Spring Water

[Stimw]

Depending on what is available in your area, county health departments can offer water testing, usually for a fee.
The scary thing is they must have the exact location of the test water, if it has real problems they might condemn the water source.

 

[oosik]

I have a spring that has served as a sole source since 1892. It was the sole source for the homesteader and improved to serve the house we built here in 1982.

I had it tested in 1983. OK for all things bacterial - a tad hard for chemicals. I've never considered adding anything to filter or chemically treat this water.

Using this wonderful spring water sure sours me on "city water".

 

[NorTracNY]

I spoke to a driller in the area. He had good and bad news. The area has been hit or miss on finding the water. He has gone 300-400' and only found gas. The good news is that he believes the springs in the area are good and he could set up a 400gallon tank, filter, uv, and pump to increase pressure for less than one attempt of drilling. I have a few calls in to see if anyone else knows of any issues with springs in the area.

 

[brewdog]

I have a spring that I dug out. Water tested very good so I went ahead and buried a 1000 gallon tank prepared the feeder area with 4”pipe and river gravel from a couple feed sources. I lose more water than I’m able to capture due to the depth of the springs. I would highly recommend putting in 2,000 or a 2,500 gallon tank for a family. I installed a submersible pump from inside the tank to the house and up to the barn with 1” poly pipe. In the house I Installed Two 1 micron large filters and a carbon filter ahead of the UV light filter. The spring water tested at 2 grains iron hardness. Installed a reverse osmosis filter system for showers and clothes that recycles every 28 days.
Lately we've had very dry summers. In late August, I’ve had to switch over to my well for a week or so until the spring begins to flow again. My iron hardness in the well is high a 50 grains of iron so I added an iron filter to pre-filter the water before it goes through the reverse osmosis system. We don’t notice muchh of a change for the couple weeks we need it during a period of drought. Some years we never have to switch over. I only have a 1 micron filter in the pole barn. We don’t drink the water in the barn, although we have in the past without issue.

I’m able to switch from the spring to the well in the basement with valves. Both pumps (well and spring) are the same voltage so I unplug one and plug in the other to switch over.

I’m able to monitor the depth of the spring water in the tank with level monitor that WIFI connects and lets me know if there are large or sudden drops in level. It’s going on 5 years old and works great. We love the spring water so much better than the old well water.

 

[ponytug]

I have a spring that I dug out. Water tested very good so I went ahead and buried a 1000 gallon tank prepared the feeder area with 4”pipe and river gravel from a couple feed sources. I lose more water than I’m able to capture due to the depth of the springs. I would highly recommend putting in 2,000 or a 2,500 gallon tank for a family. I installed a submersible pump from inside the tank to the house and up to the barn with 1” poly pipe. In the house I Installed Two 1 micron large filters and a carbon filter ahead of the UV light filter. The spring water tested at 2 grains iron hardness. Installed a reverse osmosis filter system for showers and clothes that recycles every 28 days.
Lately we've had very dry summers. In late August, I’ve had to switch over to my well for a week or so until the spring begins to flow again. My iron hardness in the well is high a 50 grains of iron so I added an iron filter to pre-filter the water before it goes through the reverse osmosis system. We don’t notice muchh of a change for the couple weeks we need it during a period of drought. Some years we never have to switch over. I only have a 1 micron filter in the pole barn. We don’t drink the water in the barn, although we have in the past without issue.

I’m able to switch from the spring to the well in the basement with valves. Both pumps (well and spring) are the same voltage so I unplug one and plug in the other to switch over.

I’m able to monitor the depth of the spring water in the tank with level monitor that WIFI connects and lets me know if there are large or sudden drops in level. It’s going on 5 years old and works great. We love the spring water so much better than the old well water.

@brewdog How do you have your RO set up? What does your RO recycling mean? Just curious.

All the best,

Peter

 

[fishheadbob]

WNY also. Our well is fed by 3 springs. We had it drilled 47 years ago after we had lived here a while so it was never tested for bacteria etc. but 47 years is a pretty good test right there. No filters, no R.O. At one time it supplied water for 25 cows, 3 teenagers, and 2 adults without issue. Why did we drill when we already had 5 wells ? Because all the original 5 were low producers. How did we know to drill where there were 3 springs waiting to be tapped ? Blind luck. This is a large well; 16 inch diameter, 50 feet deep. The lowest of the 3 springs is about 13 feet down, the rest of the volume is reservoir. Last summer was as droughty as it ever gets. I looked into the well in September, it was down maybe 8 feet from ground level. You didn't ask but Ehmke.

 

[Oaktree]

I have a spring that has served as a sole source since 1892. It was the sole source for the homesteader and improved to serve the house we built here in 1982.

I had it tested in 1983. OK for all things bacterial - a tad hard for chemicals. I've never considered adding anything to filter or chemically treat this water.

Using this wonderful spring water sure sours me on "city water".

I don't know when my well was dug, but the house has been here almost 200 years. Never had it tested, but we've been here 20 years with no ill effects, previous owner was in her 90s when she died so it can't be too bad. Nothing but woods for a good 1/2 mile in any direction.
I hear ya on city water!!

Depending on what is available in your area, county health departments can offer water testing, usually for a fee.
The scary thing is they must have the exact location of the test water, if it has real problems they might condemn the water source.

That's a concern of mine too. The state offered free water testing this past summer, but I passed on it, partly for that reason, partly because the level was low due to drought which may have skewed the results.

 

[Jstpssng]

the level was low due to drought which may have skewed the results.

I'm seeing that here. My inline filters suddenly turned brown this fall when it started raining. I just have a dug well 1 tile deep. I need to add another tile, then backfill enough so that rainwater runs away. Then I will hook up my purifier.

 

[WinterDeere]

Russian roulette. Springs may be fine for decades, or centuries, or polluted overnight by a neighboring property. The trouble is, you never know.

 

[Cycledude]

Dug well here was dug around 1964, as far as I know the water has never been tested. Never has given me any trouble but I quit drinking it a few years ago because of all the stuff on the news about possible issues. There is free spring water about 12 miles from here so that’s where I get most of my drinking and cooking water from, it was upgraded by the state probably 20 years ago and supposedly is some of the cleanest water in the state of Wisconsin, it’s out in the middle of nowhere and every time I go there are other people there filling up with water. Yes I am aware if I ever want to sell my place the dug well and septic system will most likely cause problems for people needing to get a loan from a bank. They say around here any time property changes hands the state gets involved and comes out to inspect stuff and that causes all kinds of trouble.