Trias Strata.

Birkenhead.—There are here several deep wells belonging to the Tranmere Local Board, the Birkenhead Commissioners, and the Wirral Water Company, yielding together about 4,000,000 gallons a day. [Figs. 222, 223], show a section and plan of the No. 2 or new engine well at the Birkenhead Waterworks. The shaft is 7 feet diameter for 105 feet, with a bore-hole 26 inches for 35 feet, 18 inches for 16 feet, 12 inches for 99 feet, and 7 inches for 150 feet, or a total depth from surface of 405 feet. The water-level is about 95 feet from surface when the engine is not at work. At the upper water-level, shown in the 26-inch hole, the yield was at the rate of 1,807,400 gallons in twenty-four hours, at the lower level at the rate of 2,000,000 gallons in the same time. At the water-level indicated in the 7-inch bore, water was met with in large quantities. The old engine well is almost identical.

Figs. 222-226.

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Fig. 222. New Engine Well, Birkenhead Waterworks.
Fig. 223. PLAN
Fig. 224. Well at Aspinall’s Brewery, Birkenhead.
Fig. 225. PLAN
Fig. 226. Enlarged Parts
at A. A
at B. B
at C. C
at D. D
at E. E

[Figs. 224, 225], are a section and plan, and [Fig. 226] enlarged parts of the well at Aspinall’s brewery, Birkenhead. It consists of a shallow shaft 5 feet in diameter and steined, continued by means of iron cylinders 3 feet 3 inches in diameter and 50 feet in depth. When sand with much water of poor quality was met with, a series of lining tubes was introduced from the point A A, the space between these and the cylinders being filled with concrete. The tubes were discontinued at the sandstone, and the lowest portion of the hole, 3 inches in diameter, is unlined. The water overflows.

[Figs. 227, 228], are a section and plan of the well at Cook’s brewery, Birkenhead. The shaft is 6 feet diameter, lined with 9-inch steining, and is 66 feet deep. At 29 feet from surface it is enlarged for the purpose of affording increased storage room for the water. There is a 16-inch pipe at bottom of shaft 49 feet deep, continued by a 12-inch bore-hole 13 feet into the red sandstone. The water-level is 27 feet from the surface of the ground.

Birmingham.—Out of the 7,000,000 gallons a day supplied to the town in 1865 by the Waterworks Company, 2,000,000 were derived from wells in the new red sandstone. In that year an Act was passed authorizing the sinking of several new wells, whereby the quantity may be greatly increased.

Burton-on-Trent.—[Fig. 229] is a section of the well at the London and Colonial Brewery. Extraordinary precautions were taken in constructing this well to obtain the water from the lower strata perfectly free from admixture with that from above. There is a steined shaft within which is an iron cylinder, and this again is lined with brick steining backed with concrete. The bore-hole, 182 feet deep and 4 inches diameter, is lined throughout with copper tubes. At the top the bore-hole is surrounded with a short tube upon which a thread is cut, so that, if necessary, a pipe may be screwed on and up to surface. The water rises to within 6 feet 3 inches of the level of the ground. [Fig. 230] is an enlarged section of the arrangements at the top of the bore-hole, and [Fig. 231] an enlarged section of the pipe joints.

Crewe.—Cheshire. A very plentiful supply of water for the supply of the town and works of Crewe is obtained from a well sunk in the new red sandstone. The water is said to be very pure, and from the analysis of Dr. Zeidler it appears that there are only 6·10 grains of solid matter to the gallon.

Leamington.—The well in this town is situated at the foot of Newbold Hill, and is 5 feet in diameter and sunk to a depth of 50 feet. At the bottom of the well a bore-hole, part of the way 18 inches and the remainder 12 inches in diameter, is carried down 200 feet. It passes through alternating beds of marl and sandstone, and the surface water met with has been bricked or puddled out. The yield is about 320,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. Previously to this well being made, a trial boring, of which [Figs. 232, 233], are sections, was made. This boring was lined with iron tubes 9 inches in diameter for 17 feet, inside this 8 inches in diameter for 22 feet 9 inches, and within this again a 5-inch tube. It was continued by a 5-inch bore reduced to 4¹⁄₂ inches, and at bottom to 3 inches.

