Borehole

[angrybird]

I have just put an offer in for a lovely remote cottage with a borehole (275 ft deep) it's had a new UV filtration system and pump fitted in July .I've never had dealings with a private water supply so not sure if I will still have to pay a water company a percentage or not?

 

[Flyfisher]

According to this http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/environmental-health/private-water-supplies/, the local council is legally responsible for the quality of private water supplies. This means periodic testing at some inevitable some cost to you.

As for the water itself, according to this http://www.daleswater.co.uk/who-can-benefit-from-a-private-water-supply/, A lot of businesses and homeowners think they have to rely on a mains water company to provide their properties or factories with running water. They don’t. Anyone is entitled to drill a borehole / water well on their land and abstract up to 20, 000 litres (20 cubic metres, 4,000 gallons) per day free of charge with no need for an abstraction licence. - and I'd be surprised if you use anywhere near that amount!

Not definitive answers of course but it sets the scene for more formal enquiries.

Another thing to establish is the performance of the borehole, eg, how much water can it actually supply and does it ever run dry? I assume only the current occupants would know that so you'll probably have to take their word for it. I've no idea if such things can be tested and verified.

 

[angrybird]

Thank you FF that leaves me plenty of questions to ask tomorrow
Many thanks
Jacqueline

 

[eezageeza]

We have a borehole (no mains around here!) and have had no problems with it at all.

Your local water authority is supposed to check the quality of water periodically, but I think this has fallen victim to"cuts" recently, because we haven't had a test for years.

If your house has recently had new pump and treatment works fitted, it should be fine for years to come. Is it a pressurised system, or gravity fed from the loft? Ours is gravity fed (its an old system!) and the pump has been running for approaching 20 years now, so the cost of the equipment is dwarfed by what our water charges would have been for mains water. I think modern pressure vessel based systems (which are better because they simulate mains pressure water) tend to last less well, because they have to work much harder.

You can get a monthly report from the environment agency that shows the level of water in the aquifer that you're extracting from - always reassuring to know that there's plenty down there, although its never been a problem around here.

 

[88v8]

If you're connected to the main drainage system, I presume you would have to pay a sewage charge, but it's relatively minor.

Ivor

 

[Zebra]

You're moving angrybird? ! Did you finish the last house project?

 

[Flyfisher]

If you're connected to the main drainage system, I presume you would have to pay a sewage charge, but it's relatively minor.

Good point, though I'm not so sure sewerage charges are relatively minor, certainly not compared to mains water charges. FF junior pays a sewerage charge based on the metered water usage and it comprises about half the total cost. I suppose the rationale is that all the water consumed ends up down the sewer, which is true in his case but it seems a bit harsh on anyone who uses a lot of water for the garden.

Having said that, I'd be surprised if a property with no mains water had mains sewerage, so it may not be relevant in this case.

 

[angrybird]

eezageeza & Ivor it's a pressurised pump system new July 16 and it has a septic tank for sewage.
The house 18C and was a weavers cottage its located up a 2.5 mile track in the middle of a forest so no noisy neighbours ,it has mains electricity oil fired central heating and lpg for cooking and I'm told it has broadband so it's quite civilised really,it even comes with its own resident rare breed Ram :lol:
Zebra our present birds nest isn't quite finished it just needs rendering but that won't be done until next march!
We weren't planning on buying a new home just yet but as it was never going to be our forever home we kept looking and then this little gem popped up,it was just too lovely to let it slip through our fingers.
We are going to keep our house and carry on living in it as the "new" one needs quite a bit of work internally

 

[CliffordPope]

Your local water authority is supposed to check the quality of water periodically, but I think this has fallen victim to"cuts" recently, because we haven't had a test for years.

It is a service they offer, but I don't think there is any obligation to get the water tested if it only supplies one private dwelling and is not supplied for public consumption (campsite, restaurant, etc).

We have a private water supply, well, not borehole, and did once get the water tested. I had been drinking it happily untested for twenty years but my wife got nervous and thought we ought to have it checked.
All the metal element levels were minimal, but the coliform bacteria level was in the first band, and the council recommended installing a purifier.
When I spoke to the tester he admitted that actually the level was zero, but they can't say that, they have to classify it as first level 0-5, with the recommendation.
So we just carried on using it unpurified, and very nice it is too. We are still alive.

 

[noj]

This might clarify the regs:

http://www.dwi.gov.uk/private-water-supply/regs-guidance/Guidance/info-notes/england/reg-10.pdf
Local authorities may monitor a supply to a single domestic dwelling by its own choosing (e.g. if it suspects a potential risk to human health), but it must not make a
charge for this activity. However, local authorities must monitor a supply to a single domestic dwelling (for the same parameters) if requested to do so by the owner
and/or occupier of that dwelling, which is chargeable

Assumes you abstract <10m3 per day

 

[clunfarm]

We have a private supply - spring rather than borehole, but principles similar.

Testing regime has been covered earlier in thread. We have to have ours tested annually as we also have holiday lets. Cheaper to have tested by private companies in our experience rather than the local authority.

Nothing else to pay to water authority (as you have septic tank drainage, which you may have to pay to de-sludge periodically), but there are other costs.

UV filter tubes need replacement periodically (6 monthly is recommendation IIRC), and in our case we have a sediment/particulate filter that gets replaced every month or two (mainly because the spring comes up through clay and therefore there's always a small amount of sediment included) and de-acidification (to stop the water dissolving copper pipes (requires a media recharge every couple of years).

Only real problem for us has been periodic breakdown of pumps and pressure vessels. Our system is spring to initial settling tank, pump through de-acidification system, sediment filter, UV filter into two storage tanks and then on demand pump at 3 bar pressure to the house. We've had multiple pressure vessel failures, failure of submersible pump at bottom of system and failure of one pump at the house end in 5 years. Maybe bad luck - but don't assume it's going to be cost free.