# How much would it cost to get a water supply put in a field?



## kit279 (30 December 2008)

I'm trying to work out whether it's worth my while to buy the field next to my house which doesn't currently have a water supply. Does anyone know roughly how much it would cost to put a suitable water supply into a field?  Field is right by a road and residential area so not in the middle of nowhere.  I don't mind just a tap and putting water out for the horses every day in big buckets but I don't think I can physically lug it down to the field every day from my house! Obviously a tap that I can attach an automatic trough to would be the best though.

Where would I phone to find out actual cost? Would it be the water company in my area? And any general advice much appreciated!


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## chunklovescooks (30 December 2008)

Cant you just run a big pipe from your house to the field if it is right next to your house?


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## martlin (30 December 2008)

You will probably have to talk to water company to find out where the supply is available for connection and how much you would have to pay for the privilege, then for the cost of the actual pipes etc contact a local agricultural contractor, it is normally fairly easy and inexpensive job, it doesn't matter if it is a tap or a water trough, the connection costs roughly the same. A decent trough with a ball valve (self filling) will set you off for about £80.
hope that helps


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## flowerlady (30 December 2008)

Telephone the people who you pay your water rates to.  
	
	
		
		
	


	




 But do bear in mind normally if you have a water supply put to the field you will also have to pay rates on the field!!  
	
	
		
		
	


	








I think 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 but do check this out first.  
	
	
		
		
	


	




 If the field is next to your house why don't you run a hose from an outside tap?.  
	
	
		
		
	


	








 If you don't have an outside tap put one in right next to the field then you won't have to pay rates on the field if you make sure it's inside your garden JUST!


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## martlin (30 December 2008)

You don't have to pay rates for the field if you have water in it 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 other than the water rates that is, it is quite often cheaper to pay the water company a trough charge rather than pay for the metered water coming out of your house tap.


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## HelsB (30 December 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
Cant you just run a big pipe from your house to the field if it is right next to your house? 
	
	
		
		
	


	





[/ QUOTE ]

This is what we have done, we have T'd off the outside tap and run blue pipe under ground to the stable block (in our garden) and then over the ground to the automatic waterer on the field next door which we rent, if we could buy the field we would put that underground too but as it is only rented we can't.


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## flowerlady (30 December 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
You don't have to pay rates for the field if you have water in it 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 other than the water rates that is, it is quite often cheaper to pay the water company a trough charge rather than pay for the metered water coming out of your house tap. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure I've been told if I have water to a field then I would be charged rates?


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## kit279 (30 December 2008)

Alas, I'm not able to run a pipe from my house into the field - it is next door but unfortunately separated by a road!


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## flowerlady (30 December 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
Alas, I'm not able to run a pipe from my house into the field - it is next door but unfortunately separated by a road! 

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry off subject Kit but don't you think the grey in your siggy looks like the grey in mine lol


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## martlin (30 December 2008)

What do you mean by rates? I am absolutely positive there is no taxation on putting water in fields. You do have to pay for the water and for connection though


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## chunklovescooks (30 December 2008)

Thats a bummer! How many horses are you planning to keep in the field? Too many for buckets? I'm not sure who you would talk to about installing a water supply in the field, but your water board should be the first point of call!


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## flowerlady (30 December 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
What do you mean by rates? I am absolutely positive there is no taxation on putting water in fields. You do have to pay for the water and for connection though 
	
	
		
		
	


	





[/ QUOTE ]

The same sort of rates you have to pay for your house if you have water laid on to a field it is a service that is why lots of fields don't have it.

Like if you have a menage built you will be charged minimum £1500.00 per year extra on rates to your property for a field.


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## piebaldsparkle (30 December 2008)

If you want a separate supply to the field (and it is possible i.e. if there is a water main running near the field) there will be a connection charge (normally in the region of £1000, but will depend on water company).  The Water Company will put a meter on the boundary, you will then need to run the pipework from the meter to the trough location.  The connection will only be done when the pipework/trough complies with Water Regulation re: Frost protection and prevention of back syphoning.

