During the dry season, Nghe An well workers have endless work.

At the beginning of summer, many wells have dried up. Photo: Thanh Phuc

For nearly a month now, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha's family (Tao Son commune, Anh Son) has had to drive a buffalo cart to his grandparents' house to transport...well waterabout living due to dry well.

“The family has one open well and one drilled well. Before, there was rarely a shortage of water, but this year, the early season drought was severe. In addition, because of the hair washing service business, we consumed a lot of water, so the well water dried up. Therefore, we had to transport water from the open well from my grandparents' house more than 1km away. We are currently contacting the well surveyor, but because there are many customers, they have not set a date yet,” said Mr. Ha.

Ms. Lang Thi Thanh's family had to hire someone to dig a well to have water for daily use. Photo: Thanh Phuc

It's just entered summer but for many days now, the well of Ms. Lang Thi Thanh's family (Kim Son Town, Que Phong) has been dry.dryMeanwhile, tap water is also limited. Her family struggles to find enough water for daily use.

"To proactively have water for daily use in the summer, the family hired a group of well surveyors to dig up underground water," said Ms. Thanh.

Not only Ms. Thanh’s family, in Kim Son town, the situation of dry wells and lack of water for daily use is quite common. Accordingly, about 30-40% of households have dry wells.

The need for water to irrigate trees and vegetables in the summer is also very urgent. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Localities in coastal areas such as Quynh Luu and Dien Chau not only lack water for daily life but also need water for irrigation for vegetable growing areas. Since the beginning of the dry season, many people have had to contact workers to dig and drill more wells in their fields to proactively source water for irrigation.

The people's demand for water for daily life and irrigation has increased, while many wells have dried up, so well digging, drilling and surveying services are in high demand. Since February, the 8-person team of Mr. Ngan Van Nhat (Kim Son, Que Phong) has had to work at full capacity to meet the people's needs.

“Except for days of heavy rain, we work from early morning until late at night every day. Every day, people call to schedule well digging and surveying. However, since there are only 8 people, divided into 2 groups, we try our best but can only meet about 60-70% of the people's needs. Some families have to wait a whole month for their turn.”

Dry seasonIt is also the time when well diggers in Nhan Huong and Tan Khoi villages in Quynh Dien (Quynh Luu) enter the "business season". Not only the coastal communes in Quynh Luu need water to irrigate crops, but local people in Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, and Hoang Mai also contact them to dig and survey wells.

“Most of them are households that need water for daily use and irrigation. In previous years, the demand for digging and surveying wells increased during the dry season. This year, since the beginning of the second lunar month, many people have booked well digging schedules, and my team has been working since then. Until August, the team is fully booked,” said Le Nhan, a well digger.

In mountainous areas, where groundwater and geology are difficult, people have to hire teams of workers with large hydraulic drills to find water. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Having been drilling wells for 5 years now, Mr. Pham Hoang Tuyen (Quynh Chau commune, Quynh Luu) said that there has never been a year in which people have had as much demand for well drilling as this year at the beginning of summer. After the recent rains, many people in Quy Hop, Quy Chau, and Que Phong districts called to schedule well drilling.

According to Mr. Tuyen, due to the harsh weather and the decline in underground water resources, drilling into a water vein is more difficult than before. On average, each day, if things go well, his team of 4-5 workers and the new hydraulic drill can only complete one complete well. If they do not find a water vein, or encounter table rocks or difficult geology, it is very difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes they have to "waste their efforts" because they cannot find a water vein.

“It takes the team about 8-10 hours to complete each well. Since the schedule is full from the beginning of the dry season until the rainy season, when customers contact us, we don’t dare take on more work. If we are considerate, we have to make up for the time off, sometimes working through the night to serve customers,” Tuyen added.

The demand for digging wells is high, so the job of casting culverts to line wells is also very popular. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The job of digging, drilling and surveying wells is only seasonal but brings in a good income for the workers. On average, during the peak season, each day, if working at full capacity, each well worker can earn from 700,000 to 1 million VND/day; some people earn up to 1.2-1.5 million VND/day.

Thanh Phuc