The quote under the picture is only partly correct, the structure is actually the base of the chimney and not part of the shaft. It is also the only part of the pumping station that remains, the building next to the structure is an electricity switching station.
Ahh I see. I'd imagine that the borehole wasn't needed once the Alwen Reservoir was completed. Suprises me that Prenton borehole is still used although the contractors told me there is a serious amount of water down there.
Artesian wells and boreholes aren't as common now as most of the water will come from the Dee regulation system. Much of the industry that once used ground water has long gone. This is a problem that has affected the Liverpool loop; as the water table has risen because of the lack of abstraction, it enters the tunnels and has to be pumped out.
A quote from a man in the know from last year ....
Water for Wirral comes in now either from: Sutton Hall WTW, fed from the Dee at points near Handbridge and Heron Bridge in Chester.
Ellesmere Port is split between Sutton Hall and a bulk supply point at Hapsford which combines water from Hurleston Treatment Works in Chester and Simmonds Hill Res and Borehole at the back of Frodsham.
Prenton is supplied partially from Crosshill SR (water from Sutton Hall) or from Prenton SR which gets it's water from Prenton Borehole (Prenton Dell Road) and Sutton Hall via Clatterbridge roundabout.
West Kirby gets water from both Newton and Grange boreholes as well as supplies from Crosshill and Heswall SR's.
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
I am fairly sure there were boreholes at Clatterbridge and I think they did trial bores at Arrowe but there was something silly happened. All rings bells but the memory isn't there.
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
I live near the Borehole and got talking to some of the lads from North West Water a few years ago. The water is now pumped from one of four grey covered shafts that you can see on the map:
Every six months or so a huge crane turns up to move the pipes from one shaft to another. The pipes I'd say are over 10m high when they are out the ground.
About 8 years ago very small traces of arsenic were found in the water which was why the treatment plant at the rear of the pump house was built.
A few years later United Utils seemed very interested in the sewers that run down Prenton Village Rd. I found a doc on the internet that highlighted a risk of cryptosporidium osmos in the prenton plant. I rang United Utils and spoke to someone quite high up almost straight away.
The danger was because the sewers were old and likely to seep into the drinking water at the borehole. Lanes for drains lined the sewers to prevent this happening. United utils informed me that they have monitoring equipment in the plant. The borehole pumps its water up to Prenton tank. Also you will see that an old shaft in the Dell flats car park next door is now fenced off (this was also mentioned in the doc I found). I assume this must still link with the underground water supply and they didnt want to risk contamination.
