A Highland-based firm specialising in private water supplies is to carry out borehole drilling in the island early in the new year.
Engineers from HighWater (Scotland) will be in the island today (Monday) and tomorrow to check out the site near Snaefell where a private client wants a borehole drilled for fresh water.
And the company says it will be able to provide no-obligation surveys for other residents while the team is here.
HighWater boss Richard Innes said: ‘A private client near Snaefell has currently got a horrible stream supply. The new owner realises this isn’t for him and wants to drill a borehole.
‘We are coming over on Monday and Tuesday to have a look at this site.’
He said costs could be kept down if they were doing drilling for more than one client.
HighWater has been going 15 years and currently employs 14 people. It’s based in Nairn in Morayshire but has recently opened an office in Perth and there is a possibility of expanding into Devon.
It operates throughout the Scottish Highlands, Perthshire, Moray and Aberdeenshire but also takes on specialist projects further afield.
HighWater has developed private water supplies based on boreholes, shallow dug wells, natural springs and surface water catchment from lochs and rivers. It uses drilling rigs mounted on steel tracks. Boreholes can be used both for providing a domestic water supply and as a source of heating using ground source heat pumps.
Richard said: ‘Business is absolutely booming.
‘A lot of people want to build in remote areas with no mains connection. There is also a concern that the existing infrastructure is starting to deteriorate.’
He explained there could never be a guarantee that water can be found.
‘It could be 12 metres or 120 metres down – we are looking for fractures in the bedrock. But there is a risk - in 10 per cent of cases we don’t get any water at all,’ he said. To book a no-obligation survey, contact 01667 451009 or email info@highwaterscotland.co.uk