Small Wells Manual: Location, Design, Construction, Use and Maintenance

It has been estimated that nearly two-thirds of the one and a half billion people living in the developing countries are without adequate supplies of safe water. The consequences of this deficiency are innumerable episodes of the debilitating and incapacity enteric diseases which annually affect an estimated 500 million people and result in the deaths of as many as 10 million about half of whom are children.

Although there are many factors limiting the installation of small water systems, the lack of knowledge in regard to the availability of ground water and effective means of extracting it for use by rural communities is a major element. It is anticipated that this manual will make a major contribution toward filling this need by providing the man in the field, not necessarily an engineer or hydrologist, with the information needed to locate, construct and operate a small well which can provide good quality water in adequate quantities for small communities.

The manual was prepared by the Agency for International Development and the University of Minnesota.