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Blog of a Lock Keeper #2: A guide to saving water
19 April 2011
Following a very dry January and March this year, here's a timely seven-point reminder about minimising water use when navigating the locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Some are obvious, others less so, and some are not really obvious at all, so I hope not to teach too many grandmas to suck eggs! Off we go, then, in no particular order...
- Two Narrow Boats at once will fit in our locks, please do what you can to share a lock if at all possible. This entails waiting patiently for another boat to join you, as appropriate. Another way to accomplish this would be, if mooring up overnight near locks, take the time to talk to other moored boats' crews about what time they are setting off in the morning, in order to share the lock if possible.
- On flights such as Gargrave and Bank Newton, where there are single locks interspersed with short pounds, please use the technique know as Lock Wheeling, when descending. This means setting the next lock downstream for down, before emptying the lock you're in...this prevents too much water going down overflows and bywashes. Obviously this gets complicated if boats are moving in both directions but staff will be around to advise you, a little bit of thought given to this could save us a lot of water.
- If on your own in a narrow boat, please don't just open one gate and rub past the mitre of the other gate, this is what leads to the classic 'egg shaped' leak when the gates are shut, with the chamber full behind them.
- Along similar lines to the above, please ensure paddles get closed fully, but gently! Extra wear (such as that created by letting paddles crash down) causes extra leakage and broken paddles which are subsequently decommissioned and waste water because of the next point...
- Whilst still ensuring safe use of the locks, please make sure that you use all of the paddles available. Don't think to yourself, "I'm in no rush, I'll just use the ground paddles to come up this one...". the best way to explain this is, you won't be able to get out of the lock until the water has levelled, but there will always be leakage from the tailgates even at the best of times, so minimum time in the lock will minimise wastage. At some old, particularly leaky locks, the chamber may never fill fully unless all the uppermost paddles are opened.
- If a single lock is already set for a boat in the other direction, then please wait for another boat, or boats, to pass through. On staircases this is the other way round, an ascending boat leaves the staircase (basically) set another boat in the same direction, so it may not be a case simply of first come first served. Staff will generally be on hand to advise you, and I'll go into this in more detail in a future post.
- Finally, please ensure all paddles are closed prior to leaving a lock to reduce leakage and to reduce the chance of the next crew running water straight through a lock unwittingly. Which reminds me, when arriving at a lock it is always essential that the only paddles which are up are the ones you want. Lots of water is lost every year as people try to fill locks whilst one or more paddles below them remains open.
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