Water Infrastructure

Our primary focus is building deep-water wells in rural Africa. About deep-water wells: Water is quite plentiful in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. As in many parts of the world, one can typically dig down and reach water. The problem lies with assuring that the water is safe to consume. Much of rural Africa relies on shallow water wells (such as a well dug by hand) or otherwise untreated water for their drinking, cooking, and crops. This water is generally exposed to air, which cultivates bacteria and makes it unsafe to drink. Deep-water wells—typically 40-100 meters deep and dug by machine—pump water that isn't exposed to air, and thus doesn’t develop bacteria. Once built, these deep-water wells require minimal maintenance, cost, and engineering expertise to continually operate. The average cost of building a deep-water well is $15,000 to $20,000 and one can usually pump 4,000 to 10,000 liters daily, which is enough water to serve the cooking and drinking for 2,000 people. 100% of donations to Volunteer 360 go directly toward the construction of deep-water wells in rural Africa.