Since 2018, Ulterra has proudly supported WHOlives, a nonprofit that brings clean water, health, and opportunity to more than 20 developing countries around the world. It all started when US Synthetic, our longstanding partner, generously offered to donate PDC cutters for drill bits to alleviate the challenges villages were facing with roller cone bits.
As Maria Mejia, Vice President of Ulterra and two-time mission trip participant, puts it, “Ulterra didn’t write a check and walk away. We gave them one of the things we’re good at. The same technology that drills our customers’ laterals is what lets a small rig in rural Kenya complete a well instead of abandoning it.”
Since then, we have donated more than 50 PDC bits to equip WHOlives’ Village Drill, a portable rig to help rural communities reach water. This program has drilled over 16,000 wells in 24 countries, helping bring clean water to an estimated 15 million people.
Witnessing the Impact of Clean Water
Beyond drill bits, 47 of our people have gone on impact missions to Kenya with WHOlives to experience the impact firsthand. During these trips, our teams experience the walk to water, a trek that villages without a clean water source must endure every single day. On the other hand, they visit villages that have a flowing, clean water source, witnessing the impact that clean water can make for hundreds of people within their community.
“It’s that our people have stood on those sites. When someone comes back from Kenya, it becomes an initiative they deeply care about,” said Maria.
Water changes the entire health of a village. In a recent study, WHOlives found that in one village, water-related deaths from contamination, drowning, and animal attacks dropped from 20 to 0 in a year, and time spent collecting water dropped from 5–6 hours to 10 minutes. Women and girls can now spend time getting an education or starting a business – time that would have been spent collecting water.
Gathering Feedback for Product Improvement
During these impact missions, our engineers have also had the opportunity to have conversations with local drilling teams and hear the challenges they encounter while drilling. On a recent trip, William Dubose, Director of Materials Development, learned about the drilling and logistic limitations these villages face.
“It’s challenging to get dull photos or direct product feedback. But, by being there in person, we were able to collect some critical qualitative details about how far a bit drilled and formations that present the most challenges,” said William.
Using this feedback, our Design team recently iterated on a previous design to create a more durable, and less aggressive solution to increase its lifespan. These improvements will help provide a more robust design to increase the number of water wells that a single bit can drill.
What started as a donation of PDC bits has grown into a partnership that has made a difference for millions of people around the world.
As Maria said, “Our core competency turned out to also be a humanitarian contribution.”