TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June0 2015
Subsidence Management Services
Technical
Bulletin
June, 2015
Gold
Page 0
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June1 2015
CONTENTS
June 2015 Edition
Annual Subsidence Conference : SMD Update : Climate
Change Bee? : Geographic Information Systems
Syst
Proportionality of Costs : World Class Claims Handling : Trees
- Canopy and Count : Insurable Interest : Insurance Fraud
Task Force : Kent Earthquake : FOS Decisions
Geology and Beer
Read all about it ...
Another busy month in terms of technical updates as well as attendance at the
Annual Subsidence Conference at Aston University.
University. The conference is arranged by
The Clay Research Group and celebrated its 13th anniversary this year.
year Speakers
covered a wide range of topics but of particular interest to us are the
th ideas of
'fixing' shrinkable clay soils and measuring moisture change and building
movement without digging holes and testing soils. A non-invasive
invasive approach.
Our weather update tracks the progress of the Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD) which
records fairly rapid soil drying. Does this suggest an increase in claims this year?
Who can tell but experience tells us a few intermittent showers could change the
outlook very quickly.
Lots going on in the world of liability and insurance. Proportionality is central to
our decision making and of course the issue of an insurable interest - both are
considered alongside the usual review of good practice as outlined by decisions
made by the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Gold
Page
Page1
1
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June2 2015
Annual Subsidence Conference
Directed by The Clay Research Group
The 13th annual conference was held at Aston University on the 16th June and we
heard from some leading industry figures about what the future may hold. Of
particular interest were the talks delivered by Prof. Ian Jefferson, Birmingham
University and Dr. Nigel Cassidy, Keele University.
Working together, they
they instrumented the site at Aldenham and carried out a series
of projects to see if the clay soil within the root zone of the willow tree could be
'fixed'. The objective is to remove or reduce the shrink/swell properties and perhaps
develop an alternative method of underpinning that is cheaper, faster and more
environmentally friendly than current methods. One of the major benefits would be
to allow retention
ention of the tree in some instances.
The technique is called electrokinesis osmosis (EKO) and involves sinking two steel
rods into the ground (about 300 - 400mm apart in the experiment), introducing a
fluid at the site of one rod and then passing a charge between them using a low
voltage.
The fluid is forced through the soil by the current and in the process
proc
the clay
structure is permanently
perman
altered. The concept isn't new. It was used in WW2 to
make the walls of excavations in clay soil waterproof to house U boats.
boats
How would we know that the EKO treatment was working? Nigel Cassidy
instrumented the site to
to measure moisture change associated with the process.
Using electrical
ical resistivity (ER) Nigel could detect if the soil is getting wetter (the
resistivity drops) or drier (the resistivity increases).
increases)
The EKO work formed the subject of a PhD for Tom Clinton. His thesis has been
handed in for consideration and the good news is, he has found employment.
There are issues for us before this approach can be utilised. For example, was there
any shrinkage associated with the treatment? Laboratory trials by MatLab some
years ago suggested the initial shrinkage exceeded that caused by tree roots. Tom
Clinton explained that the introduction of the fluids meant shrinkage wasn't a
problem.
Gold
Page 22
Page
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June3 2015
Annual Subsidence Conference ... continued
The treatment zone at Aldenham was relatively shallow. In cases where mature
trees are present,
nt, the depth of desiccation can reach 4mtrs. This
Th is no doubt
achievable
le using this method but rods would need to be designed.
How long does it take? Possibly a few months to treat the depth of the root zone.
However, the biggest problem that we foresee is the fact that a narrow strip of
treated soil beneath the foundation is unlikely to act in isolation. It is embedded in
ground that will continue
contin to move seasonally - there are no slip planes
plane between the
treated and untreated zones.
Nigel produced images
images of how his measurement of electrical resistivity might be
used to investigate subsidence claims. Below we have tried to illustrate this
simplistically. The benefits would be significant. Showing where the ground is dry (or
wet) relative to surrounding ground
ground and measuring building movement by adding
electrolevels would avoid the expense and disruption of traditional methods. No
excavations, soil testing or monitoring. See image below.
Nigel tells us that the Rasberry Pi computer system,
system, costing around £40,
£
could
handle all of the data and processing. By using the homeowners WiFi (paying for
data use of course) the whole assembly would probably take less than a day to set
up. Data delivered 24/7 would mean a quicker claim settlement and meaningful data
gathered
thered over time, at far less cost than is currently the case. More next month.
