This document provides information about various water sources and characteristics. It discusses modern water usage and consumption rates. It then describes different types of water sources like dew ponds, wells, springs and reservoirs. It provides data on rainfall amounts in different regions of the UK. It also discusses water quality indicators and contaminants. Case studies are presented on outbreaks of cholera from contaminated water. Details are given about specific mineral water sources from locations in the UK, Georgia and France.

1. The Sandstone Ridge Trust Ltd
Company limited by guarantee Number 7673603
Registered Charity Number 1144470

2. David Joyce

3. 1 Water usage
2 Types of water source and associated features
3 Water characteristics and oddities
4 Water tasting exercise
5 Case studies
6 What next?

4. Water consumption
Modern Water usage
45 – 100 m3/person/year
Drinking Water
2-3 litres/day
Approx. 0.5 to 1 m3 /year
Since 1900 water consumption in
Europe has gone up 500 fold.

5. Water usage 1 m3
= 1000 litres = 220 gallons
25 metre pool; 1.5 metres
deep; lane 1 metre wide
= 37.5 m3/lane
So 1 lane of the pool is
enough drinking water for up
to 75 people for a year.
It takes about 1,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk
(includes irrigation, drinking, cleaning of cows and equipment, waste disposal etc.)
It takes 5,000 - 20,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of
meat
It takes 500 - 4000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of wheat

6. The water cycle

7. Rainfall
Cheshire Lake District Essex
790 mm/year
31 inches/year
1660 mm /year
65 inches/year
580 mm/year
23 inches/year

9. Dew ponds

10. Dew ponds
 A dew pond is an artificial pond usually sited
on the top of a hill, intended for watering
livestock.
 Dew ponds are used in areas where a natural
supply of surface water may not be readily
available.
 The name dew pond (sometimes cloud pond
or mist pond) is first found in 1865.
 Despite the name, their primary source of
water is believed to be rainfall rather than
dew or mist.

11. Marl pits

12. Marl
Pits
1953
map

13. Major
lakes,
streams
and
brooks

14. Spring-fed lake: Harmer’s Lake, Helsby

15. River source

16. Sources of water

17. Wells

18. Spring source

19. Well or borehole

20. Typical
borehole
construction

21. Wells
and
springs
1953
map

22. Marl Pits Wells and springs

23. Named
Wells
Wanlow’s,
Wandlow’s,
Wanless Well?
= green
Lord’s well
= red
Swan’s well
= purple
1953 map

24. Water well in a perfect
world

25. Water well in reality

26. Communal dipping well
Woodhouses

27. Dropping stone well
Bickerton hill

28. Beeston Castle Well

29. Brick and concrete reservoirs

30. Water towers
Pale Heights
Eddisbury Hill Farm

31. Harthill School Fountain, 1862

33. Characteristics of water
The following is a list of indicators of water quality:
 Alkalinity
 Colour of water
 pH
 Taste and odour
 Dissolved metals and salts (sodium, chloride, potassium,
calcium, manganese, magnesium)
 Heavy metals and metalloids (lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.)
 Dissolved organics
 Radon
 Pharmaceuticals
 Hormone analogues
 Microorganisms

34. Variation in water composition
Mouldsworth
Water bearing
stratum at 250 ft
Mouldsworth
Water bearing
stratum at 800 ft
Calcium carbonate 170 170
Magnesium sulphate 6 60
Magnesium
chloride
155 22
Sodium chloride 780 300
Total hardness 440 260
Water analysis in parts per million
Thresh, Beale and Suckling (1949)

35. Water hardness (mg/l CaCO3)
soft up to 50
moderately soft 50 – 100
slightly hard 100 – 150
moderately hard 150 – 200
hard 200 – 300
very hard over 300

36. Water quality

37. Water-borne diseases
Bacteria Protozoa Viruses Parasites
Salmonella typhi
Vibrio cholerae
Campylobacter
Leptospira
Salmonella
E coli
Shigella
Legionella
pneumophilia
Giardia
Entamoeba
Cryptosporidium
Several groups
cause diarrhoea
Hepatitis
Several

38. Sources of contamination

39. Cholera in Soho
In August 1854, a major
outbreak of cholera struck
Soho. By 10 September,
500 people had died.
John Snow eventually
linked the outbreak to
contaminated water. The
local council disabled the
well and the outbreak
declined.

