manhole cover for deep well

[H2oooooooh]

hello,

I am trying to recommission an old well in the garden. It is 8 metres deep so I really, really, really don't want anyone falling down. It is in a small, sunken area so will have no vehicle/digger traffic. At the moment it is covered by rotting sleepers so something must be done anyway. The sleepers cover 1.8m x1.8m but the well is only 1.4m dia.

I don't really want a cheapo screwfix special, but don't want to spend £1.5k on a stainless job with neoprene seals, gas struts, etc. Watertightness would be good, as would single person lifting of cover without lifting gear.

does anyone have any suggestions as to products, and are there any building regs that apply?

thanks in advance for any help

 

[JohnD]

If you are recommissioning it, I imagine you will be using a pump and pipe, not a bucket on a rope.

I have seen one with a metal grille fitted into the brickwork, so even if you lift the cover, you can't fall down it.

 

[noseall]

Use a reducing 'biscuit' with a standard cover and frame, similar to the image below.

 

[H2oooooooh]

now that JohnD is making me feel like a slacker for using one of these new-fangled pump thingys.....

yeah, I was thinking of a safety net, perhaps poly-propylene rope set direct into the underside of the concrete that can be eased aside if need be.

nose-all - where can I find such a biscuit? I would usually make one myself, but the risks of failure are such that I feel I ought to put my hand in my pocket and shell out some cash.

 

[Agile]

Is it 8 m to the water or 8 m to the bottom of the water?

What are you going to do with it?

I think that if you extract more than xxx litres per day/month/year you have to pay for an extraction licence.

Tony

 

[ColJack]

don't you own what's under your plot of land then?

and have you considered a "block and beam" cover for it?
fix a regular manhole cover to this and then concrete it up to the top of the cover..

 

[H2oooooooh]

regulations are that you can extract 20 000 litres a day from a borehole without an extraction licence. I think this must be classed as a borehole.

It is 8m to the bottom of the well. the water was 4.15m down from top when I started pumping last week (ie. middle of a dampish August). That would give me 5600 l. I pumped out 2200 litres and it 'recovered' at 44 lit/hour which is borderline for my needs (150 acres of grazing cattle, 4 bed house, 1/4 acre of allotments. But i'm guessing it will recover faster the deeper I extract (though conversely the cattle and allotment consumption is many times the baseline demand in hot weather).

Even if the mains will kick in every once in a while, my water consumption over the last two years has oscillated wildly from 50p per day to £13.11(ouch!) (judging by a meter read every two to four weeks - actual one off demand may be higher). I reckon I am looking at a 1000 to 1500 day payback, so I reckon it is not only financially good, but might also help me sleep better......

Block and beam sounds the way to go, great idea. The lack of vehicle access was making me think I might be stuck with a concrete casting that was too heavy to lift into position (doh!)

 

[Agile]

What you need then is a ball valve in the well to fill it from the mains if it gets too low!

Tony

 

[H2oooooooh]

Look what I have found on the clarkdrain.com website:

BUILDING REGULATIONS PART H STATES:
“No person shall enter a confined space to carry
out work for any purpose unless it is not
reasonably practicable to achieve that purpose
without such entry.” This solution has been
updated so that it incorporates “The Confined
Spaces Regulations 1997” A Reduced Access
Inspection Chamber is an inspection chamber
where the opening has been reduced to a maximum
of 350mm to prevent man entry. Inspection and
maintenance operations are all carried out by
remotely operated equipment. The maximum depth
is usually limited to 3.0m. Access is only permitted
when there is no other alternative solution

I think this means that if it is deeper than 3m, you need to fit an access point that only children can fit down .... bit Victorian, isn't it? I thought that the 1879 Factories Act (or whatever) would have stamped out this practise.

 

[IJWS15]

No

It just brings in the full force of confined spaces regulations (Harness, top man, gas testing, lifting equipment etc)

BT have lots of manholes containing cable joints deeper than 3m, some are 2 storey. Even they don't use children, but the way they are pushing prices down they soon will be.

 

[H2oooooooh]

just a quick update (if any are still following this thread)

no one wants to sell me anything for this job. Apparently, due to the exposed wire ends in concrete beams they are no good for damp environments. Biscuits? Rang loads of companies and they all said it would be a custom job, really expensive, not interested in quoting....

So I am going to cast my own slab and if it is too big to lift ask someone with a telehandler very nicely. I am going to use galvanised weld mesh and sink polyprop rope into the casting and under the casting so that if it fails, it will go slowly.

 

[Nige F]

just a quick update (if any are still following this thread)

no one wants to sell me anything for this job. Apparently, due to the exposed wire ends in concrete beams they are no good for damp environments. Biscuits? Rang loads of companies and they all said it would be a custom job, really expensive, not interested in quoting....

So I am going to cast my own slab and if it is too big to lift ask someone with a telehandler very nicely. I am going to use galvanised weld mesh and sink polyprop rope into the casting and under the casting so that if it fails, it will go slowly.

why not cast your own slab * In Situ* over a frame of 22mm wb ply....That alone will take years to rot out before the slab moves down 22mm onto the bricks round the well

 

[Shytalkz]

Or use Hyrib reinforcement which also acts as a permanent shutter

 

[JohnD]

good tip about Hyrib

I've seen something similar widely used in Oz more than 20 years ago, hadn't seen it was used here.