Diagrammatic
matic plot of ER monitoring
at shallow depth
dep showing how the
influence of a root zone might
appear. The soil would be drier in
the root zone in the summer (left),
and reach equilibrium in the winter
(right).
Invert the model and we might be
able to detect wetter soils where
drains are leaking. Readings would
probably be required at a depth of
say 1.5m below ground for the most
meaningful results.
Gold
Page
Page 33
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June4 2015
SMD Update
The blue line plots the current position of the Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD) and
compares with the average of recorded event years and the averages of a normal
year. The current trend suggests a dry summer and we could be excused for
anticipating an increase in claims.
However, over the last 8 years such trends have been interrupted by intervals of
heavy rainfall. Perhaps a function of the climate changes that we read about. Bottom
left we see the jet stream sat fair and square over the UK. It is possible that some
movement north might take place shortly drawing the warmer weather up from the
south.
Gold
Page
4
Page
4
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June5 2015
Climate Change Bee?
Frightening reports were coming in relating to the sighting of a giant bee at the
Eden Project in Cornwall and some scientists
sci
were
re blaming global warming. Our
team were dispatched with suitable protective clothing and got within camera
range to take this picture. Fortunately we can report it isn't real. It's just a model.
Nothing to worry about but we must keep our eye on it.
Pedunculate Oak
The pedunculate oak came
c
into leaf
starting 10th April lasting through until
the 20th May or thereabouts. This
compares with around the 30th March
extending through to 4th May in 2014.
How do we know? We visited ...
http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/
It's
's interesting to see how various species
of tree interact with the climate.
Gold
Page 5 5
Page
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June6 2015
Geographic Information Systems
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) started to become more widely adopted by
insurers around 1990 - 1995. Dismissed initially on the basis that if you had the raw
data then thee need for maps was superfluous; if a certain postcode was identified
as high risk, what could be gained by seeing it on a map?
We were introduced to the joys
of GIS around 1995 when we
plotted the height and location
of the trees in London using
usi
aerial photography. In those
days, measuring heights was a
lengthy task involving binocular
viewing glasses and transparent
images laid side by side.
Times move quickly and when
we next undertook the task in
2005 it was largely automated
using laser technology. A much
faster
er process and this time
including canopy cover on a 1m
grid.
By adding building outlines
using Ordnance
rdnance Survey mapping
we could visualise the risk at
unit level. GIS systems allow the
user to carry out quite complex
calculations 'behind
'
the scenes'.
Not only can we visualise the risk better, the links with other elements (geology in
particular) can be assessed.
Google Earth has an application that allows
allows the user to undertake rudimentary
mapping for free. A easy-to-use interface (www.batchgeo.com) allows the user to
import data from an Excel spreadsheet in a matter of seconds.
Gold
Page
6
Page
6
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June7 2015
Proportionality of Costs in Legal Disputes
As claims handlers, ensuring that costs are proportionate to the sum at issue is
second nature. There’s no point spending
spend £4K to investigate a claim when the cost to
repair amounts to £5K. (The only exception might be if fraud is suspected when, for
the greater good of both insurers and the insuring public, different expense
considerations apply.)
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) fully understands the principle, whether it
be in indemnity spend or handling cost. An insurer agreed to pay £1,000
£1,
in respect
of damage to two floor tiles in a kitchen, made up of £500 repair plus £500 for loss
of match.
Re-tiling
tiling the whole kitchen would cost £2,500. FOS practice is to allow the cost of
repairing the damage plus up to 50% of replacing the remainder.
remaind
‘I think an
additional cash payment of 50% of replacing the undamaged tiles would be
disproportionate in this particular case’. £1,000, rather than the FOS maximum of
£1,500, was sufficient. Case reference DRN1495823.
An insurer had a written statement
statement from a policyholder. It felt that it had sufficient
information and that the cost of employing an interpreter to obtain further
information was disproportionate. ‘I do not think this is unreasonable in all of the
circumstances.’ Case reference DRN3181713.
The principle of proportionality has now been emphasised further in the Civil
Procedure Rules which govern legal cases in which we are involved whether in
recoveries or disputes with policyholders. There are a number of changes, effective
from April. The objectives are broadly as before - to encourage parties to exchange
information at an early stage in order to attempt to narrow the issues and/or resolve
the dispute. However, there is a greater focus on efficient case management and
proportionate costs.
sts.
