Waterworks
Aug 11th 2017, 4:00 pm
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 102
Waterworks
Could someone please enlighten me?
Property details often mention wells, bore holes and cisternas. What's the difference, are there supply or maintenance issues with them and do they provide drinking water?
I'm rather confoooosed
Property details often mention wells, bore holes and cisternas. What's the difference, are there supply or maintenance issues with them and do they provide drinking water?
I'm rather confoooosed
Aug 11th 2017, 4:12 pm
#2
Banned
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 26,724
Re: Waterworks
However for flushing your loos, washing, if you have a garden ,pool etc. having your own source of water could be a real bonus saving you a lot of money.
A cisterna is usually a reservoir that collects rainwater or surface drainage so could be affected by drought conditions.
Aug 11th 2017, 4:26 pm
#3
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Joined: Apr 2009
Location: Tavira
Posts: 496
Re: Waterworks
A well is a well as you'd know it. You either use a bucket or an artesian wheel or a pump to get the water out. You'll spot them around the Algarve. They have a concrete or brick wall around them and usually some kind of framework above. Most have fallen into disrepair over the years. The algarvian name for a well is 'Nora', a name you'll see often. It also means daughter in law, but that's another matter.
A borehole is when you drill a 6 inch hole down into an aquifer, often 200 m below ground, drop a submersible pump down then pump the water up.
A cisterna is simply a tank where you store your water from the well or borehole. Think cistern in English.
Can you drink it? Maybe but, and it's a big but, you'd need to get it tested and then the water is likely to be extremely high in calcium and iron etc so won't taste too good. Some do but it's not something I do. You can run it through a RO system but I think that's something for next time.
I wouldn't personally use open well water for anything but irrigation. Dead animals, bird poo etc..
Even if you only use the water for non potable uses if you want an AL licence you need pretreatment, i.e. filtration and sterilisation (UV etc) or you won't get your licence. I'd recommend UV system anyway.
Don't forget you could also need an extraction permit if you use a well or borehole depending where your house is and if you have a town water connection obtaining this could be a challenge.
Y
A borehole is when you drill a 6 inch hole down into an aquifer, often 200 m below ground, drop a submersible pump down then pump the water up.
A cisterna is simply a tank where you store your water from the well or borehole. Think cistern in English.
Can you drink it? Maybe but, and it's a big but, you'd need to get it tested and then the water is likely to be extremely high in calcium and iron etc so won't taste too good. Some do but it's not something I do. You can run it through a RO system but I think that's something for next time.
I wouldn't personally use open well water for anything but irrigation. Dead animals, bird poo etc..
Even if you only use the water for non potable uses if you want an AL licence you need pretreatment, i.e. filtration and sterilisation (UV etc) or you won't get your licence. I'd recommend UV system anyway.
Don't forget you could also need an extraction permit if you use a well or borehole depending where your house is and if you have a town water connection obtaining this could be a challenge.
Y
