General Pros and Cons

Pros

Most bottled water brands come from boreholes

• Boreholes can cut water costs by up to 80 per cent. A cubic metre of water from a public supply can cost up to £1 in some areas. A million gallons costs about £4,500. The cost of borehole water is around 2p to 3p a cubic metre
• Finance options are available for boreholes and – even with interest payments over five years, say – the cost can still be lower than buying public water
• Once you’ve paid for the borehole and pump system, your only cost is electricity to run the pump. There’s no water meter and no water bills
• In many cases, borehole water doesn’t need any treatment. If there is any contamination, an ultraviolet (UV) sterilisation unit and pre-filter are installed. Unlike chemical purification, they don’t taint the water
• A new borehole, installed to a high standard, and with modern materials such as PVC and stainless steel should last a lifetime
• Under new Water Bill legislation, users who take under 20 cubic metres of water a day – 20 tonnes of water – don’t need a licence to abstract

Cons

• Commercial installations start at around £8,000, but users tend to recoup this within a couple of years or even months
• Commercial users who need a large quantity of water will usually need a licence to abstract
• The quality of the water is your responsibility. You’ll have to check its purity and have filters installed if necessary