I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

Dig a small test pit, let it fill with water, drain it with a bucket to
get volume, measure time to refill.

(Or store rainwater from your roof in the storm hitting anytime right
now).

wrote in message
ps.com...
Dig a small test pit, let it fill with water, drain it with a bucket to
get volume, measure time to refill.

(Or store rainwater from your roof in the storm hitting anytime right
now).

As suggested, if the water is really that shallow, test it and see. If you
do decide to dig a well make sure that you take appropriate safety
precautions, collapsing excavations kill people every year... You could do
worse than invest in a guide to handdug wells ie -

'B. Watt and W. E. Wood Hand Dug Wells and their Construction This
definitive work provides step-by-step guidance in the techniques of digging
and constructing a well, including the principles of groundwater storage,
the actual construction, the materials required, and details of additional
sources of information.254pp'

http://www.developmentbookshop.com/S...CategoryID=591

Andy

andyv wrote:
I live next to water meadows

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.
and what flow I might get?

Depends on hole depth, hole diameter, sub soil, soil water content,
etc.. If a proper well, the hole should go deep enough so that the well
won't be contaminated by ground water containing bugs. Probably not a
concern if it's just for the garden.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/fdungan/well.htm

In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...water/213872/6
09264/
--
Mr X

I have a new policy of not arguing with pedants.

In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Mr X wrote :
In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater that
falls on your property...?
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham

Paul Hyett wrote:

In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Mr X wrote :
In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep
2-3 times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at
the bottom of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater
that falls on your property...?



All depends what you use the water for , just watering your plants then
thier will be no issue , other domestic use you may need a licence
however you will need to get the water checked if you intend using it
in the home

--

In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Steve Robinson
wrote :

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater
that falls on your property...?

All depends what you use the water for , just watering your plants then
thier will be no issue , other domestic use you may need a licence
however you will need to get the water checked if you intend using it
in the home

As long as you're not *drinking* it, I don't so what the problem is.

And if someone *was* daft enough to drink such water, surely the
resultant dysentery (or worse) would just be Darwinism in action...?
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham

In article , Paul Hyett
writes

In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Mr X wrote :
In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

No! I believe you do need a licence to extract groundwater (maybe above
a certain quantity?) but ICBW!

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...ersion=1&lang=
_e

"The Environment Agency has a duty to secure the proper use of water
resources in England and Wales. We monitor water in the environment and
issue 'abstraction licences' to regulate who can take water from the
environment and how much they can take"

I don't know where that leaves wells, though...
--
Mr X

I have a new policy of not arguing with pedants.

The message
from Paul Hyett contains these words:

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater that
falls on your property...?

No, but they'll charge you to take it away.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 17:55:51 GMT, Paul Hyett
wrote:

In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Mr X wrote :
In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

Depends on the amount and what you use it for
this might help
http://www.wbadmorgan.co.uk/info_faq.htm


We used to have our own well years ago (pre ted heath) but the
regulations have changed since then. From non to quite a few.

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater that
falls on your property...?


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"AlanG" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 17:55:51 GMT, Paul Hyett
wrote:

In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Mr X wrote :
In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

Depends on the amount and what you use it for
this might help
http://www.wbadmorgan.co.uk/info_faq.htm


We used to have our own well years ago (pre ted heath) but the
regulations have changed since then. From non to quite a few.

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater that
falls on your property...?

The current legislation, in force since April 2005, means that you can
extract up to 20,000 litres of groundwater a day without a licence being
required. The regulations used to state that this was for domestic use only,
but this was simplified in the 2003 Water Resource Act.

Although you don't need a licence this doesn't neccesarily mean you are
imune to formal drought orders, which can (although they haven't yet this
year) include restrictions on the use of water from private supplies.

If you're well goes below 15 metres then you have to tell the British
Geological Survey about it, but I guess that's fairly unlikely for a DIY
hand dug well!

Andy M

Paul Hyett wrote:
In uk.legal on Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Mr X wrote :
In article .com,
andyv writes

I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

You're kidding?!