Parties are now required to take ‘only reasonable and proportionate steps’ to
identify, narrow and resolve the issues in dispute. A party will be unable to recover
any disproportionate costs incurred in complying with any protocol or practice
direction.
ion. There are adverse costs sanctions for parties who refuse or fail to respond
to invitations to participate in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Gold
Page
7
Page
7
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June8 2015
Proportionality of Costs ... continued
Two recent cases show the need for change. One case involved a claim for around
£900K. The claimant ‘won’ but their costs of £202K were reduced to £96K. An
experienced partner had become overly-involved
overly involved in detailed work on the case.
Savoye v Spicers. http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/TCC/2015/33.html
A claimant submitted a budget of £9.5M in a case to be heard in the Technology
and Construction Court.
The court described this as ‘unreliable,
‘unreliable, disproportionate and unreasonable’. It
slashed the budget to £4.3M – less than the claimant had already spent. The
amount claimed in the dispute was £18M, although this was said to be grossly
inflated.
The embarrassed claimant solicitors were Squire
Squire Patton Bogg, an international firm
that boasts a profit of US$ 840K for each equity partner. CIP Properties v Galliford
Try. http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/TCC/2015/481.html
Subsidence
Factoids
308mm
8mm is the theoretical
theo
maximum value for the Soil
Moisture Deficit caused by
trees. The maximum value for
grass cover is 134mm.
134mm Trees are
much riskier than grass and
produce
more
ground
movement. In practice it is the
localised ground movement
associated with root activity
that results in differential
movement and damage.
Sinkhole vulnerability map published by the BGS
Gold
Page
Page
8
8
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June9 2015
World Class Claims Handling
‘The claims handler needs to make the claimant feel that even though the event that
started the process (the accident) was bad the process, the experience and the
outcome were good – that they were well treated and cared about.’
Some customer requirements of a claims team:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
a fair settlement
a prompt settlement
to be kept informed
communicate honestly and clearly
adequate resource
professional dealings
consistency
a case manager approach
the right expert at the right time
invisible internal processes
to deal with an empowered representative
‘An effective low touch approach – if you pick up a file
le do something useful.’
‘The best activities for quality claims adjusters remain: investigation, evaluation and
negotiation.’
These are all quotes from a lecture to the Insurance Institute of London by Jonathan
Clark, a former head of CII’s Faculty of Claims.
Claims. There are other points made in the
lecture, which will be of interest to those concerned with the broader aspects of first
party claims handling.
CII members can see the video and slides at:
http://www.cii.co.uk/knowledge/insurance-institute-of-london/articles/what
http://www.cii.co.uk/knowledge/insurance
london/articles/what-isworld-class-in-claims/33142
claims/33142. Otherwise, ask a member of TCU to forward you a copy
of the slides, which are at: T:/Technical Information/Insurance Principles/World Class
Gold
Page
Page 9 9
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June102015
Counting the trees and measuring the canopy
http://www.treezilla.org/
The web application TreeZilla records the total canopy cover (expressed as a
percentage of ground area)
area and count of trees for some major towns and cities
in the UK.
As can be seen from these graphs, although London has
as a high count of trees,
Birmingham has a higher canopy cover. This almost certainly reflects the risk
posed by large trees on the shrinkable soils
soils of the south east where regular
canopy reduction is the norm.
Gold
Page 1010
Page
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June112015
Insurance Fraud Taskforce
This taskforce was set up in January under the auspices of the government. Members
include the Association of British Insurers, Financial Ombudsman Service, Citizens
Advice, Financial Services Consumer Panel, British Insurance Brokers’ Association and
the Insurance Fraud Bureau – a good cross section of interested parties. Its starting
point was the estimate that insurance fraud adds
adds £50 to each household’s annual
insurance bill. The ABI estimates that detected insurance fraud was £1.3 billion in
2013.
An interim report has been published. Much of the focus is around fraudulent
personal injury claims where the injury cannot easily be proved or disproved. We
probably all still receive those irritating canvassing telephone calls.
Our particular interest is in fraudulent first party claims. The Taskforce is currently
canvassing opinions on five questions:
•
How could engagement with consumers and consumer education be improved
to reduce insurance fraud?
•
How might communications be used to discourage dishonest claims and
should these communications emphasise the effect of fraud on honest
policyholders?
•
How common is the perception that
that insurance fraud is a victimless crime?
•
Do the actions of any party involved in the underwriting or claims process
encourage the perception that insurance fraud is justifiable?
•
What more could be done to make insurance fraud socially unacceptable?
The final report is due by the end of this year. Further information is at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/insurance
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/insurance-fraud-taskforce#interim
taskforce#interim-report
Gold
Page
11
Page
11
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June122015
Insurable Interest
We still see the occasional case that sends us back to the text books. Last year we
dealt with a claim from a policyholder who, it turned out, had a poor credit history
so had persuaded a friend to apply for a mortgage on a property – the upstairs flat
of a house. The property was bought in the friend’s name.
