Here is something I had not considered before

[NorthernRaider]

TH that is a superb post of the highest quality. NR

[Tartar Horde]

(10 August 2013, 11:39)NorthernRaider Wrote: TH that is a superb post of the highest quality. NR

Ic sæcge eow þancas NR, Wassail

[NorthernRaider]

Georne!

[BDG]

(7 August 2013, 16:12)NorthernRaider Wrote: Monty please check your facts before making statements, in the UK most reserviors are filled naturally from feeder rivers and streams in the hills they only use gravity in most areas, we have a fraction of the pump operated systems than you do in the colonies. Most of the North west is fed by gravity from the Lake district, Most of the North east is fed by gravity from Kielder water in Norhumberland and the Pennines. Much of Yorkshire and derbyshire is fed from the upper dales and peak district. its not until you head towards the eastern fens and home counties they go onto aquifers.

Eg Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Middlesbrough, Doncaster, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham etc all take gravity fed water in part at least and nearly every British reservoir is fed naturally by streams.

As I remember, water is not directly taken from Kielder - it supplies the Derwent, Tyne, Wear and Tees. There is a pipline on the Tyne so they can discharge from Kielder and pick up water just below Corbridge to supply the Wear and the Tees and Derwent.

For water supply on Tyneside, water is released from Kielder, flows downstream to Barrasford, just up from Humshaugh (this supplies the local area there - some even has to be pumped back to Kielder and beyond) and also is extracted for use and also at Ovingham, near Wylam where it it then pumped uphill to treatment works at Horsley. Should TSHTF, these treatment works will be supplied with water to supply the system and so will not be supplying urban reservoirs.

Under normal conditions, there are local reservoirs (there are loads of them, normally covered or underground) on high points. If you live in an urban area, there is normally one within a mile or two.

When these run out, the water will run out.

The system is the same on the Wear and Tees. There is a lot of though and resilience actually built into the system to prevent water mains draining major reservoirs.

Kielder, Cowgreen and the other reservoirs will spill over if not managed. The dams are designed so even if they are of natural materials, they have lips that will put up with water running over them without washing them away. Some have built in spill ways and other features for water to get into the river systems. The one at Fontburn reservoir is impressive and well worth a visit.

As for aquifers, the far North of Northumberland takes it water from groundwater.

The rain water drains will be a problem eventually, I know some of the problems seen on Tyneside last year were because some main drains had not been cleaned in years. Once these are not functioning, roads will become water courses and a lot of land at all elevations will become bog.

[NorthernRaider]

They were saying on the Sunday politics show a while back that Kielder rarely if ever is used to supply water through that giant pipeline they built cos the demand on the industrial tees never materialised. So at least its servng Tyneside and Northumberland. Should save us from getting stuck with water meters at least

[BDG]

I think it supplies the Wear zone during summer, but other than that, it is just used for Tyneside. New houses get the water meters by law, but I know of no plans to retrofit them. When people say not to 'waste' water, it just does not apply up here. No chance of a hosepipe ban and I do not worry at all about leaving the tap running while brushing my teeth.

There are quite a few small to medium sized reservoirs that are just no longer used as they are uneconomical to use when we have Kielder, Derwent and Cow Green - I have walked around the three of them and they are big bodies of water. Other parts of the country would run out of water faster than they run out of food I reckon should the worst happen.

[BeardyMan]

(10 August 2013, 22:47)BDG Wrote: When people say not to 'waste' water, it just does not apply up here. No chance of a hosepipe ban and I do not worry at all about leaving the tap running while brushing my teeth.

We're one of the few countries that truly waste water. We must use millions of litres of drinking water a day, flushing the toilet....

What a waste.

[Skean Dhude]

No water is wasted.

Nature pours trillions of gallons straight onto land that funnels into waste water pipes that take it to sewage plants, reservoirs and the sea where it eventually ends up being converted to enjoy the journey again. If we didn't use it it wouldn't make any difference. We might have fuller reservoirs but that would be it. The Gov would make them smaller and we would be in the same situation.

What we do waste is time worrying about wasting water in this country.

[bigpaul]

(11 August 2013, 19:06)BeardyMan Wrote: We're one of the few countries that truly waste water. We must use millions of litres of drinking water a day, flushing the toilet....

What a waste.

I don't understand why in the 21st Century we are still using drinking quality water to flush the bogs? it shouldn't be that hard to divert rain water from the roof gutters into a tank in the roof space and piped to the back of the toilet....they can do it with some new houses so why cant they do it for older ones? oh silly me! the water companies wouldn't get as much money then would they-as its not going through the meters !

[Lightspeed]

Good observation BP, and great timing.

Currently I am living in the tutrmoil of fitting an entire new prep-specific plumbing system over the last weekend.

Your post got my mind thinking and I've realised that by closing the dedicated stop cock to the toilet cistern, hooking up the rainwater harvest reservoir to its drain cock and then opening that valve, I can back feed the cistern with untreated rainwater, without contamonating the rest of the house supply:-) This is an unplanned happy coincidence.

Thanks for sharing that thought