Groundwater Supply for an Industrial Site: England

Groundwater Supply for an Industrial Site

In 2022, Flow-5 were contracted by a large recycling and reprocessing company to oversee the installation and licencing of a new groundwater supply borehole at a new facility currently under development in the north of England.

Following the established Environment Agency process to obtain an abstraction licence, Flow-5 has been providing technical inputs and oversight to the installation of this new groundwater supply through the following stages:

–        Initial scoping and feasibility assessment: To determine if a groundwater supply would be feasible at this location.

–        Proposed initial outline design and specification for a borehole installation: Allowing initial costs to be estimated.

–        Obtain Section 32 Ground Investigation Consent (GIS): Giving permission to drill and test the borehole.

–        Water Features Survey: As required by the Environment Agency as part of the Section 32 GIC application.

–        Supervise the drilling, installation, and development of the borehole: Including final design for the borehole installation (drilling completed by a suitably competent and experienced drilling contractor).

–        Supervise the pumping tests: Fulfilling the Environment Agency’s requirements stipulated in the Section 32 Consent, including the monitoring of proximal receptors.

–        Complete an interpretive report of the pumping test: To be submitted with an abstraction licence application.

–        Hydrogeological Impact Assessment (HIA) for the proposed abstraction: To be submitted with an abstraction licence application.

–        Submission of abstraction licence application to the Environment Agency

Outcomes

A 60m deep borehole was successfully drilled and tested at this site in early 2023, with the yield meeting the client’s water demand, and pumping tests and receptor monitoring completed to the EA’s specification. Flow-5 then prepared and submitted the abstraction licence application (including Hydrogeological Impact Appraisal) to the EA. The full abstraction licence was successfully granted in late 2023.

As can be seen above, the process of obtaining an abstraction licence from the EA can be complex and can take significant time to complete. On top of this, there are parts of the application that require inputs from suitably qualified and experienced hydrogeologists.

Flow-5’s staff are able to collate, assess and submit all information required to successfully obtain an abstraction licence. Our services are designed to save our clients time, manage costs and avoid common pitfalls in the process.

Contact Flow-5 here if you want to know more about groundwater supply borehole installation and gaining an abstraction licence in the UK.