Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 06 March 1891
The scarcity of water at Conisborough continues to excite a good deal of attention. The scheme for the utilisation of the Serpent’s Well yield is not received with so much approbation as the proposal to take water from Cadeby, which is on the opposite side of the canal. During the sinking of the shaft in connection with the new colliery at Cadeby an extraordinary amount of water bubbled up, owing to the constant tapping of springs. The volume of water which was pumped away was at a rate sufficient to supply the whole of inhabitants of Doncaster and many of the neighbouring parishes.
The water is found at a depth of between 50 and 60 yards. The substratum is sandstone, which extends over an arcs of several miles, and the water thus accumulates. It could be tapped and conveyed to Conisborough by a gravitation scheme, which it is estimated will cost about £6,000.
Mr. George White. C.E., of Mexborough, has drawn up a scheme showing that the ratepayers could be very advantageously accommodated by this scheme. He says the water is “as soft as a glove.” At present the water which is being pumped up at the new colliery is running into the canal.