[colliewobbles]

Wasn't sure where to put this so please move if necessary - and sorry if in wrong place!

Hi there - we are applying for a tenanted farm and have found out that the water is metered which is a potential black-hole of money as we wish to do livestock.  We discussed the idea of sinking a borehole with the land agent and he advised us to investigate the possibilities and include in our application.  The current tenants are unwilling to share water usage and costs with us. 

So - now we don't know where to start!!  Can anyone advise me:

1. Who I should talk to about the logistics and possibility of sinking a borehole on the land and if this would be viable - would this be the local water board?

2. Who would we get to carry out the work?  Would it be a private contractor or the water board?  And would we need planning permission or any other sort of permission?

3. Any ideas of cost - or is that akin to saying how long is a piece of string?

4. What are the shortfalls of using a borehole for a water supply.


Additionally there is a slurry pit - the farm is currently a dairy farm although we would not be running it as a dairy farm.  There is an open air slurry pit which appears to be concrete with a black liner.  This seems to be on the highest point of the land.

1. Is a slurry pit only necessary for cows?

2. What exactly goes in there - all the waste from the cows?  Or just liquid waste?

3. How on earth do you get the waste from the farmyard across a 3 acre field to the higher level slurry pit through 3 gates?!!!


Sorry if I sound totally ignorant but we really need to get this information and show understanding of the issues and possibilities as part of our plan.

Thank you - Donna

[F.CUTHBERT]

Not sure where this farm is and as might knowledge is limited to Scotland it might not be any use.
 
I don't think a private bore hole is anything to do with  the water company. Here SEPA should be informed so prob the EA down south and they might want to extract a fee for an abstraction licence.
 
For another fee The British Geological Society will tell you the rock types and how likely you are to hit water and at what depths but no guarantees are given. you can possibly get the same info speaking to some locals.
 
The drilling will be carried out by a private company that does lots of this kind of thing and they can normally advise you better than me on all the rest of it. In fact there is an advert at the bottom of this page for one as I type this. Google or yellow pages should turn up loads.
 
cost depends on depth to drill how far from mains electric size of pump needed ect ect but a rough guess would be £5-10000
 
hope this helps

[lachlanandmarcus]

Re the slurry:


Normally yes would only be cattle, as they are housed for months on end and produce a lot of wee and sloppy poop...:-)) they would probably try to spread the solid stuff but there are restrictions on when in the year they can do it so many places have to store all of it in the slurry tank until they are allowed to spread. Normally the cattle house might have slatted floor with tank underneath and the stuff would be sucked out with an umbilical hose into a tanker and then either spread with a sprayer or into a holding tank, so uphill wouldn't be an issue.

[F.CUTHBERT]

a discussion about bore holes on a farming forum  http://farmingforum.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?11445-Borehole

[colliewobbles]

Thanks for the replies - very helpful  and I will check out the farming forum tomorrow, right now my bed calls.

Donna

[oor wullie]

In Scotland you need an extraction lisence from SEPA which costs about £100 but was easy to get.  I guess in England the EA would require something similar.
There will probably be a borehole drilling company near you.  They will probably have a fair idea of the geology in your area and will be able to advise.  I don't think you need to have anything to do with the water board, we didn't.
Costs could be up to £15k depending on how deep you go and what you need by way of pumps and water treatment.

Don't forget there are no certainties with drilling, occasionally boreholes don't find water at all but you will still have to pay for the drilling.  Our neighbours have a borehole about 30m deep so the drilling company was fairly confident that 200m away ours would be a similar depth but we ended up going to about 50m and into a totally different water source!  Could be worse, in the oil drilling industry (where I work) over the past 3 years I have watched (and contributed to) about £0.5 Billion being pissed away drilling holes which found nothing!

[SteveHants]

In England you would definitley need an abstraction licence - these are issued by the EA and they will have caveats - how much you can use per day and where any waste goes etc.

[Still playing with tractors]

I agree with all the thoughts on the abstraction liecense above, something else to think about is that you will need a yearly service on your pump to keep it in tip top condition.

on the slurry pit issue and me being ex dairy im a bit biased, but you have a tank of gold not muck, think of it as free fert. cow muck as it falls is high in water content due to the high intake of grass, silage etc, hence it usually runs down troughs to the tank normally with a bit of help from a scraper system and a power hose. if the pit is at the highest point of the farm there must be pumps to get it there or its been moved via tanker.
The comments about certain times to apply are all true.
You can use it for other animal waste but you will need to add water, and dont put straw or hay in it.
Be VERY VERY careful around the tank no naked flames and never ever work alone, the tank will starve the oxegen around it and it will suffocate you. check the net to see how many farmers have died around tanks and pits. the other thing is if the tank is not 100% sound and you have a burst the fines will bankrupt you, so beware.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom but it better you know the truth

Alasdair

[Bramblecot]

Please factor in the cost of securely fencing the slurry pit.  I'll not go into details but they are death traps

[colliewobbles]

Please factor in the cost of securely fencing the slurry pit.  I'll not go into details but they are death traps

Thank you for the tip - luckily it is already completed secure and fenced with a 6 foot metal fence