Dairy, beef and fruit farms are strongly dependent on a reliable water supply - and the large volumes of water they often use can be costly if connected to the public water mains. HighWater has installed new borehole-sourced water supplies to many farms across the United Kingdom, either to ensure reliability or to provide a more cost-effective alternative to the public water mains.
HighWater provides a phased approach to modernising water supplies of this nature. The first step is often to undertake water usage monitoring to establish whether there are any baseline leaks, which is often the case if there is an extensive infrastructure with many outlets such as field troughs. The data obtained also provides water consumption usage data which is required for designing the most suitable arrangements for connecting new sources.
Where possible we will retain and integrate the existing private or any connections to the public water mains supply in order to provide a back-up.
We can act on your behalf to obtain the necessary authorisations from the relevant authority (SEPA in Scotland; EA in England) for larger abstractions of groundwater which are typically required by farms.
Case Studies
Cattle Farm near Aberlour
The spring supply to a farm, close to one of their distilleries near Aberlour, dried up during the summer of 2016. HighWater was contacted to determine whether the spring source could be improved or whether it would be necessary to establish a new source for the private water supply. We determined that the existing spring source was inadequate, so a new borehole supply was established to serve the farm. The borehole installation arrangements were completed in such a way that the borehole supply topped up the spring supply if the spring could not keep up with the farm’s demand.
Dairy Farm - Orkney Islands
HighWater was contacted by a farmer on the Orkney Islands whose existing water supply was not producing enough water to meet the demand from his dairy farm. After evaluating the options, HighWater determined that the best course of action was to drill a borehole water well and integrate this into the existing water supply infrastructure. The borehole drilling works were successful, and the sustainable yield was more than sufficient to meet the farm’s requirements. The water had slightly elevated concentrations of naturally occurring iron, so it was necessary to incorporate a Shakesby and Sons iron reduction filter.
Soft Fruit Farm - Near Nairn
HighWater was contacted by the owner of a soft fruit farm near Nairn whose existing borehole was not producing enough water to meet the farm irrigation system demand. This meant that there was too much reliance on the Scottish Water back-up system, which was costly to use. HighWater was contracted to drill a new borehole that would supply enough water to meet the demand from the farm. After a careful site survey to determine the most suitable location, the borehole was successfully drilled to an overall depth of 99m and the sustainable yield was measured to be in excess of 7,000litres/hour. A suitably rated Grundfos borehole pump and pump control system were installed and the supply from the new borehole integrated into the existing distribution arrangements.
Hugh & Sandra Adcock
Grantown-on-Spey
"The choice of the drilling site was spot on and we now have a water supply second to none.
I would like to thank Highwater for the care and expertise involved in the project."