BlueEyedZoo.com

Yesterday we were able to visit the well site and meet many of the people who live near by. We were happy to see so many children in the area. We were all eager to get going first thing in this morning. However, today has been a tough mix of joy, disappointment, and hope. We started drilling at our planned site and everything seemed to be progressing quite well.

From El Salvador – November 2008

We were making quick progress dropping 5 feet every 10 to 15 minutes. We saw some mud and a little water at around 20 feet but this is about the level of the hand dug wells and the water is still contaminated. However, we were not seeing any clean water and all the signs were pointing to another dry well. They had previously drilled 3 dry wells in the same area. So, just before noon the LWI team leader decided to abandon the site. It was a very tough decision. We loaded up all the equipment, ate lunch and headed to another site. It was really hard to leave. The people were sad and some of the children were even crying. They told us that LWI will still take care of those people. They may come in with a larger drilling rig that can go much deeper, or they may provide sand filters for each home to use.

From El Salvador – November 2008

The new site was on a main highway where two communities will be able to benefit from the well. But we are more limited on space and we do not have as much room to play with the kids.

From El Salvador – November 2008

Part of the team went to get the rest of the equipment from the first site, and by the time they got back we were getting into some water at around 40 feet. We had a problem with the top of the hole caving in and needed another piece of equipment that we didn’t have to prevent it from getting worse. It was nearly sun down, so we packed up and left for the day. Tomorrow we should be able to drill down another 15 feet or so and then start assembling the pipes for the well.

Filed under: El Salvador on November 17th, 2008