I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3 times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.
It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a hosepipe ban.
Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?
Dig a small test pit, let it fill with water, drain it with a bucket to get volume, measure time to refill.
(Or store rainwater from your roof in the storm hitting anytime right now).
Depends on hole depth, hole diameter, sub soil, soil water content, etc.. If a proper well, the hole should go deep enough so that the well won't be contaminated by ground water containing bugs. Probably not a concern if it's just for the garden.
As suggested, if the water is really that shallow, test it and see. If you do decide to dig a well make sure that you take appropriate safety precautions, collapsing excavations kill people every year... You could do worse than invest in a guide to handdug wells ie -
'B. Watt and W. E. Wood Hand Dug Wells and their Construction This definitive work provides step-by-step guidance in the techniques of digging and constructing a well, including the principles of groundwater storage, the actual construction, the materials required, and details of additional sources of information.254pp'
In article , andyv writes
You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater
In message , andyv writes
I dug one next to a largish lined pond in what was once a *Cress* ditch. I guess the bottom is about 1m below current river level and roughly 20m distant. The *soil* is chalky gravel and probably ex-river bed.
The hole is about 600mm dia. and the sides lined with expanded galvanised metal (because I had some).
Winter flow rate is more than my submersible pump can handle, probably
6gpm at that head. A recent test (purely in the interests of the acquisition of scientific knowledge, your honour) gave about 2gpm. There is no adjustment on my pump but flow control can be achieved by obstructing the output pipe.Water tables are funny things. You may find the ground dry well below river water level. Something about river beds being relatively waterproof?
I have a story about *floating* pond liners if anyone is interested.
regards
>
You're kidding?!
What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater that falls on your property...?
All depends what you use the water for , just watering your plants then thier will be no issue , other domestic use you may need a licence however you will need to get the water checked if you intend using it in the home
In article , Paul Hyett writes
No! I believe you do need a licence to extract groundwater (maybe above a certain quantity?) but ICBW!
"The Environment Agency has a duty to secure the proper use of water resources in England and Wales. We monitor water in the environment and issue 'abstraction licences' to regulate who can take water from the environment and how much they can take"
I don't know where that leaves wells, though...
The message from Paul Hyett contains these words:
No, but they'll charge you to take it away.
Depends on the amount and what you use it for this might help
Fortunately, by the sound of the OP's post, he doesn't.
Yup!
And you don't have mining rights or the right to kill protected species, even diddicoys, on it either.
Or the right to restrict air travel above it.
In fact, you don't actually own it anyway: It belongs to the Queen, and is leased to you on a freehold basis..
In article , Chris Bacon writes
Ok, thanks -- is that because of the small quantity of water taken?
As long as you're not *drinking* it, I don't so what the problem is.
And if someone *was* daft enough to drink such water, surely the resultant dysentery (or worse) would just be Darwinism in action...?
Many thanks for the various comments.
The EA require an abstraction licence for taking ground water on a commercial scale but they're not interested in domestic usage. They don't control collection of rain water off your own property either.
There's a sampling hole been dug in the water meadow not far away so I know what the water level is like. It seems like a more or less inexhaustible supply, though there is the minor inconvenience of wires, pipes and pumps.
The current legislation, in force since April 2005, means that you can extract up to 20,000 litres of groundwater a day without a licence being required. The regulations used to state that this was for domestic use only, but this was simplified in the 2003 Water Resource Act.
Although you don't need a licence this doesn't neccesarily mean you are imune to formal drought orders, which can (although they haven't yet this year) include restrictions on the use of water from private supplies.
If you're well goes below 15 metres then you have to tell the British Geological Survey about it, but I guess that's fairly unlikely for a DIY hand dug well!
Andy M
You could use a handpump, that way you will not only get the water, but get fit
Andy
Gah. I can remember pumping by hand from a well, when the wind didn't blow for a while.... not *too* hard, but time-consuming.
The message from "Andy McKenzie" contains these words:
If you've got kids, connect the pump to a seesaw or roundabout.
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