Private water supply. What do you do?

[Finlib]

We are on spring water which supplies the house and the field troughs.
This spell of dry weather has got me thinking what do you do if it fails?
It is gravity fed so not pumped and has supplied the farm for 60 years including when it was a working farm supplying a herd of milking cows so it is well established and not expected to fail .Still showing loads of pressure so not concerned just wondering what you would do.
That said wouldn't mind a bit of rain now!!!!

 

[ozpoz]

I lived on Spring fed water for years and am very conscious of conserving water in drought. So,general awareness of usage, quick showers, re using water where possible,e.g. dishwater for plants, not flushing the loo for pees,not running the tap when teethbrushing. I'm doing this now, even though I'm on mains water now and if everyone did this we'd save lots.
I forgot car washing - it doesn't happen!

 

[Carrottom]

We pump our water from our well. The level is getting worryingly low atm, so we are very careful. Most of my friends are on mains so I am starting to borrow their washing machines for necessities. I belong to a leisure club so am a frequent visitor for a swim and a shower!

 

[Finlib]

We are careful no dishwasher only use washer on economy when we have a full load undies washed out by hand in shower!!!!.Washing up water on pots in the garden as is any horse water buckets that are emptied before replacement water put in.Flush as needed !!!!! Considering buying bottled for our usage
Neighbour who has know our property for 30 years says never a problem even when there was a dairy herd here so not overly worried but feel happier if we got some rain soon.

 

[ycbm]

The saying round here is:


If it's yellow, let it mellow,
If it's brown, flush it down.


We are getting short, both our house springs have failed and we are currently pumping out of a trough with a trickle in it.

If/when that fails, we will be driving a bowser we own to a bridge over a nearby steam and pumping up water from that. At that point we will:

Stop flushing loos
Shower quickly or sponge bath at the sink.
Hold off using the washing machine as much as we can, and the dishwasher at all.
Wash sweat patches on the horses from a bucket not a hose.


PS because of climate change we've just ordered a borehole. Twelve thousand quid, sharp intake of breath!

 

[Cortez]

We have a spring-fed well; still doing it's thing, but we are conserving water as much as possible. Luckily we have a river bordering our land so if the worst comes to the worst...Back in 2010 when we had The Big Freeze and no running water for nearly two weeks we made the twice daily trek down the fields to draw water from the river. Only when the river started to freeze over did we get nervous. Thankfully the thaw began the day after that, but it was interesting to find your day mostly centred around hauling jerry cans up a hill.

 

[DTV]

Ah yes I remember the freeze only to well.-10 at night,daily routine of breaking an inch of ice every morning on the pond to fill jerrys for the horses. (I just drank Brandy lol).I have a borehole at the yard and monitor usage like a hawk because the water table is very low.My stream is a trickle now (rises from the same supply)and with the neds drinking 200 litres a day running dry would be a nightmare.

 

[paddy555]

PS because of climate change we've just ordered a borehole. Twelve thousand quid, sharp intake of breath!

we put a borehole in 10years ago. We cut the costs considerably by doing a lot ourselves. Obviously it had to be drilled and lined by the contractor but we did all of the rest. Digging the trench, laying the pipes and setting up the pressure vessel etc. We saved thousands. it is a relatively easy and logical job to take on.

There is a terrific mark up on materials for boreholes. When we wanted to put in additional tanks to deal with acidity we were quoted £900 just for 2 tanks.
I bought them from the same supplier the contractors use and the tanks, fittings and everything included was only around £300.
Just a thought.

 

[sywell]

we put a borehole in 10years ago. We cut the costs considerably by doing a lot ourselves. Obviously it had to be drilled and lined by the contractor but we did all of the rest. Digging the trench, laying the pipes and setting up the pressure vessel etc. We saved thousands. it is a relatively easy and logical job to take on.

There is a terrific mark up on materials for boreholes. When we wanted to put in additional tanks to deal with acidity we were quoted £900 just for 2 tanks.
I bought them from the same supplier the contractors use and the tanks, fittings and everything included was only around £300.
Just a thought.

I put in a borehole in 1990 and a pressure vessel the quality of the water is exceptional according to Trent Water and I replaced the bladder in the the pressure vessel this year. I pay no water rates and have a constant pressure of 3.2 bar

 

[Archangel]

PS because of climate change we've just ordered a borehole. Twelve thousand quid, sharp intake of breath!

The boreholes are running dry here (Wales) whereas the springs are still going (admittedly I am on the springy side of the hill though). Can you find a dowser to search out a spring?

 

[ycbm]

The boreholes are running dry here (Wales) whereas the springs are still going (admittedly I am on the springy side of the hill though). Can you find a dowser to search out a spring?

I can dowse

Our borehole will be drilled to sixty metres and there's plenty of water down there . We already have the farm in the area with the most reliable spring supply. No-one with a borehole is at all short of water. Thanks for the suggestion, though.