Price, M.J. Reed, D.W. 1989. The influence of mains leakage and urban drainage on groundwater levels beneath conurbations in the UK. Proc. Instn of Civil Engrs, Part 1, 86, 31–39.
This Paper considers the problem of rising groundwater levels in sandstone aquifers beneath conurbations in the UK. It suggests that factors other than groundwater abstraction were involved in the original decline of water levels, and that factors other than reduced abstraction are involved in their present recovery. The decline was probably caused in part by the reduction in natural infiltration that occurred when large areas were covered with pavement and buildings; this being so, water tables should never completely return to their original levels, even if all pumping were to cease, without some other form of recharge. However, it is shown that leakage from water mains is more than sufficient to account for the currently observed rise in the water table beneath Liverpool. In England and Wales as a whole, the rate at which water leaks from mains into the ground is similar to the rate at which water is pumped from the ground into the public supply. It is suggested that, in many cases, before seeking geotechnical solutions to the problems associated with rising water levels, it would be appropriate to consider what effects could be achieved by local programmes to reduce mains leakage.