Dosthill quarry tamworth

[Andy Bate]

anybody dived dosthill tamworth in the last week or so? heared vis is down to one meter last weekend 25th 07 09 can anybody give me an update please,thinking of going this weekend.

thanks
Andy

[AndyA]

Last Friday it was around 1m and very green and cloudy down the right side. We called the dive after 15 minutes and went home.

[Andy Bate]

thanks andy i think i'll give it a miss

[Chris W]

I dived it Saturday - was green and murky.
So much so that I found the Parcel Force Van by swimming into the rear doors.... :rolleyes:

[N2-UK]

Extract from Dozzi's e-mail newsletter

"Quite a lot has been happening recently, and there's more to come soon!

Check-In and Air
There's a new checking in and air payment system to make the process a lot smoother.

Car Park
The car park has been cleaned, and is better organised so we can fit more vehicles in without any spillover onto Church Road.

Catering
The catering van is impeccably clean, and the menu has had a makeover with prices lower, quality improved and more choice!! For example an egg sandwich was previously £2.50 with only 1 egg. Now its £1.50 with 2 eggs. Click Here to see Menu

Changing Rooms
There is a 40ft container on site which has now been fitted for male and female changing rooms. They have been well used in recent weeks with the intermittent rain.

Tidy Site
Site vegatation and hedges have all been trimmed back to gain more space, and masses of litter have been collected.

Breathing Air Facilities
We have got 2 new compressors which are much quieter and more reliable, so we have been able to cut down on waiting time for air fills. The filling butt has been thoroughly cleaned and by filling in water divers are getting maximal fills. We have installed an additional filter just before the charging hoses to double filter the air from the compressors and banks, so we are now delivering air to a much higher quality than is required by the British Standard.

Enriched Air and Oxygen
An oxygen cage and mixed gas panel has been installed in addition to the existing air panel, so we will be producing enriched air (nitrox) from 22% to 100%, as well as super clean air for divers who have oxygen clean cylinders and equipment.

Site Security
The security fencing has been reinforced, with razor wire installed top and bottom and anti-vandal paint applied, with the result that we have not had a break in at the site since.

Improved Visibility
We have already started to address the problem of the "river of rain" that comes through the gates during bad weather. Part of this is being rediverted and filtered through the ground with no impact on visibility. Land drains are currently being planned and should be installed well before the winter.

Permanent Sanitary Facilities
Severn Trent Water authority recently approved a scheme to install an underground pump station on site with the compacity of discharging sewage and used water directly into their main sewer on Church Road. Although we now need to move forward to formal planning permission, this major step forward opens the way to having full sanitary facilities on site including permanent WC's, basins, showers, urinals (for the guys) and vanity units (for the girls). All this is planned to be in place before the winter. In the meantime the 2 portable toilets are checked hourly and cleaned at least twice a day.

New Gates ... and lots of Painting
The ricketty tubular gate from Church Road into the car park has been replaced by twin steel gates, and much of the site has been painted an eco-friendly green.

Kind Regards

Ian
Ian Forster
Dosthill Quarry
May 2009"

[N2-UK]

And the latest offering from Dosthill via their e-mail newsetter:-

"Whats Happening at Dosthill Quarry
3rd August 2009

Dozzi Land Drain Improves Viz!!
After getting on top of pressing jobs such as changing rooms, and a thoroughly clean catering van, Ian and his new team have now addressed the "river of rain" that flows down the car park and through the gates into the lake, whenever the heavens open.

Last Friday a new land drain just inside the gates was planned at 2pm, a 1 ton bag of gravel was delivered at 3pm, a 4 metre long trench half a metre wide and half a metre deep was dug across the entrance and filled with gravel by 7pm. It started to rain at 8pm and continued pretty well incessantly throughout the night, the next morning and well into the afternoon. However the land drain successfully absorbed all the water from the car park, redirecting it into the ground so it can be filtered naturally. Divers at the site on Saturday all commented very favourably on the good viz in the lake, and how much the land drain had improved the viz compared with previous weeks.

Only at 3pm when the Midlands was hit by a torrential monsoon-style downpour did some water flow over the drain. This was an exceptional event but this week the team is constructing a second land drain to double protect the quarry. Open flooring grid will be fitted on top of the gravel for underfoot comfort for divers.

So, no longer do Dozzi divers have to monitor the local weather report before visiting the quarry!!

In the coming weeks we will be constructing and positioning several new training platforms in the lake in order to reduce the impact of novice divers with imprecise buoyancy control kicking up the viz.

Kind Regards
The Dozzi Team "

[AllynCarter]

The efforts being made at Dosthill are really welcome.
It's still a pretty basic site, but there's a really friendly welcome nowadays and the vis during the winter months has been outstanding.

If only they could get a proper toilet block sorted...