It took just a couple of hours with the drilling rig for the lovely guys from Highwater to be standing in a giant puddle of water. Having left them looking like humans we returned to find Jeff, Mike and Gavin a paler shade of white due to all the rock dust in the air. Seeing them standing there so soon, knee deep in water, was a very welcome site and the cause of much excitement for us. There’s no particular science behind identifying a spot for drilling a water borehole. It’s a bit of a gamble and though mostly successful, they are duty bound to point out that there is a risk of being left with an expensive dry hole in the ground… A few more hours later and they were achieving a flow of 268 litres of water per hour. That’s more than enough for our needs and we are very happy customers!
Our off-grid water supply
30th March 2018
KJ
There’s water in them there hills….or 52m below ground to be more precise…! Our new off-grid water supply is a borehole that extends 25m below sea level. It blows my mind a bit when I look down that little pipe.
You can be sure when you soak in the views from your cabin bath that the water you are bathing in will be many years old and filtered through Britains oldest rock type, Lewisian Gneiss. These rocks form all of the Outer Hebrides and parts of the North West Highlands of Scotland. Lewisian Gneiss can be as old as two and half billion years…! You can see these rocks with their colourful bands and layers of minerals all around the islands.
A sample of water is currently being analysed for levels of ph and minerals such as iron and manganese. If needed an appropriate small treatment plant will be designed to ensure the water from the tap conforms to government drinking water standard. A UV filter will be installed as a precaution though with the water being sourced and filtered through such old and distant rocks it really has been untouched for many years and as clean as you can get!
Stay with us and your off-grid water will be crystal clear and chlorine free. In a world where exposure to chemicals is such a regular daily occurrence you will be able to cleanse yourself in our old water from deep underground that’s had very little interference. What’s not to love about that!