Baptist well drilling

The Baptist drilling rig can be built in any ordinary arc welding workshop and materials for a basic version costs about 150 US dollars (2006 prices).

The method was developed by Terry Waller, a North American Baptist missionary in Africa and Bolivia.

It applies some of the same principles used in mechanized commercial well drilling, but does so using the simplest, most available and cheapest possible materials.

Its core element, the drill bits, can be made in about any arc-welding workshop, using only scrap steel and materials that can be found in virtually any hardware store.

A hybrid between sludging and percussion drilling, this method permits to drill through all kinds of loose alluvial soils, sands, silts and clays, as well as “soft” rocks, like light conglomerates, consolidated volcanic ashes, some calcareous rocks and weathered materials.

Percussion action is performed by lifting the drill stem with a rope over a pulley, attached to a simple derrick, made with locally available materials, such as wood or bamboo poles.