Water table

[DaveBrigg]

I tried measuring the depth of our well yesterday. This time last year it had a couple of inches of water in the bottom - now the water is 6.5 metres deep, only a metre from the top. No wonder the cellar is a little damp.

 

[citizensmith]

Ditto. Plumbed our well with a rope and horseshoe last summer when we moved in in July. 40ft to the water, 60ft to the bottom. At present it is about 8ft to the water and our cellar is damp and prone to a bit of pooling here and there.
It is possible to lower your local water table by pumping out your well which will create a localized depresion. But its expensive if you need to lift by the kind of amount we would have to. And you would have to keep doing it.
I would like to use well water for gardening but why are pumps that can lift water to significant height so difficult to get (at reasonable cost) in UK? They are commonly available in French DIY stores.

 

[MdB]

But its expensive if you need to lift by the kind of amount we would have to.

Isn't that what small children and buckets are for??

 

[Juju]

In the recent Oxfordshire floods, our house wasn't flooded because we're on slightly higher ground but a pool of water about 12 inches deep appeared in our cellar, stayed overnight and then drained away really quickly. Is that because of a rising water table? I assume that's normal? Hasn't happened before but then we've only lived here 6 months and the rain and extent of the flooding was exceptional!

 

[citizensmith]

The previous occupant here said that it had not ever flooded in their time here - just got damp at certain times. But we had 3 inches of water in the cellar at one point a few weeks ago so it was truly exceptional. I'm not sure its completely down to water table rising though - just that the water fell so fast and had nowhere to go but lowest points around e.g. cellar

 

[Penners]

In the recent Oxfordshire floods, our house wasn't flooded because we're on slightly higher ground but a pool of water about 12 inches deep appeared in our cellar, stayed overnight and then drained away really quickly. Is that because of a rising water table? I assume that's normal? Hasn't happened before but then we've only lived here 6 months and the rain and extent of the flooding was exceptional!

In Witney I'm surprised this is the first time you've had water in your cellar, if you're anywhere near the river.

I can remember Witan Way and the Waitrose car park being flooded several times in the 13 years that I worked in Witney.

 

[Juju]

Yes you're right Penners about flooding in Witney. We've only had our house 6 months so this is the first time we've known about - the cellar's always felt a bit damp so no doubt it's happened before. We were just getting it nice and dry with the dehumidifier when this happened!

The new residents in the luxury riverside developments are getting fed up with long-time residents telling them 'told you so' when their houses flooded... There are huge debates in the town now about even more proposed riverside developments. Just this week someone has put in a planning application for 15 new houses for a site at the bottom of our street where just a few weeks ago people were canoeing through the floods! Will planners and developers learn from all this?!

 

[Penners]

If you're talking about all of that new development on the old Early's site, there was a lot of shaking of heads when that was first given the go-ahead.

But people go deaf when when big profits are in the offing.

 

[Nemesis]

Developers don't care - the money is now in the bank...

 

[Juju]

Yes the old Early's site was well and truly flooded! Equally bad was a brand new estate called 'Aquarius' (apt!) off Witan Way where people have only just started moving in... Not sure how the developers will sell the remaining properties but no doubt they'll find a way.

Apologies to people who don't know Witney!

 

[Penners]

Apologies to people who don't know Witney!

Don't apologise - that's their fault! :wink:

 

[Nemesis]

That sounds rather a blanket condemnation...

 

[Penners]

HA-HA-HA! Witney.... blanket condemnation....!

Unfotunately the days of Witney blankets are now over - in Witney anyway.

 

[Nemesis]

Has all production gone to China?

Or is it too early to tell?

 

[Penners]

There or somewhere with equally cheap labour, I imagine.

Witney blankets used to be sent all over the world. Huge numbers were traded to American indians in return for animal pelts. A short line of red stitches was inserted in the edge of the blanket for each pelt required as trade. So three red lines meant a three-pelt blanket, and so on.

 

[DaveBrigg]

I can see why the demand for these blankets may have died out then. What a comedown - from pelts for blankets to pelting with rain.

 

[Juju]

I'm not really into the details of the history of blanket manufacture but it's a shame there isn't a bigger museum in Witney which could explain it all (including its global reach) and the influence of the main families involved. There is a great website though http://www.witneyblanketstory.org which I think also has a roving exhibition in Oxfordshire.

We live near one of the old factories which is still intact and I think it would be great if they could house a museum but it was sold years ago and is small workshops now. We're about to embark on finding out more about the history of our house and with the house being more or less in the grounds of a well-documented industry/factory owned by a well-documented family should make our life a bit easier!

 

[NT]

Will planners and developers learn from all this?!

Developers have learnt. They've learnt that enough people are clueless enough to buy wherever they build, flood plains included.

Planners arent part of the solution because
a) so much land is liable to flood
b) assorted relatively trivial present day regs prevent the more obvious floodproof house designs
c) they either dont know or arent interested in compliant ways to floodproof houses, such as building them on earthbanks. Whatever the details of the problem are, the reality is no-one cares enough to do anything about it.

In a capitalist economy, businesses will supply what buyers want, and buyers are still buying flooding houses. The best deterrent is for buyers to get informed, but you know how people are, there are always enough that know nowt about owt.


NT