David Smith
Warrington Lancs
I met with United Utilities this morning....the meeting was also attended by the Environment Agency who monitor water extraction.
I am now certainly more knowlegeable re' the flash and it's (poor) future. Following is my summary (using my layman's terminology). Some facts and ates are approximate.
It’s important to understand or accept some basic facts.
The land surrounding and underneath the Flash is a specific type of sandstone which acts like a very efficient sponge to collect and store water. It also makes the water very pure. Because of this the area was chosen to provide water for the local population.
Bore holes were sunk to an approximate depth of 500 feet and this was done in (approximately) 1880 so “they” have been taking our drinking water from there for 135 years!!
At that depth the rain water, once it lands, takes up to 30 years to make it’s way into the sandstone.
The Flash itself was dug out purely to extract minerals/stone to help construction of the adjacent M6 making it into what is known as a “borrow pit”**……..this was (approximately) in the 1960s.
The water in the Flash is not rain water*……it is ‘seepage’ from the surrounding ground (*obviously there is rain water in it but it is a tiny %)
Since 1950 “they” have been extracting water from there at the rate of 3-4 million m3 which ensured the **borrow pit never filled up.
In the late 1980s water extraction ceased as the pumping station went through a major update……..it was only from then until approx 2008 that the “pit” filled with water and gradually became an important part of the local ecology.
The pumping station is now again fully operational and taking water at the rate of some 2 million m3. “They” expect this to increase and for the “pit” to virtually or completely empty……….this could happen very quickly.
All extraction is monitored and agreed by the Environmental Agency.
If the Flash was a “natural” lake it wouldn’t happen but it is a man made pit developed some 100 years after extraction started.
I am now certainly more knowlegeable re' the flash and it's (poor) future. Following is my summary (using my layman's terminology). Some facts and ates are approximate.
It’s important to understand or accept some basic facts.
The land surrounding and underneath the Flash is a specific type of sandstone which acts like a very efficient sponge to collect and store water. It also makes the water very pure. Because of this the area was chosen to provide water for the local population.
Bore holes were sunk to an approximate depth of 500 feet and this was done in (approximately) 1880 so “they” have been taking our drinking water from there for 135 years!!
At that depth the rain water, once it lands, takes up to 30 years to make it’s way into the sandstone.
The Flash itself was dug out purely to extract minerals/stone to help construction of the adjacent M6 making it into what is known as a “borrow pit”**……..this was (approximately) in the 1960s.
The water in the Flash is not rain water*……it is ‘seepage’ from the surrounding ground (*obviously there is rain water in it but it is a tiny %)
Since 1950 “they” have been extracting water from there at the rate of 3-4 million m3 which ensured the **borrow pit never filled up.
In the late 1980s water extraction ceased as the pumping station went through a major update……..it was only from then until approx 2008 that the “pit” filled with water and gradually became an important part of the local ecology.
The pumping station is now again fully operational and taking water at the rate of some 2 million m3. “They” expect this to increase and for the “pit” to virtually or completely empty……….this could happen very quickly.
All extraction is monitored and agreed by the Environmental Agency.
If the Flash was a “natural” lake it wouldn’t happen but it is a man made pit developed some 100 years after extraction started.