What next - being charged by the water company for using rainwater that
falls on your property...?

Yup!

And you don't have mining rights or the right to kill protected species,
even diddicoys, on it either.

Or the right to restrict air travel above it.

In fact, you don't actually own it anyway: It belongs to the Queen, and
is leased to you on a freehold basis..

Mr X wrote:
andyv writes
I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?


You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

Fortunately, by the sound of the OP's post, he doesn't.

In article , Chris Bacon
writes

Mr X wrote:
andyv writes
I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?


You might need a licence to extract/abstract groundwater

Fortunately, by the sound of the OP's post, he doesn't.

Ok, thanks -- is that because of the small quantity of water taken?
--
Mr X

I have a new policy of not arguing with pedants.

In message .com,
andyv writes
I live next to water meadows which flood up to about 1 metre deep 2-3
times a year. In dry weather I estimate if I dig a hole at the bottom
of my garden I will hit water at about 600 mm down.

It seems like a good resource for watering my garden if we get a
hosepipe ban.

Has anybody got any experience of this, and what flow I might get?

I dug one next to a largish lined pond in what was once a *Cress* ditch.
I guess the bottom is about 1m below current river level and roughly 20m
distant. The *soil* is chalky gravel and probably ex-river bed.

The hole is about 600mm dia. and the sides lined with expanded
galvanised metal (because I had some).

Winter flow rate is more than my submersible pump can handle, probably
6gpm at that head. A recent test (purely in the interests of the
acquisition of scientific knowledge, your honour) gave about 2gpm. There
is no adjustment on my pump but flow control can be achieved by
obstructing the output pipe.

Water tables are funny things. You may find the ground dry well below
river water level. Something about river beds being relatively
waterproof?

I have a story about *floating* pond liners if anyone is interested.

regards


--
Tim Lamb

Many thanks for the various comments.

The EA require an abstraction licence for taking ground water on a
commercial scale but they're not interested in domestic usage. They
don't control collection of rain water off your own property either.

There's a sampling hole been dug in the water meadow not far away so I
know what the water level is like. It seems like a more or less
inexhaustible supply, though there is the minor inconvenience of wires,
pipes and pumps.

"andyv" wrote in message
oups.com...

Many thanks for the various comments.

The EA require an abstraction licence for taking ground water on a
commercial scale but they're not interested in domestic usage. They
don't control collection of rain water off your own property either.

There's a sampling hole been dug in the water meadow not far away so I
know what the water level is like. It seems like a more or less
inexhaustible supply, though there is the minor inconvenience of wires,
pipes and pumps.


You could use a handpump, that way you will not only get the water, but get
fit

Andy

Andy McKenzie wrote:
"andyv" wrote
There's a sampling hole been dug in the water meadow not far away so I
know what the water level is like. It seems like a more or less
inexhaustible supply, though there is the minor inconvenience of wires,
pipes and pumps.

You could use a handpump, that way you will not only get the water, but get
fit

Gah. I can remember pumping by hand from a well, when the wind
didn't blow for a while.... not *too* hard, but time-consuming.

The message
from "Andy McKenzie" contains these words:

You could use a handpump, that way you will not only get the water, but get
fit

If you've got kids, connect the pump to a seesaw or roundabout.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

In article .com,
andyv wrote:

Many thanks for the various comments.

The EA require an abstraction licence for taking ground water on a
commercial scale but they're not interested in domestic usage. They
don't control collection of rain water off your own property either.

I enquired about this some months back and emailled the environment
agency (I think), as I have a small river atthe bottom of my garden -
they emailled back, saying they'd look into it, but I've not heard
anything back at all....

We also have a well somewhere on our property (or shared access land,
shared with the other neighbours) which I've yet to find...

There's a sampling hole been dug in the water meadow not far away so I
know what the water level is like. It seems like a more or less
inexhaustible supply, though there is the minor inconvenience of wires,
pipes and pumps.

Good luck!

Gordon