10/17/11
Michael F. MacCarthy, M.Sc.
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida
Manual water well drilling techniques are increasingly being promoted to help provide water for drinking and irrigation purposes to developing communities throughout the world. The low cost of manually-drilled wells, compared to machine-drilled wells or hand dugs wells, as well as the low cost and relative portability of their equipment, make them an attractive water supply option when hydro-geological conditions are favorable. The presented research consists of an assessment of hand auguring, percussion, and percussion-jetting manual drilling equipment, designed for use in developing communities. As part of the study, the equipment set-ups are assessed for relevance in academic field research, where collection of hydro-geologic data is often limited due to the expense of conventional machine drilling. While basic manual drilling techniques (e.g. hand auguring) are commonly used in academic field research, the use of hybrid manual drilling methods offer potential for significantly greater data to be obtained with minimal economic resources. Additionally, the research considers how the use of manual drilling techniques can be used to effectively teach essential aspects of groundwater hydrogeology to engineering, science and public health students, with manual drilling field labs being developed and taught at the University of South Florida over the past two years.
Michael MacCarthy is a Doctoral Student and Graduate Research Associate in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. He started his studies at USF in 2009 following several years living in sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa), where he worked with rural communities to design and implement low-cost water supply projects. He previously received his M.Sc. in Engineering for Development from the University of Southampton (England) and his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. Mr. MacCarthy’s doctoral research focuses on sustainable low-cost household water supplies for developing communities, including manual pumps, manual drilling techniques, and rainwater harvesting systems. The primary field sites for this research are in Bolivia and Madagascar.
Marine Aquaponics: Closing the Loop
Suzanne Boxman, Ph.D. Student
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida
Stresses on fish production from marine waters make on land fish production facilities attractive. Not only will they serve as a source of nutrition on commercial markets, but they also offer stability in the event that there is a disturbance like an offshore oil spill that negatively impacts fish populations. A zero discharge facility for on land fish production requires proper management of wastewater and solid waste. Reduced water consumption is also desired. An interdisciplinary team involving USF, Mote Aquaculture Research Park, Aquatic Plants of America, and Mote Marine Laboratory, are currently working on a NOAA project to evaluate the performance of wastewater treatment systems associated with pilot- and commercial-scale marine recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).
Wastewater from fish tanks is passed through raceways in a greenhouse containing Florida relevant coastal plants like red mangrove seedlings to utilize nutrients and improve the quality of water that is recycled to this fish tanks. This talk provides an overview of the project to date and discusses preliminary results from plant growth and water quality measurements.
I am quite curious what types of sub-surface geological conditions are conducive to manual drilling water wells. I come from a part of the country where glacial till defines much of the hydrogeology; now I live in Florida where surficial aquifers are clearly feasible to reach with manual drilling, but the reliable aquifer lies beneath layers of limestone which perhaps is not conducive to manual drilling.
ReplyDeleteThis is a valuable concept for African countries and other developing countries wishing to embark on professionalization of manual drilling. This initiative builds on the ability of local private sector in responding to the ever increasing demand for safe water in rural communities around the world. Interestingly, the technique comprises of the following steps: 1) breaking or cutting the layer , 2) removing cut materials from the hole 3) providing support to the walls of the hole, to prevent collapse (I think the presenter forgot to mention this piece during the presentation). The cost could be very minimal when compared to many drilling companies who will provide same listed services for a huge cost!
ReplyDeleteI’m aware of rural areas in African, particularly in Nigeria, where this will not only be useful but applicable. Most southern region in West Africa, the water level could be reached at about 25 meters. A motor pump could be installed to achieve adequate water flow as mentioned by the presenter. Also, to prevent the hole from collapsing and reduce the loss of drilling fluid, additives can be useful. I will recommend manual jetting since it’s generally used up to 40 meters.
