As an organization that values innovative solutions to help end the water crisis, Water4 is proud to recognize Ditch Witch for helping us “dig in” again with an incredible example. Our business in Sierra Leone, Water4Ever, faces daily challenges with heavy physical demands in miles of trenching necessary for new water points.
Water4Ever is growing fast, and district-wide safe water coverage in Waterloo is well underway. With rapid growth comes more required trenching for pipelines that deliver safe water to their NUMA water retail points, homes, schools, and clinics. In the past three years in their piped water startup, they have manually trenched about 714 feet! Their future impact plans for the next three years require ten times as much work in this challenging, rocky soil.
Trenching by hand to a depth of three feet for the safety and security of the pipelines is back-breaking work. Digging short distances can take days or weeks, depending on the geology, for a NUMA water system installation. It is often at a high cost, compounded by rock formations and layers that can delay their projects and ultimate goal to provide safe water. The high cost of this labor is not just measured in dollars and cents, but in minutes spent without access to safe water and in the physical toll on Water4Ever staff.
So Water4 called on a fellow Oklahoma industry leader, Ditch Witch, to get their insights and recommendations to increase efficiency. Based in Perry, Oklahoma, Ditch Witch builds underground construction equipment from trenchers to excavation systems and has dealerships worldwide. Ditch Witch of North Carolina, owned by Oklahoma native, Travis Wilkey, came through with so much more, stepping in and donating an RT45 trencher. The trencher is built to spec, with spare parts, and Travis and his team have provided training for our trenching requirements in Sierra Leone.
This trencher will save time, energy, and resources, allowing Water4Ever to do what they do best: provide safe water “4Ever”.
The trencher recently arrived by sea freight to Sierra Leone and has been put to work trenching the pipes lines that will deliver safe water to tens of thousands of people over the next three years.
Ditch Witch has a long history of giving back to the community. Thank you Ditch Witch of North Carolina! Your generous support of the mission to eradicate water poverty in Africa is truly making the world a better place.
