Water Supply Systems

Hi there,

We've got 10 or so paddocks on a hillside over 22ha in Whitford, East Auckland.

We've had the neighbouring farmer use our land for grazing previously but water has always been a problem; they brought the cattle over to graze then went back to their's afterwards.

Now that they are no longer grazing for us, we would like to continue to lease out the grazing rights, however there is currently no water access.
The troughs are already in place in each paddock and there are pipes running into them, but not connected to any supply of water.

We are wondering if there are any recommendations on here for any solutions to this, whether it is a water bore or rain water. We would also like to how much it may cost, who may we get in touch with to look at some options and quotation for this?

Many thanks in advance!

Henry

Rain water would be cheaper than drilling in a bore, but then you need a decent roof area to capture the rain water. If you have no buildings near where you could put a shed, you might not have any choice but to put in a bore. If there are troughs and pipelines, was your block part of a farm that has been cut up? If so, was there a water easement sold with the land?

Are there any buildings on the block? If not, then you won't be able to collect rainwater.

For a bore you will need resource consent, a reliable power source to run the pump as well as the installation itself. It's not cheap.

Your third alternative is to simply hook up to the mains water supply.

Rokker wrote:
Your third alternative is to simply hook up to the mains water supply.

If there is reticulated water in that area.

Are there any springs on the hillside that could be tapped into?

Start by asking the District Council what is permissible for your property.
Are you permitted to extract water from a well for stock? Are there any Council costs to this, and recurring permit costs?
Is extracted water safe for stock to drink? You may need to ask the Ravensdown laboratory to test for this, preferably from a close neighbours bore.
If you dig a pond to catch rain water, what are you permitted to provide water to? A guy up here dug a big pond then found that he was permitted to provide water to his stock, but not to use the water for irrigation . Are there any fencing, size and depth restrictions?
For tanks, you will need storage for 60 days at 50 litres per animal per day by 22 hectares by cattle units per hectare, so
60 x 50 x 22 x 4 = 250,000 litres. I would start with half or third that and get more later if needed.
You will need a pump to either pump directly to the troughs, or to a tank above the highest trough. Do you have electricity, or will you use petrol or PV?
I would have a feedback system so that the pump started working when the top tank got down to a certain level, stopped when it was full, and had a flow meter out of the tank to stop the tank and the water flow out when the flow rate got too high (so that you don't lose every bit of water when you have a leak, which will happen on the night of Christmas Eve )
The lower tanks need to be accessible to a water tanker.

LongRidge wrote: If you dig a pond to catch rain water, what are you permitted to provide water to? A guy up here dug a big pond then found that he was permitted to provide water to his stock, but not to use the water for irrigation .

How crazy is that, LR?!!! The rain falls on the land anyway - what's the harm in catching it in a pond and then applying it to the land in a controlled fashion? Very odd!

probably the cheapest, quickest option as already mentioned, would be to install a storage tank and connect it to existing pipework. Of course the water tanker would need to have access but this could be by means of another pipe. Then when you lease out the grazing, the lessee pays for the water tanker or you adjust the grazing fee accordingly. It would only be an issue during the hotter months.
Try to replace troughs with these ones they are much more efficient and don't get full of algae. Remember, grass is 85% water anyway!

tonybaker wrote: It would only be an issue during the hotter months.

Tony, beef cattle can drink 30 to 40 litres a day each in winter, and double that in the hotter months. Water supply is an issue all year round.

tonybaker wrote: Try to replace troughs with these ones they are much more efficient and don't get full of algae. Remember, grass is 85% water anyway!

They would be great for a small number of animals. A larger herd would require several of these, and at $89 each it would become very expensive.

I'd really like to see some answers by the OP to the questions already posed before we can go much further with this. When we find out about electricity supply, mains water reticulation, number of animals etc etc we'll be able to make a more informed response.

Rokker, yes, but .... the pond took out a spring-fed swamp. The swamp was his (it's now a pond), but the water out of the spring is everybodies.

Agree Rokker, but you have to cut one's coat according to one's cloth. The OP has to make a decision about the future of the block and reticulate accordingly. The initial mistake was not establishing what the water supply was. Land without water is useless. I wonder that the subdividor was allowed to sell without water?

LongRidge wrote: Rokker, yes, but .... the pond took out a spring-fed swamp. The swamp was his (it's now a pond), but the water out of the spring is everybodies.

That's true, LR. And I could understand it if the spring feeding the swamp/pond also provided water for the neighbours, and then drawing water from the pond in large quantities for irrigation would cause the neighbours to run short. Otherwise it shouldn't be an issue.

tonybaker wrote: . . . Land without water is useless. I wonder that the subdividor was allowed to sell without water?

I'm not sure of the rules there, Tony, but one block we were looking at buying a few years ago for dry stock near Puriri, Coromandel Penninsular, would have required us to either pay for the installation of a connection to the reticulated water supply, or else instal our own on-site water system. It seems that if water is available on the street then the subdividor doesn't have to provide it - at least in that jurisdiction it appears to be the case. I suspect that Whitford, or most of it, would have street supply.

yes Rokker, if land is just for grazing, then local authority is generally not concerned, but if it is for a dwelling, they usually want to have details of a domestic water supply. If the OP bought the land as a grazing block and did not find out about the water supply then it's Caveat Emptor.