Livestock can survive for a period of time without food but they will not survive without water. Water supply is becoming more of an issue in recent times on farms, with a combination of GLAS and water charges from local county councils. Some farmers participating in GLAS fenced off their rivers from cattle because they opted for the protection of watercourses from bovines and now face the dilemma of how to supply water to their stock during the grazing season.
Rainwater harvesting from shed roofs may start to play a greater role in water supply on the farm as the cost of water hits home, especially on dairy farms where large volumes of water are being used for hosing down yards. However, grant aid for rainwater harvesting is only available in the Organic Capital Investment Scheme in TAMS II and this is probably due to the low uptake of rainwater harvesting in the original TAMS. Perhaps it may be worth including grant aid for rainwater harvesting in the other TAMS II schemes.
On pages 52 and 53 the specifications of rainwater harvesting for the Organic Scheme in TAMS II are set out and the typical costs of purchasing a new tank are shown.
Another way to supply water is of course sinking your own well. On page 55 Anthony Jordan looks at how to go about drilling a well on the farm and the costs involved in doing so.
For some farmers who have a river flowing on their farm there may be an option available to them to pump water from the river without the use of fuel or electricity. William Conlon details on pages 56 and 57 how this can be achieved with the use of a ram pump that just uses the force of the river and simple design to pump water to a trough in a field without fuel. This system may suit farmers who are in GLAS and now have their rivers fenced off from cattle, especially if there is no electricity nearby to power a pump.
Finally, on page 54 we look at how a sewage treatment system for a farm household should work. Many of these treatment systems are not working as efficiently as they should and may need upgrading. Unfortunately, grant aid is not available until an inspector finds problems with your treatment system and gives recommendations in an advisory notice.
To read the full Water and Septic tanks focus supplement click here.