Borehole drying up again
13 10 2006The Other Half and I have just come in from feeding the pigs and checking the water storage.
I noticed a week ago that the water level in the 12,500-litre tank had started to fall, while checks on the borehole itself revealed that it was pumping dry faster.
Today’s inspection revealed there was only two feet of water in the tank, so we’re definitely back on tight water restrictions for the forseeable future.
There is still water in the borehole, but instead of taking two minutes for the pump to suck it dry, it’s now only taking 15-20 seconds.
That’s nowhere near enough to keep the tank topped off and, as we had a dry summer before the recent rain, that could mean up to six months on reduced water while we wait for the rainwater to percolate through and raise the level of the water table again.
It certainly makes life interesting.
You’re the 2nd person today to tell me their borehole is drying up - also fairly local. Interesting.
Hi Dennis,
Sounds like your going to need to need those capture and storage ideas more than ever to retain as much of that runoff as possible. Some simple terracing or contour swales (wide shallow ditches dug along contour line) probably the best and only way of achieving it. Best and cheapest way is to hire a 4 ton excavator for the weekend and teach yourself to use it. Cost no more than £140 for a weekend. Use a grading bucket and strip back the turf and replace when your done. You can then still cut hay and graze the meadows etc. I can give you some more details if you want.
Unfortunately, we don’t have £140. What I’ve been doing is building berms along the contours in the areas where we don’t need to graze or cut hay mechanically.
When we have money to spare, I may also plant these up with hedgerow plants as the berms are also in places where windbreaks would be useful.. The berms curve up the hill slightly at the lower ends to help catch the water flow.
Unfortunately, building berms is a slow process as I have to dig the earth out with mattock and digging hoe, load it onto the wheelbarrow and then move it where it’s needed. A slow process, but it’s getting there.