Private water supply Scotland

[steeplejack87]

Hi all,

First post on here, very intresting forum with some great advice.

We have been looking at a couple of plots on the west coast of Scotland in the Argyll area.

Both plots need to use a private water supply and both have very good burns running near them.

I have seen plots advertised saying that they have a certificate of wholesomeness and future supply.

 

 How do i go about obtaining such a report/certificate?

Also what kind of costs are involved in the set up and water treatment and storage tanks?

 

Any advice would be really welcome.

Cheers.

Mark.

 

[JohnMo]

We are on a borehole, we got a water sample, this was analysed by Scottish Water lab.  From the analysis we sorted the filtration.

 

Depends on what the analysis finds, will ultimately determine cost of treatment.

 

We only have a 60L storage, to give the system pump time to catch up with supply, when you open a tap.

 

With the recent power cuts, thinking of upping storage to 200 L.

[scottishjohn]

1 hour ago, steeplejack87 said:

Hi all,

First post on here, very intresting forum with some great advice.

We have been looking at a couple of plots on the west coast of Scotland in the Argyll area.

Both plots need to use a private water supply and both have very good burns running near them.

I have seen plots advertised saying that they have a certificate of wholesomeness and future supply.

 

 How do i go about obtaining such a report/certificate?

Also what kind of costs are involved in the set up and water treatment and storage tanks?

 

Any advice would be really welcome.

Cheers.

Mark.

 

so are you intending to take the water from the burn? or have a bore hole 

how much do they run in summer? did you see them then 

 

[steeplejack87]

36 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

We are on a borehole, we got a water sample, this was analysed by Scottish Water lab.  From the analysis we sorted the filtration.

 

Depends on what the analysis finds, will ultimately determine cost of treatment.

 

We only have a 60L storage, to give the system pump time to catch up with supply, when you open a tap.

 

With the recent power cuts, thinking of upping storage to 200 L.

Thanks JohnMo, don't want to go the bore hole route as the ground is very hard rock and it woul be a major expense for us.

[steeplejack87]

Scottishjohn, yes we want to take it from the burn. 

1 plot has a very good flow all year round even in the very dry months due to a large loch further up the hill.

[jamieled]

@steeplejack87 we're in the same position as you. I do some of this stuff for a living. We didn't bother checking anything before buying.

 

There are a few companies you can use to do this, one of the more well known is highwater.

 

I can split it down later but I think we were around 1k for a 2000l tank, 500 for pipe and fittings and probably around 2k for filters. The sampling will tell you what filtration is needed but for burns unless there's a history of human activity nearby there's unlikely to be any significant differences.

[scottishjohn]

hard rock is better for bore hole than soft easier for them to drill ,opposite  to what you would think  and will require less casing length (to stop hole falling in on itself)-which cost money and will probably be better water

and hard rock will have cracks in it which is where the water is 

 as a guess depending on how deep they have to go  think around 15K for a bore hole with filtration required  you may need a big tank as well depending on flow rate  -you can ask for a quote 

 can you find others around with bore holes and see how deep they are ? from my own area  most are in the 30-50 m depth 

 going other way you will need a large storage tank and filters -yes it will be cheaper- but what if someone upstream starts taking water or  more water than they do now 

first step is to get the water tested ,it may be polluted from farms upstream anyway  and not be usable 

I would value site on having to go borehole  then you will be on the right side 

 

[scottishjohn]

20 minutes ago, jamieled said:

I can split it down later but I think we were around 1k for a 2000l tank, 500 for pipe and fittings and probably around 2k for filters. The sampling will tell you what filtration is needed but for burns unless there's a history of human activity nearby there's unlikely to be any significant differences.

I would consider a 2000litre absolute minimum

-average usage  for modern living is about 200-400 litres per person per day - so i would want alot more back  up than 2000 plus another acumulator  tank and  booster pump in  house to get good water pressure

 If tank was 30ft above top of house that,s only 1 bar pressure-no good 

tanks are not expensive 

Edited December 10, 2021 by scottishjohn

[JohnMo]

Our borehole is in sand, cost s fortune with steel lining, going down 34m

[jamieled]

3 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

I would consider a 2000litre absolute minimum

-average usage  for modern living is about 200-400 litres per person per day - so i would want alot more back  up than 2000 plus another acumulator  tank and  booster pump in  house to get good water pressure

 If tank was 30ft above top of house that,s only 1 bar pressure-no good 

tanks are not expensive 

It's dependent on the specific circumstances. I get 2.5 bar static in the house which is more than adequate for us. No need for pumps/accumulators as we're gravity fed. Burn is fed from a small loch so no problems during 2018/19 dry periods.

