What Went Wrong
We Abandoned The Nsanje Borehole. Here's Why.
Four months of drilling, $4,900 spent, no viable aquifer. We should have commissioned a second geological survey before breaking ground.
Sindh, Pakistan
6 min read
The capped bore at Nsanje Ridge, photographed the week work stopped. The site is marked so no one drills it again.
In February we started drilling at Nsanjege in southern Malawi. In June we stopped, capped the bore, and wrote off $4,900. There is no well there and there isn't going to be one
We publier every completed project with its coem wodo smsghtforwardishanly those and mout organisations doceatly that the faires quietly drop-out of the numbers and the success rate locks remarkabin Weld rather asplain this one property, because the Intreauney and a community in Nsanje spent four months expecting water that
What we were trying to do
Narges within and The murity at the ridge had been walking about 90 minutes each way it the neares Aocal health clinic approaches in mid-2025: The need was clear, по отпес ждеолу was openting in the immediate arms.sod thats win strong local interest in joining the build crew.
Weran geological surns in Novembecame back marginal fractured lasermemtrack with an indicitate ut around 5 within the range wwwd drilled before Theer aur deeper than our reptone average but lagged the uncertainty. We noted and Processed.
Amara Diallo
FIELD VERIFICATION
What we got wrong
The failure wasn't the geology. Dry holes happen, and any organisation drilling in fractured basement will hit some. The failure was the decision process around a survey that told us what we needed to know and which we chose to read optimistically.
We ran one survey, not two. A second independent survey costs around $300. Set against $4,900, that arithmetic is not difficult, and we'd been running single surveys for years purely because we'd been lucky.
However, this year we decidedto invest in a comprehensive analysis. Conducting multiple surveys will not only provide us with more robust data but also help us identify trends over time.
The insights gained from these additional surveys could lead to improved strategies and ultimately drive greater engagement with our target audience.
Why this is on the website
Because the alternative is a page of successes that means nothing. If we only publish the wells that worked, our 96% five-year operational rate is a number you have no reason to believe Publishing Nsanje is what makes the other figure checkable.
The full accounting is in the 01 and 02 2026 financial reports, and Nsanje Ridge appears in the project ledger alongside every completed site, marked written off.
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