Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

I have no water supply help!

39 replies

Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 14:57

Bought house 2 years ago and the water supply was from a spring via a well in a neighbouring forestry. 2 weeks in the supply dried up. Been using rainwater harvesting ever since but at this time of year with less rainfall we often run out and I have to source water from elsewhere which is time consuming and expensive. Certainly not sustainable long term. Saved up for a borehole which was recently dug but it was dry. Seems like my only option now is to connect to the mains supply which is over a mile from my house. Not had a definite quote yet but probably looking at tens of thousands which we don’t have.
Does anybody have any ideas?
The biggest problem of course is my house is pretty much unsellable with no water supply so I can’t even move to rectify the problem.
At my wits end and have completely come to the end of the road with ideas.
Anybody have a similar problem and how did you fix it?
As a side note I feel that the previous owner probably knew about this but how do I prove it?
With hindsight we should have checked the supply out but we were blinded by the house and the amazing views and being from towns all our lives it just didn’t occur to us.
Naive - yes
Stupid - quite possibly

Can anybody help?

OP posts:
hedgehoglurker · 01/07/2022 16:06

Where are you? What country?

Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 16:18

Wales

OP posts:
JuneOsborne · 01/07/2022 16:23

Have you had a quote for main water supply? Or are you estimating?

mayblossominapril · 01/07/2022 16:27

Has your spring moved? How does it reach the house from the spring? Is it gravity fed or is it a hydram pump? Do you have storage tanks?
A mains supply will be very expensive. Could the bore hole go deeper?
we lived in a house for many years with a spring supply and we had a massive underground storage tank

DadsTrilby · 01/07/2022 16:29

A friend of mine has water from a well, she says in the summer when it runs low she gets a top up from the fire brigade, is that an option for you short term? I don’t know if they charge or how she arranges it though sorry.

Asdf12345 · 01/07/2022 16:46

In the short term you can improvise a dew pond to increase your harvesting.

An alternative if you have a suitable vehicle is an ibc or two on a trailer filled from someone else’s supply.

In the long term I would want to know why the borehole didn’t work. Was it placed after a carefully considered look at the geological data or a drunk stumbled around with two coat hangers?

Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 16:54

Thank you for all for your replies. There were a lot of trees cut down which could possibly have interfered with the spring.
It was gravity fed into 3 big storage tanks.
Im in the process of getting a quote for mains water but it’s a long way to the mains and a lot of road to dig up so will almost certainly be big money.
I can source water if I get stuck (as said earlier it’s time consuming and expensive and I already work 6 days a week) but it’s not a long term solution and still leaves me with the problem of selling the house at some point with no water supply.
Also just pumping the water around from all the various collection points can sometimes take all day and has to be done whilst it’s throwing it down otherwise everything overflows and we lose the water. It’s my poor wife who has to do it if it’s raining whilst I am at work. I’ve maximised the collection capacity as much as I can.
Re the borehole - dug to 120 metres and there was virtually nothing there. At £2000 for each attempt we simply cannot keep drilling everywhere. There was another dry borehole further down the valley and after an awful lot of googling it’s possible that there’s not a lot of water there. Which is incredibly and painfully ironic seeing as we are in Wales!! Thank you to everyone who is listening and posting. Feels like I’ve been on my own with this forever

OP posts:
BigFatLiar · 01/07/2022 17:06

Tried a water diviner?

Sharpkat · 01/07/2022 17:10

Oh god, this brings back memories. We had a spring when I was growing up. The summers were an absolute nightmare as it just dried up constantly. Usually when I was in the shower.

A borehole went down. And down and down. And this was after endless surveys. Nothing.

We had to connect to the mains. It was an eye watering amount and I am talking 1995......

The worst was when we had a fire and in my panic to call the fire brigade, I forgot to tell them to bring water. They got lost en route and I could see them at the other side of the valley and then when they got to us, the penny dropped, nothing they can do without a water tanker.

I really feel for you. Sorry I cannot help more, but I empathise.

Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 17:11

Short term I have it more or less covered.
Re the borehole - no geological survey done but it was drilled by a local guy who is very well respected. He’s lived in the area all his life. Has over 12 years experience. He was extremely confident that he would find water at 35-40 metres and was more than surprised that he didn’t find any. The £2000 was just to cover his expenses for the dig and the casing. The rest of the money would have been his profit and if he had hit water he only had to put in the plastic, the pump and hook up to electric. So it wasn’t a good result for him either.

OP posts:
Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 17:13

Can you remember how much it was to connect to the mains and how far away from the source were you?