Alternatively if the field is next door you could run pipework from your property to the field, but again all works should be done in accordance with the Water Regs.


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## dozzie (30 December 2008)

I have to pay a standing charge for my trough (same charge as the house) and then pay for the water used. But that is to the fields up the road and they are on a different supply. The paddocks round the house are fed from the same supply as the house so no extra charges. It is all metered.


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## flyingfeet (30 December 2008)

You won't be charged business rates for putting in a water supply, as its agricultural (and arena is not, but we have one and it doesn't affect our status either as for PRIVATE use)

For water supply if its near an existing supply it will probably cost £1-5k, for our neighbour who would have had to take it 0.6m of a mile they wanted over £15k 

You then say its for agriculture and you will be metered and charged for what you use.


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## martlin (30 December 2008)

You mean council tax? that is calculated on property value basis that's why you would be paying more with a menage - equestrian property possibly, although I have never heard of it actually happening. 
I had water laid in my fields and apart from paying for the connection, troughs and obviously water charges I don't get any extra cost. I suppose it will also depend on what the status of the land is...
It is also possible that there might be an attempt to get it business rateable, but can't see a reason why.
Essentially, if the field in question is in agricultural or horse grazing use, there will be no additional charge on it for connection of water to it, you don't need to have planning permission either, so no charges from the council.
A lot of fields do not have water supply for various reasons, like cost or availability of connection, no need for water or if they are sold off being previously a part of a bigger field with a water trough somewhere else.


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## flowerlady (30 December 2008)

O.K. So we bought this property 7 years ago just over an acre of paddock with it.  requested permission to put in menage for own use told yes but we would be charged £1500 on top of our normal rates.  Also if we put a self filling trough in the field for water or a tap on the land whih is attatched to the house we would pay more rates as when no water is supplied to the paddock which is not seperate from the house then we would have to pay more rates on the house?

So I am now going to ring the flaming council again as I'm not bothered about the water but the Sand school would have been handy and we did't go ahead as on top of paying for the school we would have had to pay every year an extra £1500 on top.  Although I do remember there being an article in either Your Horse or Horse &amp; Hound when they first bought in this new tax on menages.  I'll let you know what they say if I manage to speak to them as it can take forever to get through so I may have to wait till I can call in the offices.


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## piebaldsparkle (30 December 2008)

All new supplies are metered.  However the metered rate for domestic/commercial and agricultural are all different.  The price per unit of water for a supply that purely goes to a trough is much less than a domestic supply as a % of the cost of domestic water is a charge for dealing with the sewage/waste water.


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## mrdarcy (30 December 2008)

Why on earth do you need a water supply?  Buy some water containers and either drive them to the field with your car or stick them in a wheel barrow.  There's no water supply in my field so that's what I do.  A water supply would be nice but certainly not essential.  Better to spend your money on some field shelters, land drains or hardcoring the gateways IMO


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## Jane_Lou (30 December 2008)

Just an odd fact but I own a piece of land that is not conected to my house. It came with the house and was just wasteland which I am in the slow process of turning into a new private garden (only 1/2 acre so not big enough for horses unfortunately!) ANyway - with the land, came the rights to draw water from a hydrant adjacent to the land so altough I have no direct supply I am able to tap into the hydrant and fill a couple of big tanks I installed from a hose. May be worth finding out if there are any similar rights attached to this land?


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## kit279 (30 December 2008)

Well, first of all, because if I'm going to spend an enormous amount of money on acquiring a couple of acres of eye-wateringly expensive grazing in the heart of the Cambridge green belt for my precious nags, I would probably not be unduly concerned about an extra grand or two to save myself the trouble of shifting thousands of gallons of water a week for the next 10 years! 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 Seriously though, the land is already well drained and the gateways are hard standing.  I might think about putting up stables if I can get planning permission (oh joy) but otherwise my primary concern is whether or not the horses can have a drink whenever they want it and a decent wash when they're sweaty. And for that, I reckon I need a water supply.


