25 AUGUST 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® The work of Water for Life (WFL) in Northeast Guatemala continues to grow to try and meet the needs of the people there. This is a losing task because the needs of the people are growing faster than Water for Life can grow. We cannot keep up with what is needed, but we want to try. When we started almost 20 years ago with one cable drill, the blessing of clean water came slowly to the area around Poptun. We were able to drill at the rate of one or two wells per month. During the drilling season each year, we could only hope to drill five or six wells, at best. Slowly over the years, we added more cable drills, sticking with the Bucyrus-Erie 22W. We stayed with the 22W because this size rig is large enough to do the work we need to do and small enough to go where we need to go. In the remote areas where we operate, there are fragile bridges which must be crossed and rough roads which prohibit the passage of heavier machines. As our roster of cable operating volunteers diminished and our desire to do more increased, we decided to move to a rotary rig. Through the blessings of the Good Lord and the kindness of one of our volunteers, Seth Weilage of Council Bluffs, Iowa, we obtained an older (1972) Mayhew 1000 rotary rig. We shipped the rotary to Guatemala and put it to work. This seemed like a new dawn of productivity for Water for Life. Instead of taking a week or two to complete a well, we could do one in a day. With the Mayhew, we were able to drill a dozen or more wells per drilling season. [Article continued next month.] If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com WTR by Tim Rasmussen
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