PSP in low cost shallow well drilling - the Mpigi experience

Mpigi District Council (Uganda) has undertaken work to provide shallow wells (hand augered and hand dug) since 1994. The current Ugandan policy is one of decentralisation and privatisation of rural water source construction. It was into this environment that the “Low Cost Drilling Project” (LDCP) was introduced in 1998 to: • develop a new low cost drilling technology (the Pounder Rig) which would be suitable drilling shallow wells in sub-Saharan Africa, • arrange for its availability in Uganda and • set up small-scale drilling operations through local private contractors. In order to develop the equipment and stimulate local uptake of the rig within the existing rural water supply sector, a partnership between Mpigi District Local Government, the Directorate of Water Development’s (DWD) Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) Programme and Cranfield University was established in July 1999. This paper outlines the background to the partnership and discusses the lessons which have been learned regarding the technical capability of the equipment as well as the opportunities and challenges for its future uptake by the Ugandan private sector.