Feasibility Study on manual drilling in Kenya

Technological and institutional assessments in the Machakos district and surrounding areas to explore possibilities of manual drilling. The main focus is to improve water access in the region in an affordable way.

Goals

To outline if manual drilling could be a practical solution for the limited access to improved water supply
To generate basic information on the environment in which manual drilling could work effectively (including technical, social-economic and institutional aspects)
To explore possibilities for cooperation/alignment with local/international partners and programmes (ICCO, AMREF, UNICEF, Practical Action East Africa, Dorcas Aid, etc).

Activities

Mobilization of key stakeholders for feasibility study and envisaged follow-up project
Collect geological and hydrological data on the districts of Machakos, Kitui and Kajiado through field visits, meetings and interviews with International and Local non-government organizations, private drilling enterprises, and government institutes with previous experience in drilling near the focus area
Collect and analyze geological and hydro-geological maps
Identify soil formation types and analyze drilling logs in the area
Collect information by visiting new hand dug wells and meet with implementers
Identification and selection of the most suitable areas for manual drilling in the focus area
Evaluate the institutional setting in which a program could be developed

Budget

€ 12,000

Results

In the widespread hilly areas and plains of Machakos and Kitui no significant hydro-geological potential for manually drilled wells have been found to set up a training program that could be sustainable in the future and of any significant scale. This is simply because the drilling time will be too long to make wells in the thick rocky formations, with low recharge and a high failure rate.