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RESOURCE-FRIENDLY TECHNOLOGIES
sustainability
water works at Ecoworks

piping the output from the springs

The first 'lower spring' excavation, restoring the path of the water to its original stone-built channel nearly 6ft beneath existing ground level.
Ecoworks is based in an elevated rural position, around 300ft above sea level on the west coast of Britain. We live and work here from a farmhouse, in the grounds of which are quite a few springs. Unknown to us two of the main springs here had been filled in some 30 years ago and with this the covering up of some old buildings and waterways.

For the past three years we have, in our spare time, been slowly excavating a large area of the grounds by hand, using an old map to trace the 'points of issue' of these springs. All this work should be complete by spring 2008 and we should finally get our lives back. On a personal note, I have mattocked and shovelled, carried and barrowed nearly 30 tonnes of soil, rocks and mud and I'm getting a bit sick of it - no more holes please! Joseph Cyril Bamford, inventor of the JCB mechanical digger has got a lot to answer for - just think what might be under your garden.

The first spring we excavated, the lowest of the two, really started to 'open up' at the end of November 2006 and is responsible for quite an increase in water output The excavation of the second one, the highest of the springs, began in April 2007. At the moment we are only a couple of feet away from the source and it is beautiful. Really old green limestone geology with a lovely red sandstone topping - it's a classic and it's 'leaking' around a litre a second. It looks like we're going to end up with a waterfall - a bit of a pity that I unknowingly planted some trees right on it 25 years ago.

The graphs below are a representation of the data we collect in relation to the water year at Ecoworks. They show the correlation between the amount of rain which fell at this location (in mm) and the measurable output from our springs (in cubic metres).

These graphs are produced 'live', entirely via PHP from a simple FlatFile - no MySQL required.

WINTER SOLSTICE 2006-WINTER SOLSTICE 2007
RAINFALL PER WEEK (total for the 52 wks: 1,679.25mm)
Week 10 had the highest rainfall during this period - 84.5mm

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ISSUE (OUTPUT) FROM SPRINGS PER WEEK (total for the 52 wks: 75,474.31 cubic metres or 75,474,310 litres)
Week 4 produced the highest output from the springs - 3,702.86 cubic metres (3,702,860 litres)
Week 46 produced the lowest output from the springs - 233 cubic metres (233,000 litres)

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WINTER SOLSTICE 2005-WINTER SOLSTICE 2006
RAINFALL PER WEEK (total, 52 wks: 1,423.50mm)
Both Week 23 and Week 43 had the highest rainfall during this period - 95mm

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ISSUE (OUTPUT) FROM SPRINGS PER WEEK (total, 52 wks: 47,432.97 cubic metres or 47,432,970 litres)
Week 52 produced the highest output from the springs - 5,760 cubic metres (5,760,000 litres)
Week 40 produced the lowest output from the springs - 84 cubic metres (84,000 litres)

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WINTER SOLSTICE 2004-WINTER SOLSTICE 2005
RAINFALL PER WEEK (total, 52 wks: 951.50mm)
Week 47 had the highest rainfall during this period - 80.5mm

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ISSUE (OUTPUT) FROM SPRINGS PER WEEK (total, 52 wks: 47,605.71 cubic metres or 47,605,710 litres)
Week 47 produced the highest output from the springs - 4,320 cubic metres (4,320,000 litres)
Week 38 produced the lowest output from the springs - 78 cubic metres (78,000 litres)

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