Pumping spring water to shed supply

[FarmerK]

I was wondering if anyone has a pump in a spring and pumps waters to their buildings. If so could someone point me in the right direction as to where I can find these.

The thought behind it is the cattle are drinking a lot of water indoors and there is a natural spring not so far at all from the buildings so wondered if there was a way to pump water into a header tank or something instead of using the mains.

Thanks

 

[Kam]

I'm not sure where in the country you are, or the legalities of what you want to do, but you may require a licence from the EA/SPA to do that.

 

[Brisel]

Perfectly feasible. How much flow from the spring? How far from the buildings is it and how close is the nearest electric supply? If it’s a little way away and the flow is good, install a tank just below the spring and fit a ram to pump it up to a decent sized header tank.
As above, you will need consent from the relevant water agency to use the water even if you’re below the 20m3 limit for a full abstraction licence.

 

[renewablejohn]

Perfectly feasible. How much flow from the spring? How far from the buildings is it and how close is the nearest electric supply? If it’s a little way away and the flow is good, install a tank just below the spring and fit a ram to pump it up to a decent sized header tank.
As above, you will need consent from the relevant water agency to use the water even if you’re below the 20m3 limit for a full abstraction licence.

Can you point me to where you need consent from a relevant water agency. We have a gravity fed supply which rises over 10 mtrs in places. What people forget is that water in a pipe will go uphill so if your start point is higher above sea level than the end point then gravity will move it.

 

[Bob the beef]

Don’t know what part of the country you’re in but just crack on with it. Virtually every farm round here ( scot borders) runs on spring water from more than one source

 

[Brisel]

Can you point me to where you need consent from a relevant water agency. We have a gravity fed supply which rises over 10 mtrs in places. What people forget is that water in a pipe will go uphill so if your start point is higher above sea level than the end point then gravity will move it.

You're impounding water. That requires you to ask the Environment Agency in England. It's much easier if the rate is less than 20m3/day as you won't need a licence. A few livestock buildings should require much less than that.

 

[Hilly]

I was wondering if anyone has a pump in a spring and pumps waters to their buildings. If so could someone point me in the right direction as to where I can find these.

The thought behind it is the cattle are drinking a lot of water indoors and there is a natural spring not so far at all from the buildings so wondered if there was a way to pump water into a header tank or something instead of using the mains.

Thanks

Could you use a ram pump ?

 

[betweenthelines]

You're not taking water out of the river network, though are you. You're just processing it through livestock.

They drink it then pee or sweat it out-a natural cycle

 

[renewablejohn]

You're impounding water. That requires you to ask the Environment Agency in England. It's much easier if the rate is less than 20m3/day as you won't need a licence. A few livestock buildings should require much less than that.

Where does it say that. Only impounding rules I have seen are covered in the reservoir acts and thats only for reservoirs in excess of 5000 m3. Would think its quite a big herd if there drinking 20 m3 per day.

 

[FarmerK]

The water supply comes out of a mineshaft on our boundary fence which is the start of the spring. It’s not a big river or anything. Relatively close to the buildings. Perhaps 150ft away?

 

[Tarw Coch]

We have a well just behind the buildings, we have a submersible pump pumping into a header tank, geography is on our side In that the header tank is about 15 foot higher than ground level in the buildings so water flows by gravity, not huge pressure so need a big pipe to get reasonable flow.

 

[Brisel]

Where does it say that. Only impounding rules I have seen are covered in the reservoir acts and thats only for reservoirs in excess of 5000 m3. Would think its quite a big herd if there drinking 20 m3 per day.

Page 5 of this https://assets.publishing.service.g...bstracting-water-guide-to-getting-licence.pdf

Any investigation of groundwater requires EA consent.

 

[renewablejohn]

Page 5 of this https://assets.publishing.service.g...bstracting-water-guide-to-getting-licence.pdf

Any investigation of groundwater requires EA consent.

Thats not what it says. Read page 4 it only applies to abstraction more than 20 m3 per day so you can stockpile your water into a reservoir at less than 20 m3 then use as much as you like from your reservoir. No restriction if you keep below the 5000 m3 reservior act requirement above that and it can become expensive.

 

[Brisel]

Whatever. Try intercepting water without talking to the EA and you will find it an expensive job if you’ve spent lots of money on it and they shut you down. At least we seem to agree on the 20m3/day threshold which I can’t see being breached from what the OP has described so far.

 

[upnortheast]

Assume spring will be the same - For a borehole for less than 20 cu m day there is no requirement to seek any permission.

 

[som farmer]

depends on how much water you want, if source is higher, or lower than your buildings, if higher, catchment tank, and pipe, or electric pump, or, as we had at one time, petrol pump, so much fuel, to pump so much water, every day.

 

[Exfarmer]

You cannot use this water for spray irrigation though. That does need a licence.
I believe there is an jssue with ram pumps , as sone jobsworth s believe the water used by the pump counts towards this 20 CM . even if it is returned straight to the source

 

[primmiemoo]

The water supply comes out of a mineshaft on our boundary fence which is the start of the spring. It’s not a big river or anything. Relatively close to the buildings. Perhaps 150ft away?

Is it good water? Mine water can be contaminated, so have you had it checked?

 

[bluepower]

depends on how much water you want, if source is higher, or lower than your buildings, if higher, catchment tank, and pipe, or electric pump, or, as we had at one time, petrol pump, so much fuel, to pump so much water, every day.

We have a submersible pump with a float switch which feeds the water into a pressure vessel. It feeds all our cattle sheds with a decent pressurised supply ,150 odd cattle no problem. Only problem is if you have a power cut!

 

[renewablejohn]

Whatever. Try intercepting water without talking to the EA and you will find it an expensive job if you’ve spent lots of money on it and they shut you down. At least we seem to agree on the 20m3/day threshold which I can’t see being breached from what the OP has described so far.

Really. EA where totally uninterested in our water supply and reservoir for our market garden business in fact quite the reverse with active encouragement once we explained it could be used as a flood prevention measure during the winter. Only thing they where interested in was whether it was above 20 m3 per day and above 5000 m3 of storage.