oh well :(
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 11:10AM 
Our well digger (photo by Jeremy Fokkens)
Sometimes things don't happen the way you want them too. At Kopila Valley if there's one thing we need more than anything, it's water. We've been struggling with this issue for the past 4 years. Especially while we were building the school, water was always our major concern. 250 kids who need to eat, drink, wash dishes, and go to the bathroom requires water coming out of a tap and we just don't have enough of it coming in these days. An hour in the evening and an hour in the morning just doesn't cut it. There is NOTHING in the world that puts me in a worse mood then turning the tap on and not having water come out of it and it happens on a daily basis over there. I tell the kids to brush their teeth with using just one glass of water and am constantly challenging them to conserve water any way they can. It seems like whenever I want a shower most I can't take one and whenever the baby does the biggest load in his diaper, the water conveniently decides to run out.
When we don't have water the toilets stink up the entire house, the kids go to the neighbors' carrying buckets and a lot of times I'll have to pay for a tractor to go and fill up a tank at a local spring which we then pump to the tanks on the top of the roof. Sometimes we struggle just to have enough to drink. I made arrangements over the past year to have a well dug. We waited for months and months. We waited for the timing to be just right. We had all the cement rings molded by hand and brought a team of three sweet guys in to dig the entire thing by hand. Everyone told us it wouldn't be an issue and we'd surely hit water. "99% chance" we were told. We thought we were fine back in March but we decided we would wait until our driest month in July before finishing up on everything. We waited with a huge hole in the ground and dreamed of all our problems going away of our water bill finally being reasonable.
Well here's the bad news! After making it down 50 feet, in our spot where we decided to dig our well there was no water and it became dangerous for our team to go any further. Our mission for a well has failed and now it looks like we'll have to start all over.
Super bummed over here is all. Even the guy in the picture above that Jeremy took looks pissed off doesn't he? Time to roll up our sleeves and start again. Think about us and shoot us some good vibes when you turn on your water today.
Reader Comments (15)
In KTM three years ago: a boy with bicicle carring drinking water...near the river. More: at the restaurand a boy asking for boiled water and waiting to drink it. In the hotel: yellow water to wash myself and my child.
I understand: water is like a white gold.Even more true in Nepal.
Looking at the photos...green filds and no drinking water. Great contraddiction and need for solutions.
Maggie:
You probably have investigated your mechanical options for drilling a well rather than manually digging one, but here are two links that I found. I don't know your soil conditions and what your budget would allow, but being able to mechanically bore a deeper well than you can manually dig one safely should solve your water problem.
Will look for more.
http://www.ideorg.org/OurResults/SuccessStories/WaterAndWork.aspx
and
http://www.planetdrilling.com/
Maggie!
Go for a borewell,,, Surkhet is a valley like KTM so you will surely find water using borewell.
KTM is full of borewell, no one digs Wells,
Borewell can go more deeper than traditional wells.
Get something like this:
http://www.jamiyaakkalkuwa.com/img/borewell.jpg
Regards
Tajim
Oh Maggie, I'm so sorry for this news, indeed a huge bummer and disappointment...... for now. I know that you will find a way to cross this roadblock, like you have with so many other roadblocks before it!! You can do it. Chalk this up to T.I.N., be sad for a moment, and then take tomorrow as a new day. Love you.
To reduce your water consumption, do look into compost toilet solutions. Dry toilets are a fabulous solution to cut your water consumption by huge amounts.
When well desihned, they are surprisingly odorless. And they create good compost.
I can research the best somutions for your area if you need.
Maggie
I grew up in a dry place where we had little water - we did have an outhouse though - dug deep it provided a place to go for toileting outside away from the house and did not use water - not entirely pelasant but it works and then composts to the ground - when the "orchestra pit" gets full you fill and dig another.
Dearest Maggie: I'm amazed at the great responsibilities you have taken on and then baffled by your composure when faced with the obstacles you encounter because you are just trying to meet those responsibilities.
Tell us what you need to "start all over". Be specific so we can help start all over with you. :)
Maggie -
The govt of india (would expect them to have mapped nepal as well) have remote sensing capabilities that map the water availability underground. It maybe worth checking. if i find a URL, i'll post. Once you know where the water table is somewhat higher, bore-wells as suggested by the previous posters may be a choice.
I am so impressed and inspired with the way you go about trying to solve the day-to-day issues keeping your spirit for long term vision never out of sight. Good luck to you
srini
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/node/12496
This has a paper - that papers refers to satellite data and has an email address of someone that used the data. It would be good if we approached them officially - or i could as a private citizen ask whether they have data about Nepal as well. (this site has also info on borewells and recharging of borewells from rainwater-harvesting).
hope this helps. i will try and see what else i can find.
srini
Maggie,
i went through several posts on the internet and came across with few ideas, hope it works.. it sounds a bit strange, but give it a try.
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080116003033AAFToKI
http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/questions-answers/21367-how-find-ground-water.html
and second web link from uncle john sounds good too..
Goodluck
Dear Maggie,
Oh well indeed! Sorry to hear the water problem, but so happy to see people coming together to help you. Hang in there and am sure you'll be successful in finding an alternative route. We do have bore well in the house (in Kathmandu) too, but I don't know the details involved. It seemed to be very handy. Praying to God that you hit the jackPOT of water.
Loadsa love,
Sumona
Maggie,
i know how you feel when u open a tap and there's no water. i have lived my entire life with that feeling living in KTM, well its not new to Nepalese people but might be a shocking thing for the rest of the world. So, here my suggestion, Surkhet get a fair amount of rain(average rainfall is 58.2 inches) (http://www.weather2flights.com/airports/nepal/surkhet/surkhet-airport/#weather) and it would be a good idea to use the rain water through rain water harvesting. the rain water is the purest form of water but it gets polluted once it reaches the earth surface. the rain water that runs off through roof of the home that you have built and the school roof, if it is filtered and collected in a tank ( HUGE Tank 5000-10,000 ltr tank) it could provide a good source of water for washrooms but if you install a water filter, which probably is going to be a bit expensive, the water could be used as drinking water as well. in order to implement rain water harvesting you have to install few things like gutters in the school roof and pipes in the home so that the water can be collected at one point. it is going to be a bit expensive for installing these things initially but on a long run it is going to save a whole lot of money as compared to investing in other forms of temporary solutions like digging a well or installing tubewells. and the best part is it is eco-friendly.
you can find different ways of doing it but the basics are you would need huge water tanks minimum of two, one for storing the rain water on ground and the other on roof for distribution of rain water to the washrooms. the tank on the ground should be emerged into the ground so that the water can be collected easily and does not act as an obstruction on the ground. you would need to install an additional pipeline for the rain water to the washrooms, because the washroom is the place where you would lose most of the water since there are many children. the rain water could be used for flushing or washing clothes. but if you go with the water filter you would not have to install new pipes and it could be used for any purpose. The best part of this concept is you would not run out of water. well i could go on and on and on but i guess you get the idea, you could find more stuffs in the net or email me if you need some reference, i could help you find some professional working in that sector.
BEST OF LUCK
simal
Positive thoughts and wishes going your way. Hang in there.
You amaze me. Your generosity, unfailing love, and compassion are amazing. I hope that you get a well soon. There is an organization called cause life.org. They may be able to help. My family will be saving money for your family and sending it as soon as possible. May God bless all that you do, and may He be glorified as you care for widows and orphans. Thank you so much!
thank you everyone for links and advice!!! appreciate your comments and your support. looking into the situation over the next few weeks. WE WILL solve this!