Water supplies

The importance of Bourne's water was described by Joseph J Davies in his book Historic Bourne, published in 1909, in which he said that the excellence of this apparently inexhaustible supply was a priceless industrial asset. He then went on to describe the source as follows:

The rainfall for Lincolnshire is comparatively small, the annual average for Grantham and Boston being 23 inches. That of Bourne in 19 inches. Thus Bourne may make the paradoxical boast of being almost the driest town in England, and yet the town with the most abundant natural water supply. As is well known, much of the rainfall soaks through the soil into the rocks, percolating freely until it reaches the zone of saturation. The importance of this storage of underground water is obvious. The water rises by capillary attraction, in the permeable rocks, as oil rises in a lamp wick. One cubic yard of Lincolnshire limestone is said to hold, in saturation, 28 gallons of water. If a bore be made down to the saturated rock, the pressure of the water from the higher levels forces the flow of water up the bore to the height of the origin. The source of the Bourne water supply is the Lincolnshire limestone which forms the table-land, rising from Lincoln (200 feet) to Witham (400 feet) and above Bourne 100 feet. The dip or bend of these rocks is from north west to south east. The pressure therefore increases toward the centre, at Bourne. A great upward bend at Scottlethorpe brings the rock 120 feet above the ground level of Bourne on the margin of the fenland. Thus the town is supplied by natural hydrostatic pressure.

The gathering ground for our Bourne water extends from Somerby and Ropsley southward; and from the high western table-land where the limestone escarpments reach a height of 400 to 500 feet, and slope gently eastward. Thus the water percolates to our lower level. This vast natural reservoir fills until the level of saturation is higher in the west than in the east. Hence, when the overlying Oolite clay is bored through, the water is forced up the bore by the pressure of the immense descending stream. Mr Henry Preston, a Fellow of the Geological Society, of Grantham, a  recognised British authority on hydro-geology, says that the rest level of the water at Bourne is 70 feet (ordnance data), and that the daily outflow of water from Bourne is 12,000,000 gallons. He said: "If we allow 60 gallons per day per acre, for one inch of percolation, this flow represents a percolation of 10 inches per annum on 31 square miles of gathering ground." This calculation does not include the Wilsthorpe supply (bordering Bourne boundary) from which Peterborough derives its water. The bore for the Spalding supply (adjoining the Abbey Road Council Schools) taps water at 134 feet, through a 13-inch tube, and yields 5,000,000 gallons daily. This is said to be the largest yield from any bore in Britain. The constant pressure at the surface is 10 lbs. per square inch. The Wellhead, or St Peter's Pool, is a natural spring, yielding 4½ million gallons a day. This supply of beautiful water feeds the Glen. Other local borings yield probably 2½ million gallons a day.

The abundance of water was such that by 1861 it was estimated that the Wellhead was supplying enough for seven towns the size of Bourne, allowing for 20 gallons per person per day. Such unlimited supplies inevitably attracted commercial attention and in 1856, a waterworks company was formed, although its early operations were only on a small scale. The joint contract for the project was awarded to Mr John Harrison, a plumber, of North Street, and Mr Henry Osborn, an ironmonger, of South Street, while the land was provided by John Lely Ostler and was situated to the north of the town on the west side of the road between Peterborough and Lincoln, now occupied by a bungalow at No 39A, North Road. Work began on site during the summer months under the supervision of Mr Harrison who had some experience in hydraulics and was nearing completion by the end of the year. The operations were duly recorded by the Stamford Mercury on Friday 19th December:

After sinking a bore of 4 in. to a depth of 92 feet, they obtained water good in quality and sufficient not only for Bourn, but for our less fortunate neighbours at Spalding, should they require it. The water rises to the height of 25 feet above the surface without the aid of any machinery and the site being about 8 feet above the town, is (as it is on the constant supply system and no cistern required) expected to rise to the height of 34 feet in the Market Place and 46 feet in the Eastgate. It will be a great boon to the parishioners as the old supply came from the beautiful spring called the "Wellhead" which is so polluted by drains as to become injurious to those obliged to use it. The company intend to supply it on the most liberal terms and the poor rated under £6 per annum may have abundance of water for their domestic comforts for one penny per week. As proof of the great success of this undertaking, at a meeting of the shareholders held on Wednesday last, the extra shares allotted to meet the demand for additional capital required for an extension to the works were taken with great avidity by those present and it is with much pleasure we are able to announce the works are likely to be in full operation early in February.

By the summer of 1857, the Bourne Waterworks Company had started to bring the benefits of a piped supply to people and the Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 15th May that year:

The company are now fully engaged laying down pipes to the houses of many inhabitants desirous of gaining water for domestic uses, the quality of which is undeniable. The scheme is expected to pay a large per centage to the shareholders. who have to regret the loss of one of their contractors (Mr John Harrison, whose melancholy death has recently taken place), under whose superintendence, from the specific plans of Mr Pilbrow, the works have been brought to such a successful issue that we may say with confidence such do not exist in any town in Europe with such a limited outlay.

