Opening of Allotment Borehole

On Sunday 9th July an enthusiastic group of local allotment holders gathered to mark the official opening of the newly completed borehole and to enjoy a relaxing BBQ.

Those honoured with cutting the ribbon for the opening ceremony were Chris Wylam, who was the technical expert for the project and Chrissie Jones, who was the artist who did the mural on the cabin which houses the electrics, and has the solar panels and storage tanks on top.

The project to install a borehole was started about four years ago. It has taken this long to get the survey, quotes, finance and work completed.

Apart from the drilling of the borehole itself, a lot of the work was done by a group of dedicated volunteer allotment holders.

Tony Soper project managed the whole thing, Chris Wylam provided the technical expertise, as well as a lot of his time and effort.

The initial estimate for the project was £16,000 but with all the volunteer work put in, the final cost came in considerably under budget at just below £11,000.

Financing was achieved by small grants from McCormicks and the Community Chest, and allotment holders raised a substantial sum themselves. However most of the money came from Haddenham Parish Council, as the borehole was designed to provide long-term savings on the ever-more-expensive water bills (a recent charge was as high as £2,000).

As a result of the borehole, the provision of water for the allotments will no longer need to be paid for, and there should only be small overheads for maintenance and the replacement of equipment over time.

Technical highlights

The system is powered by three solar panels and has now been operating successfully for five weeks, pumping every day to 10 water troughs around the site. The highest output on a single day has been 7,000 litres, equivalent to 700 watering cans!

Equipment supplier was Wind and Sun Ltd, and the borehole installation was by the Weatherhead Group.

Alison Watt
Allotments Secretary
Email: haddenhamallotments@hotmail.com