WorldWide Drilling Resource

49 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® NOVEMBER 2013 Water for Life International by Tim Rasmussen Dear Water for Life International: I’m pleased to notify you that the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation Board of Directors has voted to fully fund your request for the Adopt a Well Campaign. This was the happy greeting of a letter we received in September announc- ing our grant application was approved for funding next year. The grants will more than pay for one well in a remote village. We are very happy to have this source of financial assistance. The NGWA (National Ground Water Association) gave us construction and maintenance guidelines. Among them: all wells shall have proper surface seals between permanent casing and native soil. The seal must be at least 16 feet deep, with bentonite or grout. There must be no commingling resulting from the final construction of a well. All wells must be tested for E. coli after all con- struction and development has occurred. A detailed well log of the construction will be kept and sent to NGWA, as well as the results of annual E. coli tests for the first five years. Water for Life is happy to comply with these conditions. They are the stan- dard for us. Usually, our surface seals are more than 16 feet, and we are very careful with casings, liners, and pumps. When you do things out in the jungle, it is best to build them as well as you can. Out there, building it once is the fast way. Shortcuts always take longer. This past year has seen some chal- lenges for Water for Life in the Poptun area around our headquarters. The mayor of Poptun ran as an independent, and although he won, has not received much government support, which the local municipalities depend on. That in turn caused trouble for us. The mayor had agreed to supply casing and per- haps liner to defray the cost of wells in the villages, but it is apparent he is unable to do so. In fact, he has hinted we need to have a “permit” to drill in a village! (This is political speak for “we need to get some money from these guys.”) So, we have decided to leave him alone for a little while. The town of San Luis is just up the road about 20 miles, and the mayor there is happy to have us drilling in the villages in his area. He will supply some of the material needed and always has kept his word. The need is great wherever we look, so we will just raise our eyes a bit, drive a little farther, and wait until this mayor calms down or maybe is not the mayor any longer. If you would like to help, please contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-466-5075 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com " ; # 511-,(2 0) 20'5&43 %9 4+(3( ,/( $/5)$&452(23 ; 08 029'0/ # ! : : $8 $,- 3$-(3 *,6(/3,/4(2/$4,0/$- &0. "(% ,4( 777 *,6(/3,/4(2/$4,0/$- &0.