This past summer, a Mount Sopris Instruments geophysicist, Lia Martinez, spent a week giving a training on how to use our borehole logging equipment for groundwater wells in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The customer, Water Well Drilling Enterprises drills water wells in rural villages and remote locations throughout Ethiopia for the purpose of bringing freshwater to communities and farmers.
Water Well Drilling Enterprises is a long time Mount Sopris customer and this was a second trip to visit them. The first training was completed a few years ago by past president John Stowell. They now currently own two complete sets of logging equipment, the older 2PGA and 2PEA poly series electrical and gamma tools and the newer QL40-ELOG and QL40-GR probes. Both sets of equipment were sold through and are supported by our very experienced Ethiopian sales representatives, T & S Trading PLC, headed by Bruck Girma.
The training was focused into two main objectives: 1) Maintenance and field troubleshooting of their existing equipment and 2) Advanced WellCAD processing and data interpretation for groundwater. The first day was spent reviewing types of troubleshooting and maintenance for their probes and two winches, the semi-portable 4MXB and the Miniwinch. This proved to be a very successful day. The second day of training began with a drive around Lake Tana to the west of Bahir Dar, eventually entering into an agricultural area. The land surface was very rich with volcanic red soil. While logging, there were large areas of dense ash and tuff, which resulted in very low resistivity measurements.
The last day focused on WellCAD data processing. The trainees learned to design their own headers for use in the field and create templates for easy, fast data display. We also discussed the use of more advanced processing techniques such as cross plot charts and applying formulas to calculate Total Disolved Solids (TDS) and Resistivity Porosity. Overall, the training was a huge success. With this new experience, Water Well Drilling Enterprises will be able to continue drilling and providing waterwell completions at a high level to it’s customers throughout Ethiopia.