41. Perrier Water - 1
Rainfall
LIMESTONE
Water plus Carbon dioxide plus impurities
‘Boiling
pool’
Clean carbon
dioxide
FAULT
IMPERMEABLE MARL
CAP ROCK
Perrier
water
LIMESTONE
CLAY CAP
SAND

42. Perrier
water
Perrier Water - 2
CLAY CAP
Rainfall
LIMESTONE
Water plus Carbon dioxide plus impurities
‘Boiling
pool’
Clean carbon
dioxide
FAULT
IMPERMEABLE MARL
CAP ROCK
LIMESTONE
Filter
Discard water
SAND

43. Buxton water – 5000 years
old

44. Buxton water – 5000 years
old

45. Sulphur well at Bolton
Abbey, Yorkshire

46. Water from the Republic of Georgia
 “Borjomi spring water is beneficial
in the treatment of diseases due to
its mineral properties.”
 “Borjomi mineral water has been
used for centuries to treat chronic
gastritis, gastric and duodenal
ulcers, chronic diseases of the liver
and bile ducts, gallstones, kidney
stones, urinary tract infections and
respiratory diseases.”

47. Chemical composition
Borjormi (mg/l) Peckforton (mg/l)
Calcium 100 90
Bicarbonate 3500-5000
Sodium and
Potassium
1200-2000 36
Chloride 250-500 11
Sulphate Less than 10 28
Total solids 5500 - 7500

48. Water from the Lake District
• The Willow aquifer is the source of the legendary Holy Well of
Cartmel dating as far back as the 12th Century.
• Filtered through what was once a white willow forest, and
limestone, willow water has a unique mineral composition
including Calcium and Salicin.

49. Whistlebitch well

50. Whistlebitch well today

51. Horsley bath

52. Helsby Water Tower
Cheshire Observer 11 April 1896

53. Manley water supply
Location of storage tank
Location of feeder reservoir
Location of water ram

54. Manley water supply

55. Water ram
Basic components of a hydraulic ram:
1. Inlet — drive pipe
2. Free flow at waste valve
3. Outlet — delivery pipe
4. Waste valve
5. Delivery check valve
6. Pressure vessel
Hydraulic Water Ram systems need no external source of power --
the force of moving water gives them the power they need.
They are extremely simple, with just two moving parts

56. Bulkeley Hill
Staffordshire Potteries Water Board
Hauled tramway for the construction of the reservoir
(c1953) and water storage tanks

57. ‘ The Spring...
Mineral Composition Mg Per Litre
Calcium 90
Magnesium 21
Potassium 3.9
Chloride 11.4
Sulphate 27.9
Sodium 32
The village of Tattenhall,
beneath Cheshire's beautiful
Peckforton Hills, is home to the
spring which has provided this
pure, clear and refreshing water
for over 70 years.
The original borehole for the
water was sunk in 1938, and
over the years provided millions
of litres of fresh water. A new
borehole was created in 1993 to
meet the highest modern
standards of production.

58. Frodsham Mineral Water Co
1900 to 1913
Two cousins by the name of Ellison
and Corker founded a mineral water
company in 1888. It was behind
Millbank Cottages, off Main Street.
It was renamed Frodsham Mineral
Water Co. in 1912 and many of their
old bottles with 'glass alleys' in the
neck still remain. The man holding
the horse is Joe Ellison, a son of the
founder, and the boy on the cart ,
Billy Booth

59. General Discussion