Conservation & Ecology
In some areas, it may be slightly high in some of its chemical characteristics, but so what? Does that mean you can’t chuck it on your grass? Of course it doesn’t
Groundwater being pumped for the first time into a settlement tank and flow gauge
the water for just over a penny and knocking it out to me for over one hundred times what they pay for it ? Well, let’s concede that the water utility providers have to provide and maintain a massive network of pipes and pumps and controls etc. and, of course, they are entitled to profit but, other than that, they treat it. The raw water that is pumped into their treatment centres is treated to a ridiculously high standard (set by our friends in Brussels!) and has fluoride etc. added to it, before being sent on its way to your tank or someone’s tea pot. This suggests that the groundwater is some sort of grey/brown bacteria-ridden solution that smells like Forrest Gump’s socks; but it’s not. In most cases around the UK, the groundwater is really very good quality and has been naturally filtered by the rock through which it gently flows. There are some ground formations which do present poorer quality water. This is why it is important to gain an insight early doors by looking at historical water quality data from nearby existing boreholes extracting from
the same ground type, if they are available. A well designed well, in the majority of formations, should produce crystal clear water. If groundwater was generally poor, why
are we paying £1.00 in supermarkets for a litre of our super-healthy bottled water? That water is groundwater. It comes from wells - some of which I have drilled during my drilling days. On a site in the north west of England, I
drilled a 350m well which was the company’s sixth well on the site to keep up with demand. That well, on its own, was designed to deliver fifteen litres per second. This flow went into a stainless steel bottling plant and bottles were filled in fractions of a second. I’m not even going to go on about the cost of it versus what they sell it for, as it depresses me. Not because I am against capitalism; no, its because I didn’t think of it before them. Damn! Anyway, the point is that the groundwater
in most places in the UK is good stuff and will more than serve its irrigation purposes
for your application. In some areas, it may be slightly high in some of its chemical characteristics, but so what? Does that mean you can’t chuck it on your grass? Of course it doesn’t. There are some areas where groundwater quality can be a bit of an issue - for example, groundwater coming from old coal mines might be undesirably high in iron or manganese, but this sort of thing is ironed out at feasibility stage if the budget numbers stack up for the client. To reinforce this water quality point, it should be borne in mind that, before the advent of mains water, everybody had their own well or access to the village well and the groundwater didn’t ordinarily do the masses any harm.
So how do I actually decide whether a well is for my site?
As you might imagine, there are a lot of factors that go into determining whether a well is a beneficial system for your site irrigation. Initially, you look at all the factors at a high level - really looking for
” Call… 02477 360063 or… 07917 352565 For Development of Ground & Surface Water Systems for Sports Turf Irrigation
Free Advice and free initial assessment Technical & Commercial Feasibility Investigation for Private Groundwater Supplies All Design & Project Management Environment Agency Liaison including formal consent & licence applications Existing well investigation & refurbishment Water quality testing
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www.howleyenergy.co.uk/water-wells - Email :
iain.howley@howleyenergy.co.uk PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 I 127
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