Allotments 4 All

I have been told I can have a source of water from a borehole for about £1200.  Which would give me more than enough water for my garden.  Does anyone have any experience of having a borehole?

All that gravel may not be such a bad thing after all. ;)

I think you still have to pay for the water extracted.

£1200 seems exceptionally cheap just the pump would normally cost more than that.
http://www.geologicboreholes.co.uk/cost-of-a-borehole/
Drillling through gravel will be more complicated & expensive as they will have to take additional steps to stop the hole collapsing in on itself while they are drilling.
You are allowed up to use 20 cubic metres of water per day free of charge, anyone who needed to use more than that has to get an extraction license from the environment agency just the same as if you have the riparian rights to a stream or river running through your property. It will become your responsibility to ensure the groundwater is not contaminated this means following all safety measures on products you may use in the garden which most people don't even bother reading eg: not using herbicides within 20 metres of the water source.
If it is installed properly you should have water available most of the time but there is no guarantee water will always be available.

my dad has one in his little garden, he put it in himself, (I helped). It is easy peasey to do, just hammer in sections of inch and a half O.D. Galvanised pipe, joined with threaded collars, whilst removing the stuff in the middle with an extendable auger (large drill bit). time taken to reach 22 feet = one and a half yrs!! he then has a 1/2 copper pipe inside the galvanised one, up which the water travels. pumps are relatively cheap, and you can extract 20 cubic metres per day without a licence  ;)

I was rather hoping that I would not need more that 22 cubic metres a day to water my garden.

No problems on the herbicide front.  Have only used a tiny amount in 25 years. I tend to spray it into plastic bags since I do not want it one the soil.  Anyway it is supposed to breakdown in the soil.

Not clear why it should take a year and a half to go down 22 ft.   

Seems we do not need a large pump because the water round here is relatively close to the surface.   The foundations of the house opposite filled up with water at about 2 metres below our house.   In fact the people in that house could have a well only six inches below the surface.  The spring ran all summer long.

Quote from: Digeroo on November 15, 2009, 00:42:52
Not clear why it should take a year and a half to go down 22 ft.   

My dad is 73, and had a quadruple bypass, perhaps that's why he didn't rush the job!! ;)