OP posts:
Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 17:14

No I haven’t tried a water diviner as I cannot find one anywhere.
sorry if I’m missing anyones posts they are coming thick and fast which I am extremely grateful for by the way

OP posts:
GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 01/07/2022 17:18

Has it definitely dried up, it's not something the forestry have done during their tree felling that's stopped it getting to you? Like cut through the pipe or flattened it or something?

Or even done something so the water's going somewhere else? Was it a groundwater well or fed by a spring? Does anyone else nearby also have a well and has their's dried up too (indicating groundwater levels are lower)

AtillatheHun · 01/07/2022 17:23

Yes! Just done this. You don’t need to dig up any roads, they’ll use directional drilling. The expense comes in terms of the formalities around connecting to the mains and your local water board will have their own quirks. Our quotes ranged from about £12k to £250k (done by local water authority. We did not go with them). The process was mainly painful around the consents required to go over third party land to get to the mains - grant of an easement for which we assumed some responsibility for maintenance of the supply we tapped in to ( we didn’t go all the way to the public main in the end). If there is another supply you can tap into, you can’t be metered. Ask away if anything specific.

AtillatheHun · 01/07/2022 17:25

(Or moling. I forget the distinction but it’s directional drilling or moling. Small trench and a few holes along the route, no channels dug)

JuneOsborne · 01/07/2022 17:34

I think you need more information. You need to know the exact costs of putting mains in. If you moved, you'd spend money on solicitors fees, surveys and moving costs, so it could be worth it.

I'd question if the water companies are allowed to leave you with no supply. To that end, I wonder if you could have a charge put on the property so you don't pay up front, but when the house sells, the money is paid then.

I'd be looking into this more.

MontanaMountains · 01/07/2022 17:34

We had to go onto the mains about 12 years ago when our borehole became contaminated after a big oil leak at a nearby farm. There were 3 properties involved and it took months to sort out all the paperwork. I think we all paid about 4.5k in the end. Mains was about half a mile away.

Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 17:37

Very interesting last two replies thank you
will be looking into these

OP posts:
mayblossominapril · 01/07/2022 17:38

What is in the house deeds regarding the water supply? Because if the forestry work has caused the issues and you have a right to that spring water they may have to sort the water out for you.

MontanaMountains · 01/07/2022 17:56

I'd question if the water companies are allowed to leave you with no supply. you'd think so wouldn't you but no, you have no right to a water supply. Ours took 8 months to get the mains connected. We had water but it was contaminated so couldn't drink it, use it for cooking, wash salad/fruit with it, brush our teeth with it. My husband was bringing several 4 gallon containers of mains water home from work every day - for 8 months!

Original poster
Notwhitevanman · 01/07/2022 18:54

Will have a look into the house deeds thing. I’m thinking proving the forestry work caused the problem would be problematic but could look into it

OP posts:
Asdf12345 · 01/07/2022 22:35

Found some details from a few years back of a 1.5km pipe run. Worked out at just shy of £3 per meter plus vat to install hiring most of the equipment but supplying fuel, two tractors, and labour. Since then fuel and pipe costs have roughly doubled. No legal costs as all on the owners land. Do you own the land all the way to the water main?

QOFE · 01/07/2022 22:42

Springs don't usually just dry up (I've been on spring water for 12 years so know a bit about this). It's more likely that theres been some damage to the collection system or pipes - have you had this properly checked?

clopper · 01/07/2022 22:54

My FIL had this, also in Wales. Turned out there was an obstruction in the pipe ( think it was a frog). They dug and backtracked the pipe for 2 weeks until they found the problem.

Onceuponaheartache · 01/07/2022 23:01

Hi @Notwhitevanman

I don't work with clean water but the company I work with often does quotes for waste water.

We work on approx £450/m + VAT for waste water mains connections. There are then the adoption fees with the water companies and the section 50 fees for the council if you need to dig up roads. You will need a professional company as both firms will need to prove they have the correct certification to do the works.

For a mile or so distance you will also likely need pump stations to pump the water to you (especially if goes up ant gradients) and they can ve 5-7k a piece.

You will also need to arrange legal access to any land not owned by you to include wayleaves and ammendments to deeds.

Welsh Water also hate connections that cross boundaries. They have a very good section for developer services on their website and they bods in their office are super helpful.

I obviously can't out myself here, but if you want some help and pointing in the right direction feel free to PM me.

For dry weather you may need to look at hiring a water bowser. We use a company to provide them when we need them, they aren't cheap but again I can provide info if needed