 

I've worked on supplies with tanks of 500l which were fine - it really depends on the nature of the supply catchment, the demand and the supply infrastructure needed.

 

To the op, one other consideration I'd note for burn sources is that it can be hard to remove colour using domestic treatment technology. It's rarely a problem for quality unless it's really coloured, but aesthetically it's often one of the reasons why domestic pws use boreholes.

[scottishjohn]

2 hours ago, jamieled said:

To the op, one other consideration I'd note for burn sources is that it can be hard to remove colour using domestic treatment technology. It's rarely a problem for quality unless it's really coloured, but aesthetically it's often one of the reasons why domestic pws use boreholes.

slow sand filter wiil remove colour

[saveasteading]

If the site arrangement and topography and all other circumstances allow, I would favour having a settlement tank at source, filling by natural flow from the burn. This can be constructed to take in the best flowing water with minimum floating bits. The tank allows the water to still and bits to settle and float, and your outlet pipe then takes water from near the bottom. this then provides free and low-maintenance first stage cleaning, and a holding tank for quantity/backup.  Then gravity flow to the house. 

If it comes from high up it may fill to the  attic without a pump.

After that you may need more filtering or pumping.

You can decide if you welcome the colour or want to filter it out.

 

BTW, (and no need to read on) I had a summer job very long ago, to build exactly one such. The existing intake tank had a tiny trout living in it, and somehow getting a living in the closed dark place.

The water was not chemically treated so we must have been drinking some element of the trout's excretions. You could  say the fish was pre-treating the water, taking out organic matter. Nobody cared as long as they didn't know! 

(A controlled spillway would prevent this happening in your tank.)

It looked good on my CV as I didn't mention the size and scope, and got me a job saving the Netherlands from flooding.

[steeplejack87]

Thanks for all the replys and some good information!

I will start with getting the water tested and go from there.

Cheers,

[Hastings]

Check with the particular local area council Environmental Health officer (because they don't seem to all have the same requirements) but in Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands area Planning Permission for a new development requiring a private water supply (PWS) will be conditional on hiring a hydrologist to do a risk assessment and hydrological assessment for approval. They require storage (whatever the source) for at least 3 days, calculated at a rate of use of 200L/day/person X max occupancy (x2 for each double bedroom, x1 for each single bedroom). 1000s of litres storage.

 

As far as the water quality goes, the allowable limit for colour is almost zero because it reduces the effectiveness of the mandatory UV filter. Colour removal is usually dealt with by organic scavenger which requires salt, but there are other ways you might be allowed.

With burn water usually being a bit acidic you will almost certainly be required to correct the pH with a filter and it is also likely to have too much iron which is another filter (either disposable or cheaper in the long-run timed back-washing type).

 

Borehole, if you are lucky, might only require UV filter. But in these parts it is also likely to need an iron/manganese filter and a softener.

As previous poster said, rock is the best, requires no steel pipe liner.

[Kelvin]

A condition of buying our plot was that the seller had to drill the borehole and get the chemical analysis done. Just as well as our hole is 147m deep. Loads of water though and very little treatment needed. 

[Simon ness]

I am in Wales and am deciding whether to get mains water or not. I have a constant supply of spring water piped through my property ( 1 gallon a minute minimum . It goes into an inspection chamber then piped further down the hill. It looks to be very clean but not tested yet. It will cost me £4K to get mains water so wondering if it makes sense to simply use the spring water instead - cost being the main factor.  The spring is below the property so a pump would be needed. I don’t think a large storage tank is needed however as the spring water is constant irrespective of rainfall and would be replenished every day. The tank would need to overflow back into the piping.  I assume I need water authority approval I guess as they have piped the water through my property and built the inspection chamber.  I think the piping enters a canal about 100 metres further down the hill. Any advices appreciated.

