TSUNDZUKANI DAY CARE CENTRE DRILLING OF WATER WELL PROJECT - PLENTY CANADA - ACORNOEK, SOUTH AFRICA PROJECT REPORT - JUNE 2024

Ultimate Drilling, the local company that we contracted to carry out the drilling of the well at Tsundzukani Daycare Centre moved their equipment and crew onto site.
 
Mitchell, the supervisor of the firm, carried out the testing and drilling site location inside the Daycare ground area. He used sophisticated technology for groundwater detection using a portable electronic device that shows rock layers,
fault zones, and areas that are best for the drilling of wells. They also used traditional dowsing in order to confirm the best place to start drilling and trying to hit water.
 
The drilling began and for hours they tried to reach the water table going through layers of different rock formations. As the drill went down, they kept collecting samples of the residue material in order to make evaluations in relation to the proximity of the underground water source.
 
The team of local Mashangaan and Bapedi technicians were in great mood singing "Mati u vutomi!" (which means "Water is life") in the Tsonga language.
 
At mid-day as they reached 80 metres of depth with no sign of water showing up in the samples, the team look disappointed and so did Nyango and myself. Usually in this area of the Mpumalanga province, they usually hit water by this depth, so they asked us if we wished them to go deeper, a maximum of 120 metres. We promptly agreed.
 
By the end of the day and 120 metres deep no water was found and we decided to stop the drilling at that point. We discussed the options and consequently opted for trying to drill above the Daycare Centre and we hoped for success.
 
They started to drill early next day for many consecutive hours of work including throughout the evening. When they reached the depth of 155 metres they stopped the rig as there was no sign of underground water, just dust from the dry rocks.
 
We were all very discouraged and stressed at this point and went home for a well deserved rest. Next day after checking on the project budget we decided to go ahead and make our third drilling attempt, this time away from the Daycare Centre by the river bed. And at 40 metres depth the drill hit water, lots of water!
 
The next step was to build a box to secure the pump and its plumbing/electrical connections. We had to bring power from the closest municipality electricity pole to the box in order to supply the submersible water pump.
 
The next stage was to hire a commercial backhoe loader to excavate approximately 500 metres of trenches through the village and lay the heavy-duty pipeline all the way up to the Daycare Centre. Local labor was hired to help backfill the trenches.
 
Once we had the electricity installed in the pump house, the pipeline connected, and trenches backfilled, the next stage was to install the submersible water pump.
 
Once the pump was successfully installed down 40 metres, the technicians turned on the power and tested the entire system for water leaks and overall performance.
 
We were all relieved that the system was working 100 percent, with running water being supplied to the Daycare Centre at last!
 
The next step was to connect the pipeline from the well to the three existing water reservoirs at the Centre. Once the plumbing was completed, we tested the pump filling water successfully into the three tanks which took less than two hours.
 
The entire project was a success despite the technical difficulties of finding underground water, and we are proud of all the technicians involved in its entire implementation, and ultimately the beneficiaries are the school children and the Centre's staff that now will have sufficient running water for sanitation, cooking of their meals, and irrigation of the vegetable garden.
 
— Mwana Bermudes, project coordinator for South Africa