Summary of Michael MacCarthy's Talk (part 1)
ReplyDeleteMr. MacCarthy profiled 3 manual well drilling techniques.
1) hand augering - one or two crew rotate auger (giant screw tip) with a sleeve to remove soil & form wellbore. Works best in unconsolidated soils; not good in stiff clay soil or gravel;
2) percussion drilling - bit is lifted & dropped repeatedly, breaking through tough layers; periodically remove bit to clear accumulated dirt. Works well in uncosolidated soils through stiff clay; not good in hard clay
3) hybrid percussion-jetting drilling - combines the repeated pounding of the percussion drill with jet action through the body of the drill bit to push drilling debris out of the hole. Works well for soil types except doesn't work well in hard rock.
In an attempt to give us a sense of how much cost is involved in manual drilling a water will with these technologies, Mr. MacCarthy compared 20m deep wells:
1) hand-auguring cost about $400
2) percussion drilling cost about $600
3) hybrid percussion-jetting cost about $600
Summary of Michael MacCarthy's Talk (part 2)
ReplyDeleteThese manual drilling technologies are very useful in areas where otherwise a mechanized drilling rig job would be prohibitively expensive.
Further, traditional hand-dug wells (the kind that you might fall into) are dangerous to dig, difficult to engineer well and may not extend deep enough into the aquifer to provide water year-round.
Mr. MacCarthy commented on academic research which can be advance in conjunction with manual drilled water wells. We often don't know much about the geology beneath us unless modern drilling for water, gas, or oil has been done, so knowledge about the hydrogeology is lacking in some areas. This knowledge can be expanded by studying manual drilled wells as well.
Manual drilling of wells is also incorporated into Dr. Mihelcic's "Sustainable Development Engineering" class. This helps the students learn about hydrogeology in a participatory manner, bringing the topic into real-world focus.
Summary of Suzie Boxman's Talk
ReplyDelete"Marine Aquaponics - Closing the Loop"
Ms. Boxman is studying a sort of marriage between aquaculture (growing fish or other water crops in a closed environment) and hydroponics (growing crops utilizing a water medium). This is "aquaponics", and the research in which Ms. Boxman is involved is a partnership between:
a) Mote Aquaculture Park http://www.mote.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=Aquaculture%20Facilities&category=Aquaculture%20Research%20and%20Development
b) Aquatic Plants of Florida http://apofl.com/
c) USF.
Ms. Boxman spoke of the promise of "closing the loop" whereby raising the fish generates water with wastes which must be removed, but if the water can be passed over an appropriately designed bed of plants, the plants benefit from and remove the nutrients, allowing the cleansed water to be returned safely to the fish tanks (repeat ad infinitum). This technology could provide fish farming with low-cost water quality maintenance along with plant productivity which could supply food or other crops.
The fish being raised in this system are Pompano, a fish considered good-tasting and valuable, but not plentiful.
According to information from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the main agency with management authority for Florida pompano, the current status for the species is overfished with overfishing occurring. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_FloridaPompanoReport.pdf
Since the aquaculture project began, 2594 pompano fingerlings were stocked in the tanks, and growth has been tracked. Recently 1065 fish was the fish count, and the total biomass of the fish was initially 114kg but now estimated at over 450kg.
On the plant side of this system, the crops being raised are Red Mangrove shoots and Black Needlerush. These proliferate in the soil beds and can be harvested periodically (65000 plants were stocked, and already 107614 plants have been removed for transplant). The crop is used to regenerate mangrove coastal areas and to vegetate low-lying seawater areas, efforts important to erosion control and habitat restoration.
So far the water quality analyses indicate that the aquaculture concept is sound, since N, P, TSS, COD, and other levels coming from the fish tanks are lowered after filtering through the plant area.
One of the objectives of the study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of the system design, but such data is not available yet.
Safety drilling is still the key here. The Katch Kan is doing a safety drilling take this oil and gas report to have an idea what is the company all about.
ReplyDelete