[Penninehillbilly]

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.

Depends how much higher than the house the tank is?
I don't think ours leak but they are mainly below soil surface. Built with engineering (?) bricks.
We have a ph. correction system with the filter

[henchard]

Depends how much higher than the house the tank is?

From memory every 10m gives you 1 bar of pressure. So gravity fed holding tanks would need to be getting on for 30m above the shower outlet to give 3 bar of pressure (which is a decent pressure) in the house.

[Buttermilk]

Here we have to pay water rates and Drainage Board rates, the DB rates are based on land area.  The water board however charge regardless of being connected to the mains or not, they claim it is for roof water ect disposal even if they have nothing to do with the property.

[juliem]

I am on the edge of the Strine Drainage Board an area of marsh that was reclaimed back in the 19th Century.
You contribute depending on land area.There's some major infrastructure required (lots of syphons) and increasingly the local authority put 101s (special agreements from developers) from any major house builders on the maintainance of all this drainage.
Interesting about the shower pressure...I have an abundance of solar heated water in a tank on the Ist floor bathroom. The plumber who installed it reckoned the pressure would be ok for a shower to be put on the groundfloor....but I had my doubts and never went ahead with it.
Agree you need 3 for a decent shower...I think we're all use to super showers now with hotels/leisure facilities.

[cloddopper]

I am on the edge of the Strine Drainage Board an area of marsh that was reclaimed back in the 19th Century.
You contribute depending on land area.There's some major infrastructure required (lots of syphons) and increasingly the local authority put 101s (special agreements from developers) from any major house builders on the maintainance of all this drainage.
Interesting about the shower pressure...I have an abundance of solar heated water in a tank on the Ist floor bathroom. The plumber who installed it reckoned the pressure would be ok for a shower to be put on the groundfloor....but I had my doubts and never went ahead with it.
Agree you need 3 for a decent shower...I think we're all use to super showers now with hotels/leisure facilities.

 Putting a dual element ( one hot & one cold ) electric pump in the feeds to the bathroom for the extra shower should solve any pressure problems . There is a pressure valve/switch  in the pump housing that can often be adjusted to get the right pressures .  I fitted a massive brass body pump to solve my low water pressure feed problems and added an extra much bigger header tank for the hot water reserve water .

 Re septic tanks;_
Our local  " You make it we take it "  owner saod to me that iIf they are working properly ....lift the lid and look , you'll find a few fresh turds floating , some dark aged  bits and plenty of chicken & leek coloured water  .

 As the solids start their bacterial digestion journey they break up & very slowly sink ,dissolving due to internal water movement that occurs when new water is added . As the tank receives more water the  " juices " dilute even further and runs out the soak away .
Emptying one for a family of four need only take place every five to ten years so long as the soak-away is OK and no one using the toilets has a course of strong antibiotics  ( they have occasionally been known to kill the biological  action in a septic tank) .

You can either use live yoghurt or purchase a biological septic tank re activator to overcome the killing off by the antibiotics if this has become a problem . Though chucking two decent forks full of rotted manure or adding a couple of gallons of liquid manure made of the same ingredients & put in the tank is also a way of getting it going again .

[SmallWelshBarn]

I installed a bore hole just over a year ago cost about 5k to drill fit the pump etc. Best tasting water ;-) and no more water bills. This is a video clip I shot to give an idea of whats involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNPrr-VY_c

[juliem]

Ref getting the septic tank working...didn'I read somewhere thst they use to throw a dead sheep into the tank
I have the electric light bulb type....not so good as the old brick type I am told.If I did  decide to knock my house down (old cottage) and rebuild I expect planning would require something more  technoligical and very expensive.About 3 years ago the Environmental  Agency announced that all septic tanks would need to be registered and you would not be able to sell your house unless it was.....I think the government decided it was unfeasible.
That together with the F band council tax..(anything that is new and detatched seems to automatically be rated as E/F by my local authority.)

[farmers wife]

we always used a spring water tank that was higher then the property so no need for pumps etc.  You'll save a load in water bills and the water is better for you too.  The water authority used to condemn it on occasions saying we'd die if we drank it funnily enough all my children were brought up on it and we never got ill so assume the nimbys rathered us have chemical poisoning. Lots of DIY books and most things are doable.