We at The Living Water Project are often asked the seemingly straightforward question, “How much does it cost to fund a new well project, start to finish?”  The answer, of course, is not so simple.  

It depends. It depends on a variety of economic, geographic and cultural factors, many of which are out of our control. Some of those factors are:

• The economy of the country where the well is being drilled, and the cost of goods and labor there.
• How deep we must drill before our rig reaches plentiful, clean water.  Those depths often range from 50 feet to 500 feet or more.
• The amount of rock that we must drill through, which increases the amount of fuel and man hours required.
• Whether the well location is in a remote location, making transportation of the rig and materials difficult.
• The local cost of fuel, for powering the drilling rig and transporting materials to the well site.

For example, in Honduras, the terrain is very mountainous in some areas (for example, in Tegucigalpa), making transporting the rig to the well location difficult and more costly. Also, the rocky and steep terrain necessitate that we dig deeper wells in Honduras, which in turn leads to a longer and more expensive drilling process.

By contrast, the cost of the wells that Living Water has funded in Togo has been much lower than in most other countries. Togo’s water source is much closer to the surface of the earth, requiring fewer man hours and a smaller rig to finish the job. In addition, the community receiving the well usually provides the labor, so our cost is only for parts and supplies.

For those who are interested, here is a list of the approximate cost of a Living Water project in various countries that we have served thus far:

• Chad  $3,200
  Cameroon $3,200
  Democratic Republic of the Congo   $10,500
  Guatemala  $3,000 – $15,000    
  Ghana  $4,600
  Kenya  $10,000 – $30,000
  Liberia  $4,000
  Malawi $5,500    
  Mali $7,100
  Nicaragua  $2,000 - $7,000
  Nigeria $3,200
  Rwanda $5,600
  Senegal  $5,300
  Sierra Leone  $4,000
  Zambia  $4,100    
  India  $10,000 – $15,000 (Currently inactive)
  Honduras  $10,000 – $18,000 (Currently inactive)
  Niger  $2,500  (Currently inactive)
  Togo  $1,700  (Currently inactive)
  
  With a price tag as low as $3,000, raising support to fund a Living Water well may be an attainable goal for you, your family, your Sunday school class or small group. Of course, the fact that the cost of a Living Water project in a particular country is more or less expensive does not make it any more or less of a priority for our mission. Whether in Guatemala, Zambia, Liberia or Cameroon, we are dedicated to giving the gift of water to all of God’s precious sons and daughters.