Borehole Water Supply | Benefits and Costs

What is a borehole water supply?

A borehole water supply is a way to directly supply your property with potable water. A borehole water supply can provide a reliable alternative to the mains water supply.

Underground natural mineral water often flows through permeable chalk and rock. The filtration through the rock layers means that this water can be of the highest quality.

A borehole water supply is a deep well that accesses this underground water with a high-efficiency pump.

The benefits of a borehole water supply for my business

These are the three most important benefits of using a borehole as a water supply for your business.

Cost savings

Once a borehole water supply is installed, ongoing water costs are minimal, requiring only the payment of business electricity rates for pumping water to the surface

Business water rates increase each year and are more expensive than ever, so securing your own water supply can save thousands by avoiding charges on business water bills.

Supply security

A borehole provides an independent water source that protects companies against business water interruptions.

For businesses such as manufacturing facilities or power plants, where an uninterrupted water supply is vital, a borehole water supply offers a redundancy option in case of issues with the local mains water supply.

Sustainability

The British water industry uses vast amounts of electricity to pump water over long distances through local pipework, resulting in a substantial carbon footprint.

In contrast, sustainable water extraction from local aquifers requires only a small amount of energy.

How does a borehole work?

For businesses looking to manage their own water supply and become independent from their business water supplier, a borehole offers an excellent alternative.

It enables significant savings on business water rates compared to the mains water supply. A borehole is a highly worthwhile investment for businesses that regularly consume large quantities of water.

Here’s a summary of the process for installing a borehole:

The pre-drilling survey

Before drilling takes place – a pre-drilling survey must be undertaken. The survey is carried out to cover the following aspects:

Review the composition of the ground
Check the ground can be drilled through
Check if water is present in the ground
Review the water depth, quantity, and quality of the water
Review the possibilities drilling and lining

If the survey is successful, water fitting regulations require that you notify your water company before starting the installation work.

Drilling and lining

The drilling and lining stage consists of the following steps:

A local check for underground utilities.
Drilling an eight-inch borehole down to the water table.
Depending on the ground composition, you will need to install a temporary steel casing to prevent collapse during drilling. Then five-inch plastic or steel casing will be slotted to the bottom of the hole.
Now, you will backfill the gap between the screen you’ve put in place and the borehole walls with recycled glass gravel.
Finally, you will cement the gap between the pump chamber and walls at the top of the borehole.

Once the initial drilling and lining have taken place, it’s time to test the water quality.

Testing the water quality

Testing determines your requirements for both the water quality and the correct pump setup. This is done by using a submersible pump to test the flow of water.

The checks include the natural water level, the recharge rate and the quantity of water. It enables you to work out the correct pump size you will need to ensure water is pumped efficiently into your property.

Ensuring the water is tested adequately at this stage is essential. The water from boreholes is usually safe to drink; there are, however, sometimes dissolved minerals and impurities in the water.

To test the water, samples are sent to a UKAS laboratory to establish the purity and existence of minerals and other substances present in the water. After the results from the lab – you will begin to look at the water treatment systems to ensure you comply with UK water regulations allowing you to provide a pure potable water supply.

Once this is achieved, you can move on to designing and testing the water pump system.

Design and test the pump system

This is a critical element of ensuring that your borehole functions correctly – it is what brings the water to the surface and needs to run efficiently and reliably.

Pumps for boreholes generally range from four to six-inch submersible stainless-steel pumps. Or, high powered circulation pumps and pressure sets can also be used, depending on your circumstances.

An underground well chamber will then be installed above the borehole to protect the equipment – this is a requirement of the private water supply regulations. The submersible well pump is installed into your borehole, deep down into the water chamber.

Depending on your current setup on your premises, there may be a need to install another water tank, with the sizing based on the estimate of daily water usage. These tanks can range up to 20,000 litres.

The treatment of water

Finally, you will need to consider the treatment of the water supplied by the borehole. Usually, the water extracted is perfectly safe to drink; as mentioned above, you need to comply with the UK’s national drinking water regulations – therefore, a water treatment system is required.

