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- 47
My sister has recently bought a country cottage which is supplied by mains water pumped uphill from a large break tank to a second storage tank in a field. The water then comes back downhill to her property and two others by gravity. Pressure is poor and a booster pump is needed in the house to raise the water to the header tanks and give adequate cold water flow downstairs. We were aware of all this on purchase and accepted the situation.
Not long after moving in however my sister started to suffer from stomach upsets and eventually had the water tested. It turned out to be severely contaminated with bacteria and also had unacceptable levels of iron and manganese. The water company tested at all points in the system and advised that the contamination was not in the mains but started to appear in the break tank (the point where the mains enters the private system) As far as we can see there appears to be run-off from the fields entering this tank which is fairly old and constructed in concrete.
Unfortunately the other two property owners served by this system are not willing to contribute to any repairs, despite having been given written reports with the test results which clearly state the water is not safe to drink! The water company have also advised us that the existing storage tanks are far too big and the time the water is standing is contributing to the problem.
My sister initially wanted to avoid all the problems by installing a small break tank of her own with it's own pump and installing a whole new pipeline up the hill to her house, hoping this would ensure the water would be fresh as well as at a decent pressure. This however would cost in the region of £10,000 (£7000 of that was for digging a 500 metre trench!) We could get cheaper estimates but the farmer who owns the land won't allow any other contractor onto his land!
We are now considering having the existing break tank drained and sealed internally, the system sanitized and a UV filter + filters for iron and manganese fitted on the incoming supply to the house but we would still need to improve matters as regards pressure for shower and HW supply so we need to think of what is likely to be the best bet all round.
Apologies for the long story but these are my questions:
1) Are there proprietary sealers on the market for sealing the inside of concrete (potable) water tanks?
2) What would be the likely running costs for filtration (UV bulbs, filtration medium etc)?
3) Is filtration totally reliable in terms of killing all the nasties?
Assuming we get the water quality sorted out, we then need to improve the flow to the HW, which is a conventional indirect vented cylinder heated by an oil boiler and fed from a header tank on the landing. Moving the tank higher would obviously help but the apex above the upstairs bedrooms is tiny. My thoughts are -
1) Forget Combis for a start - a Combi fed by a booster pump sounds like a recipe for disaster!
2) A Megaflo might be a possibility but the existing booster pump is only just giving an adequate cold flow - i doubt that
it would be satisfactory for a pressurised system.
3) I'm considering a whole line of interconnected small tanks the length of the tiny apex roofspace feeding the existing
cylinder. Even a coffin tank wouldn't slip up without removing roof trusses.
AS IF ALL THIS ISN'T ENOUGH........all the drainage in the house (bath, sinks, dishwasher, washing machine) apart from the toilet itself is directed into a drain which leads to a ditch at the side of the road - honestly! A neighbour thinks it's because the previous owner had problems with the septic tank and redirected everything to reduce flow to the tank - presumably because it's got a dodgy soakaway! (Bucket of worms maybe???)
Thanks to all who have read this far! Any suggestions, commiserations etc most welcome!
Not long after moving in however my sister started to suffer from stomach upsets and eventually had the water tested. It turned out to be severely contaminated with bacteria and also had unacceptable levels of iron and manganese. The water company tested at all points in the system and advised that the contamination was not in the mains but started to appear in the break tank (the point where the mains enters the private system) As far as we can see there appears to be run-off from the fields entering this tank which is fairly old and constructed in concrete.
Unfortunately the other two property owners served by this system are not willing to contribute to any repairs, despite having been given written reports with the test results which clearly state the water is not safe to drink! The water company have also advised us that the existing storage tanks are far too big and the time the water is standing is contributing to the problem.
My sister initially wanted to avoid all the problems by installing a small break tank of her own with it's own pump and installing a whole new pipeline up the hill to her house, hoping this would ensure the water would be fresh as well as at a decent pressure. This however would cost in the region of £10,000 (£7000 of that was for digging a 500 metre trench!) We could get cheaper estimates but the farmer who owns the land won't allow any other contractor onto his land!
We are now considering having the existing break tank drained and sealed internally, the system sanitized and a UV filter + filters for iron and manganese fitted on the incoming supply to the house but we would still need to improve matters as regards pressure for shower and HW supply so we need to think of what is likely to be the best bet all round.
Apologies for the long story but these are my questions:
1) Are there proprietary sealers on the market for sealing the inside of concrete (potable) water tanks?
2) What would be the likely running costs for filtration (UV bulbs, filtration medium etc)?
3) Is filtration totally reliable in terms of killing all the nasties?
Assuming we get the water quality sorted out, we then need to improve the flow to the HW, which is a conventional indirect vented cylinder heated by an oil boiler and fed from a header tank on the landing. Moving the tank higher would obviously help but the apex above the upstairs bedrooms is tiny. My thoughts are -
1) Forget Combis for a start - a Combi fed by a booster pump sounds like a recipe for disaster!
2) A Megaflo might be a possibility but the existing booster pump is only just giving an adequate cold flow - i doubt that
it would be satisfactory for a pressurised system.
3) I'm considering a whole line of interconnected small tanks the length of the tiny apex roofspace feeding the existing
cylinder. Even a coffin tank wouldn't slip up without removing roof trusses.
AS IF ALL THIS ISN'T ENOUGH........all the drainage in the house (bath, sinks, dishwasher, washing machine) apart from the toilet itself is directed into a drain which leads to a ditch at the side of the road - honestly! A neighbour thinks it's because the previous owner had problems with the septic tank and redirected everything to reduce flow to the tank - presumably because it's got a dodgy soakaway! (Bucket of worms maybe???)
Thanks to all who have read this far! Any suggestions, commiserations etc most welcome!
