Have You Considered Having a Private Water Supply?

Many rural areas obtain their water supply from boreholes as this is their only means of a supply; however have you considered the possibility of having a private water supply in your garden? Even though you currently may be obtaining your water supply from a local water authority it is still feasible to have your own private borehole for domestic and garden use.

For a vast majority of domestic applications an Abstraction Licence will not be required as incredibly up to 20 cubic meter (4,400 gallons) of water can legally be abstracted per day from an above or below ground water source, however in excess of this amount you almost certainly will require a licence. For further detailed information please download the following Abstraction Licence Guide Please don't be daunted by this process we are always here to help and would be more than willing to process and submit the application on your behalf for a small fee.

Just to put things in perspective it has been calculated that the average water usage per person per day is approximately 160 litres (40 gallons). This does not include garden irrigation, but even taking into account normal garden irrigation it is highly unlikely that an Abstraction Licence will be required.

In order to successfully drill a borehole, we must first establish the exact location and pinpoint this on our hydrogeological maps. Then with the aid of our extensive well and borehole records we will endeavour to obtain information of surrounding properties with private water supplies. Often this can be a good indication of the depth and strata we are likely to encounter, however, consideration should always be given to varying ground stratum and hydrogeological formations. It is for this reason that we are unable to guarantee exact depths, quantity and water quality. Thankfully valuable Hydrogeological records compiled over the years have greatly reduced the risk of an unsuccessful borehole. In fact to date (touch wood) we have not drilled a dry borehole.

Borehole airlift in action

Borehole drilling is generally completed within a week (for shallow boreholes), however, as we are dealing with the unknown (drilling blind), it can take longer. Once the borehole construction is successfully completed, it is essential that care is taken to eliminate the likelihood of surface drainage into the ground water, together with the ingress of rodents, slugs, snails and possible effluent contaminating the water supply.

In addition to drilling new boreholes, we also refurbish old redundant boreholes or boreholes that have become encrusted resulting in a loss of production or output. By utilising our drilling rig and special airlifting technique boreholes are given a new lease of life.

A small pump test will need to be carried out so as to both develop and establish the bore yield. Then a suitably sized borehole submersible pump (link to pumps) is installed enabling you to abstract the water from its source, automatically increasing the pressure as good as or better than mains supply. Finally water samples are taken for analysis determining what water treatment equipment will be required if any. Link to water treatment.

A private water supply can easily be a reality and not a simple pipedream, so please call or email us for further advice.

Or Call 01473 400101

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