Bringing Water to Ghana: Following Up

Sean Kyle tells us how the wells we learned about in May are faring.

Charles Kyle with the Kingaka crew.

In the May issue of

National Driller, I told you about the trip to Ghana, the wells we hydro-fracked, and the current laws regarding well yield and abandonment. This month I will tell you how those wells made out, what changes the government is planning to make to their laws and show you the Kingaka crew receiving their certificates of training.

In November of 2000, Charles F. Kyle, owner and president of Kyle Equipment Co., Sterling, Mass., traveled back to Ghana for the West Africa Water Conference. The people attending this conference ranged from local drillers to government officials, and the main focus was how to bring water to the villages. It was here that Mensa Nunyuie, owner of Kingaka Co., informed us of the results of the 12 wells we hydro-fracked and also where we learned what new laws are on the horizon in regards to well construction and abandonment in Ghana.

Charles Kyle presents the Kingaka crew leader, Emmanuel Ahiayibor, with his certificate of training.

As a result of the success of the hydro-frac process, the government is planning to change the existing regulations to include hydro-fracking. As I stated last time, the current law is to drill 200 feet, and if there is not at least 4 gallons per minute (gpm), the well is to be abandoned immediately (i.e. back filled and sealed off). The new law will state that if the well is drilled to 200 feet and there is not a suitable yield, then the well will be hydro-fracked - only if this fails will the well be abandoned. After all was said and done, Mensa and Kingaka Co. had hydro-fracked 35 wells and had a 100-percent success rate. The government just couldn't argue with those numbers.

In a place where water is sparse and money is even harder to come by, it just makes sense to do anything in your power to achieve maxim results on the first attempt. Now the same budget that would provide wells for half a dozen villages can now be used to provide wells for more than a dozen villages.

The trip was not all business, however. At the water conference, Charlie had the opportunity to meet the crew that Jim and I had put through training and present them with certificates of training.