Figs. 227-231.

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Fig. 227. Well at Cook’s Brewery, Birkenhead.
Fig. 228. PLAN A.B.
Fig. 229. Well at London and Colonial Brewery, Burton-on-Trent.
Fig. 230. Top of Bore-hole
Fig. 231. Enlarged Section of Pipe Joints

Liverpool.—The oldest wells are at Bootle, to the north of the town; these consisted in the first instance of three lodges or excavations in the rock, covering about 10,000 feet super and about 26¹⁄₂ feet deep. These were covered with timber or slate roofs, and in them 16 bore-holes were sunk, of various diameters and at depths ranging from 13 feet to 600 feet. In 1850 the yield of one of these bore-holes was 921,192 gallons in twenty-four hours, and the total yield in the same time only 1,102,065.

The water was collected in the lodges and conveyed by a tunnel 255 feet to a well 8 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep, from which it was pumped. The yield of the Bootle well in 1865 was 643,678 gallons a day. Since this time a new well of oval form, 12 feet by 9 feet and 108 feet deep, has been sunk, and at its completion the yield rose to 1,575,000 gallons a day, but it has again diminished considerably.

The Green Lane wells were commenced in 1845, the surface being 144 feet above the sea-level and their depth 185 feet, or 41 feet below the sea-level. Headings extend in all about 300 feet from the shafts in various directions, three separate shafts being carried up to the surface. At first the yield was 1,250,000 gallons a day. A bore-hole, 6 inches in diameter, was then driven to a depth of 60 feet from the bottom of the well, when the yield increased to 2,317,000 gallons. In June, 1856, the bore-hole was widened to 9 inches and carried down 101 feet farther, when the yield amounted to its present supply of over 3,000,000 gallons a day.

The large quantity of water yielded by the Green Lane well is probably due to the existence of a large fault which is considered to pass in a north-westerly direction by the well. In 1869 a bore-hole, 24 inches in diameter at the top and diminishing to 18 inches in diameter, was sunk from the bottom of a new shaft, 174 feet deep, to a depth of 310 feet, and the additional quantity of water derived from the new hole was about 800,000 gallons a day.

The Windsor Station well is of oval form, 12 feet by 10 feet and 210 feet deep, with a length of headings of 594 feet, and a bore-hole 4 inches in diameter and 245 feet deep. The yield is 980,000 gallons a day.

The Dudlow Lane well is also oval, 12 feet by 9 feet, and is sunk to a depth of 247 feet from the surface of the ground. Headings have been driven from the bottom of the well for a total distance of 213 feet, and an 18-inch bore-hole has been sunk to a depth of 196 feet from the bottom of the well, which is chiefly in a close hard rock, with occasional white beds from which the water is mainly obtained. The yield is nearly 1,500,000 gallons a day.

Figs. 232, 233.
Trial Boring for Well at Leamington.

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The total weekly supply from wells in Liverpool is upwards of 41,000,000 gallons, and there are also a great number of private wells drawing water from the sandstone, and their supply may be roughly estimated at 30,000,000 gallons a week.

Fig. 234.
Plan of Wells at Longton.

Longton, Staffordshire.—The Potteries obtain a portion of their supply from a series of wells at Longton, which are shown in the diagrammatic sectional plan, [Fig. 234]. The well marked No. 1 is 12 feet in diameter, and 135 feet deep in the new red sandstone. When finished the water rose to within 35 feet from the surface. The cost of the first 45 feet was 3l. 10s. a yard; of the second 45 feet, 6l. 10s. a yard; and the third 45 feet, 9l. a yard. When this well was 36 feet down, a large quantity of water was met with, so a heading was driven at that depth in the direction of No. 2 well; this, after 30 feet, passed through a fault which drained off the water, and the sinking of No. 1 was proceeded with. After the engine had been erected and pumping some short time, it was proposed to drive headings from the bottom; but owing to the pumps taking up so much room in the shaft, there was not space enough for sinking operations to be carried on, and No. 2 well was therefore sunk for convenience sake, at the cost of about 30s. a yard. When No. 2 was down 54 feet, a trial bore-hole 3 inches diameter was put down, and water rose in a jet about 3 feet high. The well was then continued to the level of No. 1, and a heading, 39 feet long, driven between the two shafts. No. 2 has now a 12-inch bore-hole at bottom, down 54 feet.