[PeterW]

@Simon ness you’ll need environment agency approval to abstract water from the spring. You’ll also need to make sure your sewage treatment is as far away from the source as possible, and ideally find the source of the spring too as the last thing you need is someone diverting it or removing it. Whilst it sounds like a lot of flow, I’d be looking at minimum 3,000 litre storage (this could be an underground tank near the pipe) and then pump to the treatment point at the house with a 500 litre accumulator. 

[ProDave]

You want spring water constantly flowing so a constant flow into a holding tank that is always overflowing back to the source.  Then it will probably want some treatment but you won't know until you get it tested.

 

A farm near us has a similar system but the spring is a long way down the hill, so he has a hydraulic ram pump constantly pumping water up to an underground holding tank near the house, and from there a submirsible borehole pump keeps water in an accumulator at pressure for use.  He only needed a UV treatment system.

[jamieled]

Don't assume it's the 'water board' that has anything to do with it. If it feeds the canal it may well be the canals and rivers trust.

I'm on a private water supply, and if I had the choice I'd get a mains connection. Factor in the operating costs and hassle into your decision making.

[JohnMo]

Go on your local council website they should point you in the direction of all the rules.  The Scottish rules are different from the rest of the UK.

 

Ultimately the rules come from SEPA. But there are other agencies sitting beneath SEPA.

[saveasteading]

6 hours ago, PeterW said:

3,000

That is our decision too. It will normally be far too much, but the flow slows in summer and the big tank doesn't cost much more. Also if ever the well ran dry, this would be a useful volume to bring in by tanker. We also need a 10,000 litres tank for firefighting as there is no hydrant nearby.

Water not tested yet but the neighbours survive and so do we.

Frost. A long pipe will be vulnerable to freezing, so keep it buried and flowing.

[scottishjohn]

11 hours ago, Simon ness said:

I am in Wales and am deciding whether to get mains water or not. I have a constant supply of spring water piped through my property ( 1 gallon a minute minimum . It goes into an inspection chamber then piped further down the hill. It looks to be very clean but not tested yet. It will cost me £4K to get mains water so wondering if it makes sense to simply use the spring water instead - cost being the main factor.  The spring is below the property so a pump would be needed. I don’t think a large storage tank is needed however as the spring water is constant irrespective of rainfall and would be replenished every day. The tank would need to overflow back into the piping.  I assume I need water authority approval I guess as they have piped the water through my property and built the inspection chamber.  I think the piping enters a canal about 100 metres further down the hill. Any advices appreciated.

at 4k to get mains --then I would get it 

cost of tank and pumping and uv lamp --at least -which needs changing every year 

then an acumulator + boooster pumpto give you mains pressure in the house -or your tank qwill need to be inthe loft and all you will get is gravity pressure --no good for showers or any modern type boiler or ASHP

but start with getting your water tested --could be lots of other mineral impurities that would need replacable filters etc 

 

Edited July 1, 2022 by scottishjohn

[saveasteading]

3 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

4k to get mains --then I would get it

Me too.

You could still run a secondary supply very cheaply  for gardening and car wash, and this could also fill the fifighting tank.

10m3 at £1.50 saved already.

More importantly the water company will probably charge you for waste water, which presumably there will not bf, based on the water purchased. You must tell them that there is no waste and no runoff.

[Conor]

Just a general comment on surface water Vs groundwater.

 

For domestic use, a borehole is always preferable as treatment requirements are a lot less, and the supply is more reliable.

 

You can of course use river or lake water, a majority of the water supply in the UK and Ireland is surface sourced.

 

Treatment needs are higher - usually some sort of filtration (and possibly flocculation before hand), disinfection, etc. With a borehole it's quite possible not to need anything.

 

But the bigger issue for me with surface water is not the extra treatment, it's the risk of contamination. There a issues with THMs, pesticides, other interim, seasonal contaminations of drinking water that you can't realistically mitigate in a domestic situation. 

 

I would explore the ground water option as a first preference, as ultimately you have a cleaner, more reliable water supply.

[scottishjohn]

On 02/07/2022 at 07:01, Conor said:

I would explore the ground water option as a first preference, as ultimately you have a cleaner, more reliable water supply.

a bore hole is going to be 10-15k