SIMCO is known for rugged, reliable, long-lasting drilling equipment, and there is no better example than the same SIMCO 2800 water well drilling rig being used over a forty-year water well drilling career. Curtis King, CWD/PI, was the recipient of the NGWA Special Recognition Award and the Life Member award in January.
King purchased his first and only water well drilling rig in 1978. His 2800 was put into service that same year, drilling a water well in Haiti. Nearly 2000 wells later, that same drilling rig is still in service with Healing Hands International, despite King retiring in July 2019.
Born into a multi-generational drilling family in Washington, King served in the US Navy in the 1970s. With his SIMCO 2800, he drilled his first water well on the island of La Gonave in Haiti in 1978 before moving his family to the island nation to work on a 100-well project with Compassion International. That project expanded to several other countries including Ghana, Ethiopia, and Dominican Republic, providing safe water to more than 3 million people.
“It’s my privilege to be the recipient of the joy people show when clean, safe water is found,” said King. “After the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, my reliable and adaptable SIMCO 2800 water well drilling rig allowed me to help out by drilling as many wells as we could, wherever they were needed.”
Without a doubt, SIMCO drilling rigs and equipment are built to last, but we know the parts and service that comes with every custom-built rig is what keeps the equipment in the field for decades. Curtis King kept his one and only water well drilling rig in working order by continuing to take advantage of the parts and services support available for the life of the rig.