Fig. 235.
Well at Bolckow and Vaughan’s, Middlesborough.

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Fig. 237.

Fig. 238.

Fig. 236.
Well at Bolckow and Vaughan’s, Middlesborough.

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Headings have also been driven W. and N. of No. 2 well, at a cost of 30s. a yard. The western heading is 213 feet long, driven with a slight rise, and gave much water. There are two headings N., running in the direction of the railway, one over the other. The lower was driven level with the bottom of the shaft, but no water met with; the upper is 36 feet from the surface, and is intended to carry away surplus water down to a line of earthenware pipes which are led along the railway to a low-level reservoir.

In the eastern heading there is a rise of 4 feet, owing to the nature of the strata; and after it had been driven 510 feet, well No. 3 was sunk for ventilation and for drawing out material. A bed of very hard sandstone, 63 feet long, was passed, cost 4l. 10s. a yard, and beyond came marl, in which driving cost 45s. a yard. This heading was continued 330 feet beyond No. 3, and an air-hole 3 inches diameter put down 126 yards deep, but no water was met with. The bed of hard sandstone was also found in driving the lower N. heading, which was discontinued after going into it some 5 or 6 feet. The yield from these wells is about 600,000 gallons a day, and recently a new bore-hole at No. 3 well, when down 350 feet, gave some 380,000 gallons a day additional.

Leek.—The Potteries waterworks have also wells at the Wallgrange Springs, near Leek; these rise from the conglomerate beds, and are stated to yield 3,000,000 gallons daily. The water from these springs is pumped into Ladderidge reservoir, and is distributed from thence into the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Potteries.

Figs. 239, 240.
Well at Ross, Herefordshire.

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Middlesborough.—The Figs. [235] to [238] are sections and plans of a well at the works of Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan, Middlesborough, made under the direction of S. C. Homersham, C.E. A trial hole was first put down to a depth of 398 feet 6 inches, and a shaft afterwards sunk by Messrs. Docwra and Son to that depth, through alternating beds of clay, sand, gypsum, and sandstone. At the bottom of the shaft a bore-hole of 18 inches diameter throughout was made with Mather and Platt’s apparatus to a depth of 1312 feet; the first 1160 feet of which were through new red sandstone interspersed with beds of clay, white sandstone, red marl, and gypsum. Next came 40 feet of gypsum, hard white sandstone, and limestone; and the remaining 100 feet were through red sandstone, pure salt rock, occasional layers of limestone, and then salt rock to the bottom. The gross time spent in sinking this bore-hole was 510 days, or an average of 2 feet 5 inches a day.

Ross, Herefordshire.—The well at the Alton Court Brewery is shown in [Figs. 239, 240]. The shaft, 5 feet in diameter and 27 feet deep, is steined with 9-inch brickwork for a distance of 17 feet. At the bottom is a 12-inch bore-hole 100 feet 9 inches deep, unlined. The water is abundant. At level of the bore a heading, 6 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 27 long, has been driven, to afford storage room.

Wolverhampton.—This town is partially supplied from wells sunk in the new red sandstone. There are two shafts, 7 feet in diameter and 300 feet deep, a heading 459 feet long, and in this a boring of 390 feet. The yield when first completed was 211,000 gallons a day.

Figs. 241, 242.
Well At Swanage, Dorset.

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St. Helens, Lancashire.—Supplied with about 570,000 gallons daily from two wells, each 210 feet deep, in the new red sandstone. Each well has a bore-hole at the bottom.