The operations that year also included piping water to inhabitants of the almshouses in South Road who until then had been collecting their water with a bucket from the Bourne Eau although it was often contaminated by the refuse and other waste that had been thrown in.

There were many problems of distribution and of the risk to public health and in August 1894, Mr James Shilcock, landlord of the Nag's Head Hotel, protested that the water being supplied to premises in South Street and West Street was defective. "This is causing great discomfort and inconvenience, both in private houses and places of business", he said. "The deficient supply, or the frequent lack of water, is becoming a very serious matter. Drains cannot be flushed properly and the cases of diphtheria among children in the area of deficient supply is making parents extremely anxious. I hope that the directors will remedy these defects by some speedy improvements."

Such problems were slowly overcome and the company's operations became more efficient and profitable and soon they were supplying not only the town, but also Spalding 13 miles away with five million gallons a day from their main borehole in the Abbey Road.

In 1927, the waterworks were taken over by Bourne Urban District Council who completed the transaction with the aid of a government loan of £4,500 that was granted after a public inquiry, held at the Town Hall on Tuesday 23rd August. The money was used to purchase the company for £2,600 and the balance of the loan was subsequently spent on  renewing and extending the existing mains.

Fears were expressed about the over-use of the available water in Bourne to supply other areas by Dr John Gilpin, the Medical Officer of Health for the urban district, and his warning is equally relevant today. He told the hearing:  "Although Bourne is noted for its abundance of water, the natural pressure has greatly diminished during the last few years and in times of drought, water has failed to rise to the surface of the West Street bore and many private bores in the town are weak and inefficient. I am of the opinion that in the interests of public health, natural pressure is now ineffective and a pressure system is necessary."

His views were supported by Mr William Keay, a civil engineer, who had made a detailed survey of the water supply and distribution in the Bourne area. "The council will be able to provide the town with an adequate supply of water but under pressure for its immediate and further needs", he said.

The original equipment gave Trojan service for more than half a century although there were occasional problems. In 1955, a pressure reducing valve controlling the supply which had been installed 24 years before broke down and cut off supplies to all premises in the town for two hours. Unfortunately, the breakdown occurred on a Monday (October 3rd) which was wash day for most housewives. The fault was discovered within two minutes by Mr F W Richardson, superintendent at the pumping station, and while his men began repair work, he informed Bourne Urban District Council who sent out a loudspeaker van to tour the town announcing the water would be off for the time being.

Meanwhile, the council offices were being bombarded with inquiries from harassed housewives trying to cope with the weekly wash but all were assured that normal supplies would be resumed by noon. One of the most distressed was Mrs T H Morse of Mill Drove whose husband had telephoned to complain. "What are we going to do about the washing?", he asked. "It isn't everyone who has nappies to wash for twins." But prompt action by water board staff saved the day. The breakdown had occurred at 9 am and by 10.45 am a length of pipe had been inserted to replace the valve and once the mains had re-filled, the water started flowing again well within the time forecast. 

A new water pumping station was opened at Bourne in February 1974 during a modernisation scheme costing £350,000. It comprised six new electrical pumps, each capable of delivering 1.5 million gallons of water daily, and a large office block on a site between Abbey Road and Manning Road. The development was designed to provide a water supply to one quarter of a million people in South Lincolnshire and Peterborough at the rate of six million gallons a day. The new automated machinery meant that the two oil-driven beam pumps that had been working continuously since their installation in 1922 had become redundant but it was decided that one of them was worth preserving in its original position in front of the control building as a permanent monument to the engineering skills of an earlier generation. The base was concreted and all metal parts treated to resist rust and then given a fresh coat of paint and it remained on show until the engine was sold to a private collector in October 2009.

A special feature of the development also enabled visitors to actually see water on site for the first time. Until then, there were only a mass of pipes and valves above ground at the pumping station but engineers integrated a cascade within the building at the side of the main entrance. Water pumped out of the ground needs aerating to remove iron bacteria and give it a bright look and so glass windows were installed to provide a grandstand view of this waterfall of six million gallons a day. Shortly after the new pumping station was opened, the South Lincolnshire Water Board which had controlled Bourne waterworks since 1962, came to an end and its responsibilities were handed over to the new Anglian Water Authority when it was formed in April 1974, becoming privatised in 1989 and is now known simply as Anglian Water, currently providing water for 2.6 million properties and covering an area of 27,500 square kilometres while presiding over a continuous programme of improvement ever since to ensure that supplies reach the consumer quickly, efficiently and in top quality.