Solar-pumped boreholes will be drilled and installed through vetted in-country partners and accredited hydrogeologists. Each well will serve an average of 600 people, be maintained by a community committee we train and pay, and be monitored by satellite-linked flow sensors for two decades after handover.
Across the sector, roughly one in three rural African boreholes is non-functional within five years of installation. The reason is not the drilling. It is what comes after pumps fail, parts run out, the trained operator moves to the city, and there is no maintenance budget. Our model assumes the well is the easy part. We fund 20 years of maintenance at the moment of handover, train and pay a local water committee, and monitor every well by satellite-linked sensor so we know when something is wrong before the village does.
Hydrogeological survey, community consultation, drilling, casing, solar pump and hand-pump backup, sanitary platform, two distribution taps, baseline water-quality test. Average build time: 14 days.
$2,800 · buildWater committee elected by community and trained over 5 days. Toolkit, spare parts cache, mobile-money escrow for ongoing repairs, satellite-linked flow sensor reporting daily uptime.
$1,400 · 20yr maintenanceAnnual technical inspection by a roving in-country crew. Quarterly water-quality test sent to a regional lab. Repair budget drawn under committee chair signature; anything >$300 requires a country-director co-sign.
$600 · annual cycleBelow is the standard build sheet for a single solar-pumped borehole in our most common operating context (rural Kenya, Uganda, or northern Nigeria). Some sites cost more (deep water table, hard rock). Some cost less (favourable geology, shared survey). $4,800 is the costed weighted average for our planned program.
Geophysical site investigation by a licensed local hydrogeologist, water-table mapping, recommended drill location. Includes community consultation cost (transport, refreshments, two formal meetings).
Mobilisation of drill rig, drilling to typical 60–80m depth, PVC casing, gravel pack, sanitary seal, and well development. Drill rig is owned by the foundation in two countries; rented in others.
Submersible solar pump, 200W solar panel array, controller and wiring, plus an Afridev hand pump as a backup. Backup is by design solar fails, dust accumulates, the hand pump always works.
Reinforced concrete pad sloped for drainage, fenced enclosure, two distribution taps and a livestock trough on the perimeter keeps animals away from the wellhead and reduces contamination risk.
Five-day training for a 7-person community committee (elected by the community, gender-balanced by policy): basic maintenance, water-quality awareness, fee collection, escrow management, escalation paths.
Endowed at handover. Funds the annual inspection, the quarterly water-quality test, the satellite-linked flow sensor data fees, and a parts replacement schedule (pump head Y8, panel Y12, full overhaul Y15).
Every well we build is plated with a small bronze plaque at handover. You can name yours anything you like your own name, in memory of someone, or you can leave the plate blank. We will send a photograph of the installed plaque with GPS coordinates so you can find your well on a satellite map.
$4,800 covers the whole stack survey, drill, pump, platform, committee, sensor, and the maintenance escrow that keeps it running until 2046.
