Having a functioning community well is important, here are some reasons.

Water supplies to homes and businesses can stop

Water flowing through the taps to our homes requiers electricity to work. So if their was a regional power cut (outage) for a sustained period of time, within a day, no-one in our town will have water to drink.

Clearly it should be a matter of national and local interest to ensure people have access to a reliable source of clean water independent of mains power.

After only 24 hours without electricity there will be no water at all, anywhere in town or anywhere close by. No flushing of a toilet, no water to clean yourself and, most importantly, no water for you or your loved ones to drink.

Having no available water during a power outage is obviously very serious but, oddly, not discussed or recognised. If a sustained outage were to happen, the UK government have prepared pre-recorded 'scripts' to be broadcast to inform the public how to survive until power is restored. These 'scripts' make an interesting read. If you want to know what a life will be like without water (and the other utilities like electricity and gas as they will all fail at the same time) please read the 'scripts' the UK Government plan to broadcast if a national power cut happens Linked below. 

UK GOV SCRIPTS

The plan is to broadcast this life saving information via BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4 but without electricity it is unlikely the vast majority of the UK population will ever get to hear the advice they plan to transmit as radio's need power.

As described in these 'scripts' the government plan relies on bottled water to be distributed and householders to deficate into plastic bags and leave outside for collection. Clearly a well for water is a more sustainable and healthy solution for drinking and hygeine.

Community and health benefits

Access to water is not just about survival. Well water has been shown to have many health benefits as it resonates to an Earth frequency that piped water does not. The piped water we get here in Great Torrington is very soft and contains very few essential minerals and it is expected that the well water will be rich in mineral content.  We all know how beneficial to your health mineral water is, which is why it is bottled and sold.

There is also a spiritual aspect to water we should not ignore. Windy Cross well was deemed 'holy' because a nun was successful in treating ailments with her knowledge of natural remedies and the well water she served. People reportedly came from afar to be treated by her and take the well water.  It will be good to reconnect this site to that story and celebrate it. Maybe we shall have pilgrimages once more to the well to partake of it's healing water, attracting people to our town supporting the wonderful shops and cafes . 

We have people in the community that want to annually 'dress' the well and link it to Torrington's other sacred spring close by, the 'Covety Spring' by The Old Bowling Green. This could be tied into Beltane and the towns Mayfair celebrations and be a great community activity.

It will also act as living history for children. Not only can they learn about the past and how everyone had to work hard to get the essentials to live but they can actually operate a genuine hand pump to access the water. This will help reinforce learning, spark imagination and bring history to life.

The local gardeners will be able to access the water for irrigation. This includes the towns technicians that keep the local flower beds watered most notibly the volenteers that support the Torrington in Bloom who do a great job.

As a whole, having a community well is highly unusual and will be a draw to the town. It is positive and a truly sustainable thing to have a working well, being better than a blocked off pump house that over decades became over-looked and forgotten.

Saving water

We are told a lot about the upcoming water crisis. It has full UN support and water companies a long with local authorities have incentives to save water. This is clearly a means to save water usage from the reserviour system so it goes without saying that councils and water authorities will give it 100% of their support.