Policyholder paid the £30K deposit and made the monthly repayments. So the
insurance policy wasn’t in the name of the person listed as owner at Land Registry.
To make the case more interesting, the friend
friend secretly took out a loan against the
property but defaulted on repayments, triggering repossession action by the bank
with the second charge against the property.
The property was damaged by subsidence. Having initiated a mortgage fraud and
not being
ing the registered owner, but having paid a deposit and paid monthly
repayments, did the policyholder have an insurable interest in the property?
To add more spice to the story, the downstairs flat was legally owned by our
policyholder. However, it was occupied
occupied by his parents who had taken out a buildings
policy in their name, with another insurer.
As it happens, the insurable interest debate was overtaken by events. Policyholder
submitted a fraudulent invoice in support of a claim for expenses so his claim
cl
was
kicked out on those grounds. He complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service describing himself on their form as a police officer - but they didn’t uphold his
complaint.
Insurable interest is one of the six principles of insurance.
In the 18th century, it was not unknown for someone to take out a policy on the life
of a person they didn’t know, as a wager. If that person died or was killed, the
policyholder collected the pay-out.
pay
The Marine Insurance Act of 1746 and the Life Assurance Act 1774
1
tried to
discourage gambling by making it illegal to take out policies if the beneficiary didn’t
have a financial interest in the property or life insured.
Gold
Page
12
Page
12
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June132015
Insurable Interest ... continued
Case law developed the principle of insurable interest in property, a classic
description being contained in Lucena v Crauford (1806), and it was codified in the
Marine Insurance Act 1906. Since then, there haven’t been many further
developments – until now
no
Having reformed personal insurances through CIDRA 2012 (The Consumer
Insurance Disclosure & Representations Act) and commercial insurances through
the Insurance Act 2015, the Law Commission isn’t resting on its laurels. Jointly with
the Law Commission of
of Scotland, it has published a paper seeking further views on
proposed changes to the law of insurable interest.
Most of the changes affect life assurance. For indemnity insurance, in which we are
interested, the changes are mainly aimed at re-stating
re
existing
isting law in a clearer way.
Insurable interest might become a statutory requirement. When should the
interest exist – at time of loss, at policy inception or both? The Commission
considers:
(1) What interest must be shown for an insurance contract to be valid?
(2) What are the consequences of an insurance contract being considered void for
lack of insurable interest?
(3) When may the policyholder claim for a loss?
We will report on the subject in more detail when a Bill is drafted, whenever that
may be. A government with a small majority tends to be selective about which bills
it places before parliament and which it holds back. The Law Commission
consultation closes on 29 June. Further information is at:at
http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/areas/insurance contract-law.htm
http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/areas/insurance-contract
Gold
PagePage
13
13
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June142015
Kent Earthquake
It struck at 2.52am on 22 May. The focus – the point of origin of an earthquake - was
ten miles underground. Its epicentre - the point on the earth's surface vertically
above the focus - was a Ramsgate golf course in the CT10 postcode area.
The most common
on measure of the intensity of an earthquake is the Richter scale,
developed by Charles Richter, of the California Institute of Technology in 1935. The
Kent earthquake measured 4.2 compared with, for example, the April earthquake in
Nepal at 7.9. Whilst the
the figures don’t seem that far apart, the important feature of
Richter’s scale is that it’s logarithmic and measures the wave amplitude of an
earthquake.
Waves are vibrations that transfer energy from place to place. We see something
similar in a Mexican wave
wave at a sports event. The wave moves around the stadium,
while each spectator stays in their seat, only moving up then down when
w
it's their
turn.
Amplitude is the amount of up and down movement of a wave. The greater (higher)
the amplitude, the stronger the wave. On a logarithmic scale, the waves on a 6.0
earthquake are ten times greater than on a 5.0 earthquake. More importantly for
the damage, the amount of energy that is released increases by 31.7 times between
each whole number.
The Nepal earthquake was therefore 260,000 times stronger, in terms of energy
released, than the Kent one. The majority of earth tremors are micro-quakes,
micro
registering less than 3 on the Richter scale and not felt by humans. Kent isn’t quite
the San Andreas fault, but there was a 4.3 earthquake at Folkestone, just 25 miles
away, in April 2007.
