Sean Mills and Rory's Well are working together to maintain water wells
in rural Sierra Leone
Message From Sean Mills - Well Maintenance Program Manager
Without water there is no life. Without CLEAN water there is no health.
The well maintenance division of Rory’s Well not only keeps the wells in villages sponsored by Rory’s Well pumping clean water but we look after wells in thirty six further villages in Pujehun province. In all we monitor and repair 129 wells serving around 17,000 villagers. This currently requires an annual budget of at least £6000 per year.
Our aim is to have 85% of the wells we look after fully functioning at any one time.
The team
In Sierra Leone our efforts re co-ordinated by Steven Mansaray through the local NGO, PAD.
PAD employs Mr Abdul Cesay full time to respond to any villagers request for maintenance and to tour the area continually checking on well function. He is helped in this task by Safa who is employed part time.
Sean Mills is responsible for the overall administration and funding of the maintenance programme. He works out of Wotton under Edge in Gloucestershire. Sean currently funds the operation in part from the sale of his own ceramics which can be seen and bought at (insert link).
We are also keen to inspire a new generation of young volunteers from the UK. To this end James, Sean’s son, went to Sierra Leone for 10 days in January 2020 and inspected over 80 pumps, checking on their viability.
Monitoring and control
Each year Sean Mills visits Sierra Leone, basing himself in the RW sponsored village of Taninahun, and checks on the work being done to repair wells. This involves travel by car or motorbike to as many of the 129 wells as possible. A schedule of priorities is then compiled and work is planned for the next 12 months.
Currently, in addition to running repairs, we are replacing all the rods and pipes connecting the handpumps with the water supply as the original rods are rusting.
The pumps.
There are two types of pumps which we maintain, The India Mk2 handpump and the Kardia handpump.
Kardias were largely installed between ten and fifteen years ago by a series of aid organisations which have since ceased to operate in the area. While the pump is extremely durable, like all kit it has a fixed working life and these pumps are now breaking down in large numbers. While the Kardia pump is undoubtedly an excellent machine, it is also heinously expensive, as are the spares when parts wear out. Just a new rubber seal for a kardia pump costs £35 in Sierra Leone and simple bearings are £180 each. A whole pump is in excess of £5000.
The India Mk2 is a much more reasonably priced unit at £600 each. However it breaks down much more frequently and requires repairs on a yearly basis. Parts cost between £10 for a seal and £150 for a new piston.
Our aim – Spares purchased in Sierra Leone carry a premium of up to 300%. Our goal is to raise sufficient funds to purchase parts for both Kardia and India pumps that need frequent replacing from sources in the UK and ship them in bulk to Sierra Leone. In doing so we will save thousands of pounds in the longer term. But we need to raise at least £2500 in order to be able to start this purchasing program.
Long term goals
To continue to maintain the wells in the villages we are currently working with so that at any one time 85% are fully functioning
To extend our operation to villages in Pujehun province where we currently do not operate. We estimate there are a further 20-30 small communities who need our help to ensure a clean water supply.
Sustainability- In 2020 we piloted a training program in Waima village. Volunteers from the village were given two days of training in fault diagnosis and repair on India Mk2 pumps by Abdul. Over the next 2 years we aim to roll out the course across our area of operation so that in 5 years time, 65% of the villagers can repair and look after the pumps in their own village. Each trainee will need to be fitted out with a basic set of tools at a cost of £40 per village. In the initial year after training, villagers will be supervised to ensure that the skills they have learnt are correctly applied. Rorys Well will continue to supply the spare parts at cost.
To complete this training program we will need to raise £5000.
Without water there is no life. Without CLEAN water there is no health.
The well maintenance division of Rory’s Well not only keeps the wells in villages sponsored by Rory’s Well pumping clean water but we look after wells in thirty six further villages in Pujehun province. In all we monitor and repair 129 wells serving around 17,000 villagers. This currently requires an annual budget of at least £6000 per year.
Our aim is to have 85% of the wells we look after fully functioning at any one time.
The team
In Sierra Leone our efforts re co-ordinated by Steven Mansaray through the local NGO, PAD.
PAD employs Mr Abdul Cesay full time to respond to any villagers request for maintenance and to tour the area continually checking on well function. He is helped in this task by Safa who is employed part time.
Sean Mills is responsible for the overall administration and funding of the maintenance programme. He works out of Wotton under Edge in Gloucestershire. Sean currently funds the operation in part from the sale of his own ceramics which can be seen and bought at (insert link).
We are also keen to inspire a new generation of young volunteers from the UK. To this end James, Sean’s son, went to Sierra Leone for 10 days in January 2020 and inspected over 80 pumps, checking on their viability.
Monitoring and control
Each year Sean Mills visits Sierra Leone, basing himself in the RW sponsored village of Taninahun, and checks on the work being done to repair wells. This involves travel by car or motorbike to as many of the 129 wells as possible. A schedule of priorities is then compiled and work is planned for the next 12 months.
Currently, in addition to running repairs, we are replacing all the rods and pipes connecting the handpumps with the water supply as the original rods are rusting.
The pumps.
There are two types of pumps which we maintain, The India Mk2 handpump and the Kardia handpump.
Kardias were largely installed between ten and fifteen years ago by a series of aid organisations which have since ceased to operate in the area. While the pump is extremely durable, like all kit it has a fixed working life and these pumps are now breaking down in large numbers. While the Kardia pump is undoubtedly an excellent machine, it is also heinously expensive, as are the spares when parts wear out. Just a new rubber seal for a kardia pump costs £35 in Sierra Leone and simple bearings are £180 each. A whole pump is in excess of £5000.
The India Mk2 is a much more reasonably priced unit at £600 each. However it breaks down much more frequently and requires repairs on a yearly basis. Parts cost between £10 for a seal and £150 for a new piston.
Our aim – Spares purchased in Sierra Leone carry a premium of up to 300%. Our goal is to raise sufficient funds to purchase parts for both Kardia and India pumps that need frequent replacing from sources in the UK and ship them in bulk to Sierra Leone. In doing so we will save thousands of pounds in the longer term. But we need to raise at least £2500 in order to be able to start this purchasing program.
Long term goals
To continue to maintain the wells in the villages we are currently working with so that at any one time 85% are fully functioning
To extend our operation to villages in Pujehun province where we currently do not operate. We estimate there are a further 20-30 small communities who need our help to ensure a clean water supply.
Sustainability- In 2020 we piloted a training program in Waima village. Volunteers from the village were given two days of training in fault diagnosis and repair on India Mk2 pumps by Abdul. Over the next 2 years we aim to roll out the course across our area of operation so that in 5 years time, 65% of the villagers can repair and look after the pumps in their own village. Each trainee will need to be fitted out with a basic set of tools at a cost of £40 per village. In the initial year after training, villagers will be supervised to ensure that the skills they have learnt are correctly applied. Rorys Well will continue to supply the spare parts at cost.
To complete this training program we will need to raise £5000.
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Rory's Well - Safe Clean Water
We have provided sustainable, safe, clean water for over 12,000 people from 40 wells dug or refurbished to date, which have brought essential clean, safe drinking water to communities in desperate need of it.
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