In 2022, WJ teamed up with the British Drilling Association (BDA), RedR UK, and other industry partners to contribute to an educational course, ‘Developing Groundwater’, at Cranfield University in Bedford. The idea behind the course was to increase awareness and engineering know-how towards combating ‘economic water scarcity’ in sub-Saharan Africa. The water infrastructure in this part of Africa is either in a state of disrepair or under poor management despite the presence of water sources. One way to improve this situation is to provide long-term security to the nations in the region, and this can be achieved through the construction of high-quality water wells and boreholes.
The course at Cranfield University is aimed at development and humanitarian workers as well as students involved in groundwater development and humanitarian response programmes. Participants from Médecins Sans Frontières, Help (Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe), and the Container Based Sanitation Alliance are involved. They undertake vast humanitarian tasks in countries such as Zambia, Uganda, Mali, and South Sudan. The course combines classroom sessions on topics such as water well design, which implements on-site practical demonstrations that include drilling and well installation by WJ’s experienced team, as well as groundwater quality sampling and testing and geophysics.
Already in its 25th year, the course is organised by RedR UK, Groundwater Relief, Cranfield University, and the BDA with plant, equipment, and expertise provided by WJ, Peter Dumble Hydrogeology, Richard Carter and Associates Ltd, Dando, Palintest, In-Situ, Geomatrix, and Boode. The course provides students with practical skills and theory to apply to complex hydrogeology tasks, as well as serving as an introduction to water poverty in the sub-Saharan region of Africa.
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