We are interested in earthquakes on two counts. Whilst we mainly deal with
subsidence claims, we are also asked by clients to deal with structural damage
caused in other
ther ways. There was such minor damage in the Kent earthquake that we
haven’t received – and don’t particularly expect – any instructions.
The other reason for keeping track of earthquakes is in case we find unexplained
damage in the future. The last significant
significant earthquake in the UK was in February
2008, 5.2 Richter, centred on Market Rasen, Lincs.
.
Gold
Page
14
Page
14
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June152015
Just a couple of years ago we were dealing with crack damage to a retaining wall in
North Derbyshire. There was no obvious cause and all parties agreed that it was
most likely due to the 2008 earthquake.
The UK has many minor earthquakes - in June alone there have been 10 recorded
up to the 19th according to the BGS web site and well over 20 in May. More are
recorded in modern times due to the use of social networks to report them - Face
Book, Twitter etc.
Earthquake is one of the traditional perils. When insurers give restricted cover – for
example on unoccupied buildings – it is called FLEA cover; fire, lightning,
earthquake, aircraft. Sometimes it’s FLEEA cover, with explosion added. In most
years there are few earthquake claims in the UK but there aren’t many aircraft
claims - aircraft or things falling from them hitting a building - either
If you need a quick reminder of recent UK earthquakes, ask a member of TCU to
check T/Technical Information/ Earthquake. Otherwise get the full
f
detail at
http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/
Gold
Page
Page
1515
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June162015
FOS Decisions - Conservatories
Decisions Published on the FOS web site
Conservatory
Foundations
DRN0762040
Building Regulation
Compliance
DRN6785040
Defective
construction
DRN6905404
Gold
House purchased in 2006. Claim in 2009. Initially accepted.
Subsequently emerged that previous owner had submitted
a claim for conservatory damage which had been rejected.
Damage to conservatory foundations due to PH’s trees.
Current insurers then repudiated
ed the new claim on basis of
defective design.
Repudiation upheld. ‘Innocent
purchaser’ argument not applied. ‘The trigger for the
insurer was finding out about that the previous owner had
experienced a subsidence problem with the conservatory
in 2005. It was therefore not unreasonable to change its
position and use of the policy exclusion. I accept that Ms W
has suffered a loss of expectation in view of insurer's
change in position. However, the insurer had not started
work on the conservatory and so the claim was still being
considered.’
Subsidence damage to conservatory built in 2005. Insurers
repudiated; inadequate foundations; faulty design.
Insurers required to indemnify. They confused ‘guidelines’
with ‘rules’ and did not recognise that Building Regulations
didn’t apply to this conservatory
rvatory when it was built.
Crack damage to conservatory in 2011. Adjuster
understood that the conservatory had been built in 1995.
Accepted as valid claim; the conservatory had stood the
test of time. A year later, it was discovered that the
conservatoryy had been built in 2004. Damage was seven
years later. Claim declined on basis of defective design –
inadequate foundations. Insurer’s position upheld. ‘The
evidence suggests that the proximity of trees and the clay
soil were not taken account of when the conservatory was
built. Investigations had shown that the shrinkable clay
beneath the conservatory contained tree roots. Therefore,
I cannot suggest the insurer acted unreasonably.’
Page
Page
16
16
TechnicalTechnical
Bulletin Bulletin
Subsidence
InFront Innovation
Management
– Services
Technical
– Issued
Hub by the Technical Claims Unit
January 2014–
2014 Page
June172015
Geology and Beer
‘Geology is a fundamental control on many elements of civilisation so it is no
wonder that it is inextricably linked to one of the oldest concoctions of Mankind.’
This is the conclusion of an article in this month’s Geoscientist magazine.
An aquifer is a layer of rock or soil able to hold or transmit a volume of water. The
aquifer determines the chemical components of ground-water
ground water and hence its effects
on the local beer. For example:
•
•
•
Burton–on-Trent:
Trent: well water comes from evaporate rich Permo-Triassic
Permo
sandstones and is hard and high in calcium and sulphate. (Bitter, including India
Pale Ale [IPA]).
Dublin: has water derived from Carboniferous Limestones. (Porter and Stout
including Guinness).
London: waters are from Cretaceous Chalk which gives a slightly different
diffe
ion
composition to the Dublin waters. (Porter and Stout).
That’s the educational element to justify inclusion in this Bulletin. The rest of the
Geoscientist article is beyond our scope but is recommended reading for anyone
interested in the evolution of beer from its early beginnings 7,000 years ago.
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/June
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/June-2015/Online-Special-Geology-and-Beer
Gold
Page
Page1717