Based on the sample received and tested by the UKAS laboratory, a water treatment system will be developed to deal with any irregularities in water content to ensure you have a potable water supply for your business.

The water treatment system will generally include the following:

UV sterilisers
Iron and manganese filtration units.
Reverse osmosis filters

Costs of a borehole water supply

The installation costs for a water borehole depend on several factors, including the size of the borehole, the quality of the groundwater, and the required daily water supply capacity.

Simple borehole water supply installations start from approximately £10,000. Here is a summary of the different cost components, along with an estimated range for each:

Cost Component	Description	Estimated Cost Range (£)
Site Survey and Feasibility	Hydrogeological surveys to assess water availability, quality, and suitability of the location.	500 - 3,000
Permissions and Licensing	Application fees for abstraction licences from the Environment Agency (if over 20m³/day).	125 - 1,500+
Drilling and Construction	Drilling the borehole, casing installation, and well construction. Costs depend on depth and geology.	6,000 - 25,000+
Pumping System Installation	Submersible pumps, pipework, and necessary fittings to extract water.	2,000 - 8,000
Water Treatment System	Filtration, UV treatment, or reverse osmosis to meet specific water quality requirements.	1,500 - 10,000+
Storage Tanks	Water storage systems for buffering and supply management.	1,000 - 5,000+
Electrical Systems	Wiring, control panels, and integration of pumping and treatment systems.	1,000 - 4,000
Monitoring Equipment	Flow meters, water quality testing devices, and other monitoring systems.	500 - 3,000
Site Restoration	Post-installation landscaping or repairs to restore the site.	500 - 2,000
Total installation	All installation costs above.	10,000 - 50,000
Ongoing Maintenance	Annual servicing, pump repairs, and water quality testing.	500 - 1,500/year

Is a borehole right for my business?

The significant upfront investment required for a borehole, combined with the availability of cheap mains water, means that a borehole water supply is not the best option for many small businesses.

Here are examples of the types of businesses where investing in a borehole is most beneficial:

Agriculture: Boreholes are widely used in farming for irrigation, where large quantities of water are required for crops during the summer. Rural locations often have access to aquifers that provide groundwater with a high mineral content, which is beneficial for crops.
Hotels, resorts, and golf courses: The hospitality industry’s gardens, swimming pools, and laundry facilities require significant volumes of water. Borehole water supplies can offer a cheaper alternative to mains business water rates.
Power plants: Electricity generation facilities, such as gas power stations and nuclear power plants, use vast quantities of water for cooling turbines and other equipment. Boreholes or direct water abstraction provide an economical alternative to a water connection.

The disadvantages of using a borehole

There are many benefits to using a borehole as your primary source of water; however, there are also three key drawbacks to consider:

A stringent treatment process: Borehole water cannot always be used directly for all forms of consumption, such as food and drink production. You will need to ensure that the water is tested and that a purification system is installed, which increases costs.
Local suitability: Depending on local aquifer conditions, Borehole water supplies are not suitable everywhere. Groundwater may be contaminated by nearby run-off of agricultural fertilisers or other industrial activities.
Groundwater depletion: Excessive water abstraction from an aquifer can lead to resource depletion, lowering water levels and potentially impacting local streams and lakes.

Borehole water supply FAQs

Our business water experts answer frequently asked questions about borehole water supplies in Britain.

How deep should a borehole be?

A borehole needs to access natural streams of water in the rocks below your property. It really depends on how deep the water-bearing rock is. The average depth is 70 meters, but it can be less or significantly more.

What is the difference between a borehole and a well?

In function, there is little difference between a borehole and a well. Typically, the difference is that wells are dug manually and have a wide hole, whereas the boreholes are drilled with a small diameter.

How much water can a borehole produce for my business?

A single borehole can produce up to 20,000 litres (20 cubic meters) of water every day for your business.

If you currently use a substantial amount of water per day as a business, have you considered our switch business water suppliers service? The benefits include saving money, improving customer service by having dedicated account managers, consolidated billing and a more tailored experience.