Drilling and testing of trial groundwater abstraction boreholes at Chapeltonmoss

Three trial groundwater abstraction boreholes were drilled at the edge of the Chapeltonmoss area, in Forres, Morayshire, in September 2005, and a programme of hydrogeological testing carried out, in order to assess the resource potential and groundwater chemistry of the superficial deposits aquifer. The specific aims of the investigation were to assess the potential for obtaining a groundwater supply of similar magnitude and chemical character to the nearby Chapeltonmoss Spring. Of the trial boreholes, Borehole 1 and Borehole 3 proved to be too low yielding to support a test yield. This is likely to be largely due to the limited thickness of saturated aquifer at each of these boreholes. A step test, a 24 hour constant rate pumping test and a 3 day constant rate pumping test were carried out on Borehole 2. The results of the test pumping indicate that the borehole is likely to have a long term sustainable yield of 1.0 to 1.5 litres/second (l/s), equivalent to between approximately 86 and 130 m3/day. The chemistry of groundwater from Borehole 2 is distinctive and is generally similar to the chemistry of groundwater flowing from the Chapeltonmoss Spring outlet pipe. The chemistry data indicate that the two groundwaters share a source.