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## flyingfeet (30 December 2008)

If questioned say its for sheep - much better to go from the agric angle!!


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## CazD (30 December 2008)

We had a water supply put in to our field which does not adjoin the house.  The cost of the connection was £1000 ish to take the water from the main water pipe which ran down the middle of the lane into the field gateway - a distance of around 10 feet.  We were then able to pay a contractor to put in the necessary pipework from the gateway to the stables.
The cost of the water works out cheaper than filling containers from home as our home supply is metered and, as pointed out by somebody else, for all the water you use at home you also pay a sewerage charge based on the amount of water you have used.  We dont pay a sewerage charge for the water we use at the stables.


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## Passtheshampoo (30 December 2008)

Unfortunately lugging water about is not possible for some of us horsey peeps. Having had my 3rd big spinal op in the summer we have decided to "splash out" on having a water supply connected to our field. In fact I posted the application off to Yorkshire Water yesterday. It costs just under £100 for their admin charge and for that they'll carry out a site visit and provide a quote. Think the quote has a time limit on it.  If you contact you local water supplier ask for new connections/new supplies and explain what you would like. They may even give you a rough estimate over the phone if you know how far the mains are from the field. We have marked down on the form we would like a supply for agricultural purposes even though the form is for new connections for up to 6 properties. As far as I know the only fees payable each year will be a standing charge and a charge for metered water used. Think most people try to manage with water carriers as the cost of connection is not cheap and certainly not worth doing on rented land.


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## _daisy_ (30 December 2008)

weve just had water put onto our land. we had already laid the pipework to roughly where we wanted it at the stables, so was just for the waterboard to connect to mains. now unfortunately they had to dig the road up as they will only connect to mains rather than attach to where another meter is as they previously used to do. 

It cost us about £950 which was using 32mm pipe as they said it was the same price as 25mm 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 (our water pressure is like a firemans hose lol takes seconds to fill buckets up now)

we dont pay rates, just have a meter on the field so pay for whatever water we use - we do have agricultural land though (weve got plans passed for an arena and there still wont be any change to having to pay rates)

all we have done is connect a hose to the tape and run it down the field to the winter field trough


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## PeterNatt (30 December 2008)

It will cost at least £2,500.00 to get the water company to install a mains water supply and water metre for you to plumb in a water supply to your field.  You will need to contact them for an exact price.  Use plastic water troughs not metal ones to reduce the risk of your horses breaking a leg if they kick at the water troughs.  A good water trough costs £200.00.  All you then need is blue water piping and installing it 3 feet under the ground.   A farmer or farming contractor can easily mole drill the blue plastic pipe under the ground for you.  Also don't forget that you will need planning permission for change of use from agricultural to equestrian use and also install fencing.


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## ttt (30 December 2008)

It depends on how far they water board have to pipe from the main water pipe to your field. Ours was £2500. On top of that we have to buy the trough ect.


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## now_loves_mares (30 December 2008)

Your other option, if it proves too expensive to install the water, is to get a bowser (sp?) - basically a great big tank on a trailer. You can buy plastic ones so I reckon you could pull them with a 4wd. That way you can do a month's worth of water at a time rather than buckets. And if you latterly get the water supply installed, you can easily sell the tank and trailer.

Something like this, though I'm sure you can do it a lot cheaper by installing a normal plastic tank to an old trailer.
http://www.water-tank.co.uk/acatalog/900litre_Water_Bowser.html


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## smiles24 (30 December 2008)

I had a water supply connected to my field. I had it connected to the end of my drive next to a road.

 it cost me £1250 for connection just to the end of  the drive and we dug pipes into the field and added taps ourselves. 

we pay just for the water used as we maintain the ditches ourselves around the field. we neg. with the water supplier that we didnt use drainage as it drained into our own ditches and didnt use theirs so shouldnt pay for it.  (hope that makes sense). 

we do pay the environmental agency about £12 a year on 11.5 acres for maintaining the local drainage ditches.

we do not pay any rates on our yard as it is private. 

hope this helps.


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