Borewells and Tubewells

India being an agrarian country, our farmers depend mainly on groundwater for irrigation. With increasing population, lesser land holdings and urbanisation, deeper borewells are dug for groundwater abstraction. Borewells & tubewells, are very similar. Both are basically vertical drilled wells, bored into an underground aquifer in the earths surface, to extract water for various purposes. The difference in the two lies in the type of casing used, the depth of this casing and the type of soil where they are drilled. Casing to support the external surfaces of the borehole against collapse may be needed at certain depths, and usually is made up of PVC pipes. Electrical pumps are usually used to pump out the water fro the borewells, though the government is now giving subsidy for solar pumps. This convenience of pumps may increase the depletion of the groundwater at an increased pace.

Our FAQ on borewells, deals in detail with topics ranging from the initial planning, selection of site to final commissioning, maintenance of the structure and problems associated with existing borewells,. Another Frequently asked questions (FAQ) on Groundwater - Understanding the basics, narrows down the existing knowledge gaps amongst the common groundwater users.

Excessive drilling of borewells has led to exploitation of groundwater at higher rates than the rate of water recharge and caused depletion of the groundwater levels. To monitor this many states like Karnataka & Kerala have come up with laws & a statutory authority to regulate and keep tabs on the groundwater utilisation. Some states have implemented groundwater legislation acts which prevent drilling of borewells without the permission of Government Bodies in water scarce regions. However, some states allow only drilling of drinking water borewells without the need for obtaining permission. Therefore, it is advisable to explore the details of it before drilling a borewell.

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has come with reports on the groundwater status in the country. Uncontrolled use of bore well technology leads to exploitation of groundwater at higher rates than the rate of water recharge, which may cause drastic depletion of groundwater. 

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Microfinance for safe drinking water-ACCESS & HUL partnership
On the occassion of World Water Day 2008, ACCESS talks about its work in using microfinance to obtain safe drinking water. Posted on 21 Mar, 2008 12:12 AM

Drop by drop ACCESS & HUL in Base of Pyramid Partnership for Safe Drinking Water for Rural Poor:

Yakalakshmi lives in Nekkunda village, Telengana region in Andhra Pradesh with her husband and two children. Though she has water piped to her house by the village panchayat, her entire family fell ill for a month last monsoon season by drinking water directly from the tap. "We all got high fever and severe diarrhea", she says, "we had to spend around Rs. 4000 on health care, which was very difficult for us". So when she got the opportunity this January to buy an effective water purifier through her Self Help Group (SHG) on an installment basis she was one of the first to sign up. Yakalakshmi is just one of the beneficiaries of a unique tie-up between ACCESS Development Services, a microfinance technical services non-profit organization, and Hindustan Unilever Limited, one of the country's largest producers of fast-moving consumer goods, to provide safe drinking water to rural poor. "Most of these villages have piped water or boreholes", says Padma, Project Coordinator at a local NGO, PEACE, "the problem is that tests by UNICEF in this district show that up to 70 percent of these sources are contaminated."The contamination gets even worse during the rainy season, especially due to poor sanitation and waste-management practices.

Persian wheel : The water lifting device in Kolar, Karnataka
S.Vishwanath and Amitangshu Acharya document their visit to one of the last extant Persian wheels in the Kolar District of Karnataka Posted on 22 Jan, 2008 11:26 PM

img_0052.JPG What exactly is a Persian wheel? Also known as Rahat (in Urdu), it's a simple water lifting device, where a number of small pots are attached to a long chain. Two gear wheels make up the system and as the first one is revolved, the pots each dip and swallow water from the well and soon after pours itself out to a metallic shaft which in turns empties into an intricate network of troughs that distributes water adequately through the cropped area. It is believed that the technology originated in Egypt and as world shrunk through extensive trading, it spread to India and China.

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