The Lifesource of Louma
Water is integral to everything we do at Louma, feeding our ponds, animals, gardens, buildings, and us. This vital system is maintained by our Head of Grounds, Joe Leighton.
It is within my role to ensure that our water system is safe and reliable for us to drink, that it runs consistently, and that we never run out. I’ve found myself to be continually grateful, in this ever-changing climate, that we have access to this pure and natural resource, and that it is so freely provided to us by the Earth. It is visible in all manner of things: watering our gardens and animals, filling our baths and pools, steaming our sauna, hydrating us after a long walk and making our bread. By appreciating our access to water, is to appreciate even better, each of these things.
Water, Water, Everywhere…
Spring is a time of renewal, and a time where the passing winter strips back the landscape to its essential parts, leaving behind a blank canvas, full of potential and possibilities for the season ahead. At this time of year, deep underground, the water table is about as high as it gets, and this is evident everywhere you look. All over the farm you can hear the gentle babble of water trickling through our ditches; ditches that have been keeping the land drained and useable for thousands of years. This ancient system is still the most efficient and effective way of moving water from the land into the streams and rivers, keeping the land dryer in these wetter seasons, though we had more than our fair share of mud and puddles this winter.
Bringing Life
Our farm, and others around us, are heavily reliant on these natural resources, with the Springs feeding our ponds, allowing fresh water to move through them, avoiding stagnancy, bringing life, and allowing the lower areas of the farm, that we call Upper and Lower Guppy, to become ‘wet pasture’ between late Autumn and spring, which brings all manner of benefits. This marshy vegetation enhances water quality as it transforms dissolved nutrients into plant material, which provides both sustenance and habitat for wildlife. Additionally, chemical processes occurring within the soils modify, and occasionally, capture chemical contaminants while also sequestering carbon, thereby benefiting climate change mitigation efforts.
Our Off-grid Water System
Here at Louma we have installed our own off grid water system, fed from various boreholes and springs over the site. The springs surface in Wet Woods, where there is a seam of sand which sits on a layer of clay and gravel. The water is then gravity fed to a tank at the bottom of the farm, where we also have four Victorian wells that we have renovated, as well as our bore holes that were drilled in October 2022. These have been drilled down into the earth, amongst hidden, underground water passages that run through seams of gravel and sand, sandwiched between layers of thick, water tight clay. These underground streams would otherwise make their way out of the ground further down the valley and from there into rivers to the sea. Our water is pumped to a filtration room where we remove any sediment and biological life to provide a clean, healthy, refreshing and local water that brings life to all we see and are.
