Boreholesystems

Types Of Borehole Systems

The best way to explain what you can do with a borehole is explain the types of systems you could have and use from it. Below you will find some common types of borehole systems and a description about that specific system. It does not reflect every scenario or system and if a system is not mentioned below and you want more information please get in contact with us and we will happily help and advise you as much as possible.

Basic Garden System

This is usually a shallow borehole with a pump and a tap up the top of the borehole. The pump has everything built into it so when you open the tap the pump turns on and vice versus for turning off. The pump is the expensive part of this system along with the borehole drilling. You cannot drink the water but it is great for watering the flowers, washing cars and general small scale irrigation.

Irrigation Systems

irrigation pop up head

This system can be as small as the basic system above or as complex as 40-50 automatic zones in the garden or grounds. This system has a pump down the borehole, a tank above or below ground level with a pump inside. There is a float switch inside the tank which turns the borehole pump on or off. The pump inside the tank is controlled either by a pressure switch or by an irrigation system controller which could have numerous amounts of zones with pop up irrigation water heads or weep hoses. This type can be used in a small garden to a large golf course or vineyard/farm. The water cannot be used for drinking and can only be used for irrigation. You can use the water for washing cars however.

Grey water systems

Grey water systems are basically an irrigation system with the added benefits of being used within the house for filling toilets up or used in washing machines. A massive 30% of our water usage goes on filling toilets up with nice, clean, filtered water so imagine just how much you would save by using borehole water to just fill your toilets up..... Well 30% at least. These systems cannot be used for drinking but can be used for washing purposes.

Full Drinking Water Systems

As with all the other system this can be used for irrigation, washing cars and grey water uses but with the added benefit of having filters to enable you to use the water for all your water needs. Some may think "err I would not drink that" but before you say it just think where your mains water supply comes from? Yes a borehole. The same borehole you are thinking of except instead of taking contaminants out the mains water suppliers add chemicals to neutralise the contaminants. With a small private water supply we will always specify filtration based on a water test which we do once the borehole has been drilled. Some test results will yield that an iron filter is required to make the water safe but most just require a sediment filter and ultra violet filter to kill and catch the bacteria meaning nothing has been added, only taken out. That leaves you with pure mineral, spring water which most of our customer will notice the horrid taste from mains water once they have been on pure water for a few weeks. We try to explain a borehole to be much like having solar panels installed, you will start to get payback straightaway by means of no water bills, no hose pipe bans and mineral spring water. It is the norm to have complete payback with 5-10 years for a small domestic system but a large commercial system will see payback with 3 years. It is an investment which adds an asset to any property or business.

ultra violet light filter

Bottling or distributing Drinking Water

If you are going to bottle the natural mineral water from your borehole or you are going to be supplying the water to a community or other people such as neighbours then you must have a full drinking water regulations test conducted every year to ensure the water is safe for the people drinking or using the water. The environment agency may ask to see the results and a maintenance record for your filters now and again so a record must be kept up to date. We are able to maintain and ensure you have all the relevant documentation and can keep it safe ready for if they ever ask.

Abstraction Licence

You can take up to 20 cubic meters per day (24 hour period) without the need for an abstraction license (per borehole). If you require more then you will need to apply for an abstraction license. We can help and guide you through the process or we can deal direct for you because the stages can be extremely long winded and the process can be delayed if information is missing. It is similar to apply for planning permission except it's very rare you get turned down. Prices do change regularly but a license could cost up to £750 per year for an extra 20 cubic meters per year meaning you can take 40 cubic meters per 24 hours for an entire year. That is a very large volume of water and to put it into prospective an average family of 4 use just over 1 cubic meter per day between them.