Africa-Press – Botswana. ASA Enterprises, a company that sells and distributes drilling products and services in conjunction with Baroid Industrial Drilling Products on Monday held a seminar for stakeholders in the borehole drilling sector.
ASA Enterprises managing director, Mr Ajit Singh Ahuja said drilling fluids were essential for the success of any drilling operation and its lifespan.
“A well-designed and maintained drilling fluid will improve production rates by stabilising the borehole and also serve as a constant lubricant for the bits and rods. This would serve to ensure a good borehole productivity and longevity,” he said.
Mr Ahuja said they wanted to equip stakeholders with skills in the design and use of correct drilling fluids for successful operations.
He said they were concerned at the high number of low yielding boreholes in the country, only to find that the cause was the way drillers mixed and used drilling fluids rather than lack of ground water.
“In Botswana we have about 45 000 private boreholes and over 11 000 government registered ones. Out of the government registered ones about 6 000 are operational,” he said, adding that it showed that we need more knowledge in the field.
ASA Enterprises public relations officer, Ms Tshegofatso Malepa also noted that their stakeholders often came back to them complaining about boreholes drying up.
“When we investigate we note that the problem was that they did not initially follow the right procedure in the mixing process.
Drilling is not just a matter of making a hole in the ground, but one has to know the fluids they use and how to mix them, otherwise there will be long-term challenges of boreholes drying up, pipes blockage and salinity among other challenges.
Mixing and types of fluids to use is also dependent on the type of soil,” she explained.
She also encouraged borehole drillers to engage professionals such as geologists and hydrologists for advice. Ms Malepa said the whole country had adequate amount of ground water, noting that areas varied according to depth.
Some of the issues discussed included the make-up of water, drilling fluid properties and their order of addition as well as drilling fluid contamination.
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