- Ang Chum Primary School and Pagoda Well
A rural school and pagoda in a farming and fishing community located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, serving two villages with a population of 7,779. The school has 459 students (grades 1 thru 6), and 7 teachers. There is no electricity at the site and the only water available is from a pond on the school grounds, and a rain-water catchment system.
PROJECT SCOPE: Drill one water well (casing set at 185 feet). Construct a prefabricated elevated water tower, 10,000 liter water tank, and solar powered pumping system. Distribution lines were installed to the restrooms, with an additional line to a water distribution point on the outside wall of the compound to serve the local residents. Constructed two masonry hand washing stations. During the drilling operations of both wells, the crew worked 24/7, working 12 hour shifts!
Problems occurred with the first drill site: the drilling steel became lodged in a large air-pocket and could not be removed. This first well site had to be abandoned, filled-in, and capped over.
While waiting for additional material and equipment to arrive from Guam to begin the 2nd well attempt, the Seabees worked with the Utah National Guard on a school nearby called Kam Pong Spue. The Seabees received commendations of merit for their great work on this school.
Prior to beginning the 2nd well, the local Cambodians requested that a religious ceremony be performed to insure success. The 2nd well was drilled successfully, and clean water is now available to the community!
Lily pond used by the community for their water supply, along with a well (dried-out due to the drought), and a typical rain water catchment system.
Typical rain water catchment system.
The abandoned well at the site
Due to the drought, and the shallow depth of the old well, it was bone-dry! This community was desperate for water!
The original well site, before disaster struck! Just a few hours before the completion of drilling, a large hollow was encountered, and the drill shaft got stuck… and the sides of the well collapsed. Eventually, the well had to be abandoned.
The new water tower and tank built to hold the new well water.
After considerable debate, it was decided to continue the work–another well site would be chosen and the drilling would have to start all over again. But new drilling parts would have to be purchased and shipped from Guam, and the Seabees would have to extend their time in Cambodia.
While waiting for parts, the Seabees worked with the Utah National Guard to build this new school.
As at the other sites, the Seabees did more than just drill a well–they painted, installed hundreds of feet of buried piping to various buildings and water tanks, and built hand-washing stations, like the one pictured above.
During all of this time, they were not alone! They had become the entertainment for the local community. Children and adults gathered around to watch them work. Many did not believe that they were there drilling a water well–such a kindness was unknown to them… They believed they were there drilling for oil…
Imagine their happy faces when they saw WATER coming out of the pipes! Clean water for the entire community was pumped first to the storage tanks, then directed to various locations around the site.
