers apart, about the project and explain why a well is necessary. Wherever a well is to be built, the people need to be told about the consequences of polluted water and poor hygiene, and sensitized to the value of clean water as an essential resource. Animators also prepare the villagers for the task of assuming responsibility for their well once it is in operation.
A member of the animation team tells villagers why clean water is so important for their health.
2. Search for a suitable location
The construction of a well commences with the search for a suitable location. It needs to be situated on public ground as close to the village center as possible, has to be easily accessible and indicate a sufficiently large water vein.
Water veins are located with the aid of pendulums and divining rods.
Divining rods are used for finding suitable water veins.
3. Excavation
Once a location has been selected, the next step is to excavate the shaft. This has to be carried out by hand to a depth of 30 meters or more until the water vein is reached. If a shaft (which has a diameter of 1.4 meters) has to be very deep, fresh air needs to be supplied via a compressor to the person doing the excavating, whose descent is secured with the aid of a safety belt. Once the water level has been reached, it is necessary to dig down a further 6 meters or so in order to create a reservoir.
Excavations are not always successful. With roughly every tenth well, a number of shafts have to be excavated until an adequate water vein has been found.
Sometimes it is necessary to dig a long way down in order to find an adequate water vein.
4. Own workshop and trucks
For lining the shaft, local employees produce base plates, pipe elements and well covers in a local factory, and deliver them in a truck equipped with a special hoist.
An employee moistens the finished shaft elements in the project’s own workshop. PEP stands for «Projet Eau Potable» (drinking water project)
The project has its own trucks for transporting components via often lengthy routes.
5. Construction
A construction team specially trained for the project lowers the perforated base plate and the shaft elements, which weigh 400 kilograms and are each 0.5 meters high, into the shaft. 60 or more of these elements are required, depending on the depth of the well. The cover is then placed over the shaft, the suction tube is inserted and the hand pump is installed.
Members of the assembly crew lower a well element into the shaft.
6. Robust hand pumps from Holland
The robust hand pumps have to be imported. The most suitable type of hand pump is the SWN80 manufactured by Dutch company Van Reekum Materials b.v. Shipments of 100 pumps are transported in containers by sea from Rotterdam to Douala, then carried by road to Otélé.
The hand pumps brought in from Holland have proved to be highly reliable.
7. Village well as focal point
Each well is surrounded by a spacious drainage area made of cement. This prevents the formation of puddles and muddy areas, and turns the well into a focal point, underscoring its importance for the entire village.
Villagers are overjoyed to have their own well.