[farmershort]

Hi all,

I've done some googling and kind seem to find much on the subject... I do wonder if I'm using the correct terminology.

We have a natural spring in the field in front of the house, and it sits at roughly the natural high spot of the area.

Would anyone know whats involved and where to start with getting a natural spring commissioned as a water supply?

Thanks

Adam

[juliem]

No experience of spring but did have a borehole.Needed a presure tank and pump.Cost 5000 18 years ago.?had to havw new pressure tank and pump last year which cost 2500.If u can do these things yourself u can save a lot of money.
No requirement now for local authority in England to test it now (they use to yearly at their expense) Dairy farmers though would come for a lot of testing if it's used in a commetcial sense.
You control the pressure with a pressure tank...you will need good pressire if you have showers.

[oor wullie]

"Commissioning" suggests you just need it signed off so you can use it.  If it is just a supply for yourself I am pretty sure you can just use it - unless you are commercial (including using it for a B&B) when it will need tested, or using a large volume when you will need an extraction license (from SEPA or EA (I assume)).

Even if you don't need it a water test might be worth it to find out just what is in the water before you spend years drinking it.

If you mean what needs done to collect water from a spring - you need to construct a tank which collects water at the spring.

[juliem]

I am reminded of the French film "Manon des Sources" where the spring is blocked up seceretly by a vengeful neighbour in South of France...sounds idyllic but I think I wouldn't want to rely on a spring as being my "sole water supply"
.

[farmershort]

Ah, I see what I've missed... Ok, I should have told you this:

We have a field which has a spring in it, and marked on the map. Currently it's just a wet patch in a field where it naturally rises...

What I'd like to know if how we transform it from that, into a useable water supply... Either for the house, or for the field drinkers... Or possibly both... I imagine there is a way of figuring out how much it can supply, ala mineral water factories?

Obviously we need a tank to collect the water, but I assume it's a bit more involved than that is it?

[henchard]

Our house is fed from a spring. A hole  was dug near the spring and a large piece of large diameter (say 3 foot diameter) drain pipe is sunk vertically and partly filled with clean stone. The top of this chamber has a cover and the whole area is fenced off from animals. Alkathene pipe is connected towards the top (obviously below the water level) and water (in our case) flows down this naturally to the holding tanks near the house. These are 3000 litres in total. This in turn feeds the pump house with a sediment filter and UV filter where it is pumped into the house. The top of the holding tanks have an overflow which runs away to the ground. Although I have now put in plastic pipe to feed the field tanks from this. Just have to connect it up!

[juliem]

My borehole has an electric pump at the bottom of it and when one turns the tap on in the house the water is pumped up directly to the pressure tank on the surface and then into house.There is no holding tank.

[Penninehillbilly]

Ours comes in an ancient pot pipe from who knows where, into a brick holding 'tank',gravity fed to the house, overflow from the tank runs into stone trough, overflow from that feeds a trough next to the house.
All OK, but in dry weather we can't use much water or there is none for the cattle.
When we were building the barn, lot of underground water so we put drainage pipes in, built another tank, that carried on running when the top one almost dried up in a hot summer., just boiled it well ?.
No testing officially required for 1 private household, but after I was VERY ill when idiot neighbour broke the supply pipe,  but we now have a filter and UV system.

[henchard]

My borehole has an electric pump at the bottom of it and when one turns the tap on in the house the water is pumped up directly to the pressure tank on the surface and then into house.There is no holding tank.

A borehole is not a spring

[henchard]

The best information, including drawings of collection chambers is in the Technical Manual dowloadable as a pdf at the bottom of this page. It is ,however, 618 pages but tells you all you need to know.

http://www.privatewatersupplies.gov.uk

[juliem]

So do springs have pressure tanks and is a holding tank gravity fed going to generate enough pressure to get an electric shower to work?
I would be nervous of all these holding tanks leaking...already have them with the solar heated water..Had to replace copper tank after 12 years..we do live in a hard water area.
My neigjbour has a spring..they have had problems with it silting up recently..but that was after about 40 yeats of neglect.

[farmershort]

I'm feeling a future requirement for one of those old fashioned waterpump windmill constructions to move the water from the spring to the house.

[Bywaters]

Where are you?

Pump and Farm Supplies (Helston) do this sort of thing, so could advise .

http://www.pfs-uk.co.uk/

[henchard]

So do springs have pressure tanks and is a holding tank gravity fed going to generate enough pressure to get an electric shower to work?
I would be nervous of all these holding tanks leaking...already have them with the solar heated water..Had to replace copper tank after 12 years..we do live in a hard water area.
My neigjbour has a spring..they have had problems with it silting up recently..but that was after about 40 yeats of neglect.

The holding tanks are plastic and are outside the house (underground) in my case. They then feed by gravity to a pump room where there is a pump, pressure vessel, filters and ph correction unit (this is necessary for acidic water as copper pipework can get eroded).

The attached pictures show the collection chamber bring installed (by the previous owner) and the pump house with ph correction unit.

To get the flow rate from the sgring you'd need to measure the output under gravity from the pipe for say five minutes then do a calculation to work out litres per day. I got someone to do this in the summer before agreeing to buy the house!

[juliem]

A lot of agricultural properties/small holdings  around Shropshire pay next to nothing in water rates...so initial investment in installing spring/borehole is not worth the candle.My father who has a small holding only pays £80 a year.(Emptying septic tank costs £100 a year...if it needs emptying)
However if you are paying out substantial water rates/have a meter it might be worth the investment.
When something goes wrong and you have to get professionals out it can be expensive....it helps if you can do these things yourself. Installing a new pump cost me £1800. However haven't had to pay any water rates over last 18years.
Emptying septic tank is getting more expensive though...now it can't be spread on the fields.