1) Extreme problems with water could render a coal-pit useless, in which circumstances it was said to be ‘drowned’.
In A Noble Scene of Industry Rothwell colliery was said to be drowned with water with a loss of production estimated at nine years by 1582. This was often a fear in districts where several collieries were operating, each with its own drainage system, and proposals to open new pits were a cause for anxiety: 1769 Mr Wilks … intends to get Coals in some grounds the Estate of Sir William Milner, which coals he has obtained a lease of, but Mr Denison’s Trustees believe the Working thereof will be prejudicial to them in drowning the coals in their Estate, Beeston.