Spring house

[bannerd]

Hey guys, purchased a house that is spring fed. There is a 12ftx12ft box about two feet deep filled with water with a pump in the middle. I have not had the water tested but hope to do that soon. The water smells like pond water, which might be because the way the water is sitting there stagnet. Any thoughts on a water purification system? I know the house needs to be re-done to get the water moving. For now I'm looking for a decent water system.

 

[John in OH]

Abandon that spring and drill a well.

I grew up in a house that was spring-fed. The spring in the hillside about 600 ft. from the house was partially excavated and a stone collection basin was created. All the water that collected in this basin flowed down another pipe to a 6' deep x 2' dia. reservoir about 50' away and 10' lower. A pipe in the bottom of this reservoir fed the house. First floor kitchen and bath was about 20'-30' in elevation below the bottom of the reservoir. No pump, just gravity flow. My Grandfather designed and installed the system in the 1920s.

Sounds pretty cool, right? Geezzzz, it was dreadful!

Water from the limestone spring was hard as a rock. Lime buildup in all the pipes. After a heavy rain the water in the reservoir had high turbidity and cloudy. Every now and then a silverfish or some other kind of bug would come out of the faucet along with the water. During really dry summers the spring would nearly dry up and we had to be very conservative of water usage. No water pressure to second floor of house. No water pressure to wash a car.

Dad finally had enough and drilled a well with a submersible pump and abandoned the spring system. What an improvement!!

So, save yourself a lot of time, money and misery and just drill a well.

 

[bczygan]

Drill a well, but rehab the springhouse too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_house

Sounds cool (Literally) Photos?

 

[Stuart in MN]

My parents had a lake cabin when I was a kid, and there was an artesian spring in the front yard. Best tasting water I ever had.

The point is, it could be good or it could be bad - you need to get the water tested. There should be a county extension service or state university in your area that can do the testing for a nominal sum - you collect a sample, send it in, and they send back the results.

 

[tcsalvage]

My sister in law just purchased a log house and the bank wouldn't finance it until the spring fed holding tank and pump were replaced by a well. She ended up moving the well away from the spring when she found out the septic system was 32 feet away from it. My point being either her bank was very strict or yours was very lax on the condition of the property before they financed it. Its your house and your health but drilling a well for peace of mind and clean water seams like a logical solution.

 

[99_xc600]

Abandon that spring and drill a well.

I grew up in a house that was spring-fed. The spring in the hillside about 600 ft. from the house was partially excavated and a stone collection basin was created. All the water that collected in this basin flowed down another pipe to a 6' deep x 2' dia. reservoir about 50' away and 10' lower. A pipe in the bottom of this reservoir fed the house. First floor kitchen and bath was about 20'-30' in elevation below the bottom of the reservoir. No pump, just gravity flow. My Grandfather designed and installed the system in the 1920s.

Sounds pretty cool, right? Geezzzz, it was dreadful!

Water from the limestone spring was hard as a rock. Lime buildup in all the pipes. After a heavy rain the water in the reservoir had high turbidity and cloudy. Every now and then a silverfish or some other kind of bug would come out of the faucet along with the water. During really dry summers the spring would nearly dry up and we had to be very conservative of water usage. No water pressure to second floor of house. No water pressure to wash a car.

Dad finally had enough and drilled a well with a submersible pump and abandoned the spring system. What an improvement!!

So, save yourself a lot of time, money and misery and just drill a well.

This is the same scenario as my Inlaws house. It's a disaster.

 

[Spareparts]

My wife's family has a family dinner (Reunion) in Ill. every August and her Uncle has a walk out basement made into a large family room with a spring running thru it. He has spent a sizeable amount of $$$$ to get this done right and not cause any humidity problems, it has a waterfall in it and a place to put Watermellons and Canaloupe in the cold water. Now picture this, you eat 3 times more than you are supposed to, go into the family room a nice comfy 60-65 degrees in August and listen to the water fall and the next thing you have is 10-12 stuffed adults fast asleep. Now he has acrylic panels to separate it from the living area, but for the dinners he removes them and is one of the neatest things I have ever seem in a house.

 

[kbs2244]

If the spring is year around free flowing it may be worth useing.
That is easy to check.
Does your box have an outgoing flow in mid-summer?
Otherwise the local health deparment would know.
Most springs are now well known and located on county maps.

 

[justanengineer]

Hey guys, purchased a house that is spring fed. There is a 12ftx12ft box about two feet deep filled with water with a pump in the middle. I have not had the water tested but hope to do that soon. The water smells like pond water, which might be because the way the water is sitting there stagnet. Any thoughts on a water purification system? I know the house needs to be re-done to get the water moving. For now I'm looking for a decent water system.

Since the water's stagnant I suspect you have a shallow dug well, not a natural spring. The key difference is that a dug well simply traps the water if the house doesnt use it, a spring usually puts out enough flow that the tank has a constantly flowing overflow and stays clean regardless of how much/little the house uses. If its a well, I'd suggest abandoning it in favor of a deeper drilled one as suggested. In the meantime you can put a bandaid on the situation by pumping the well down and scrubbing the concrete tank with a brush and bleach to kill any bacteria growth, followed by "shocking" the well by adding a gallon of bleach to it every few months to help keep it clean.

 

[bannerd]

I'll get some photos up. I found a overflow pipe which ran strong for 6 hours and now it stopped. I went into the house today and noticed a second pipe near the overflow about 3 inches lower. Wonder if the house sank with the concrete walls. I'll get photos up tomorrow.

 

[paddy1]

My aunt had a spring, not a lot of water but best tasting. Would make the best pickles. She always had company over but not for her, but her water. 30 years ago no one used bottled water in NW Ohio

 

[bannerd]

Here are some pictures. I think I'm going to get a trash pump and pump the house out. See where the spring is coming from. In the mean time build the roof higher, pour concrete inside so I have something to walk on to do service. Water will be tested Wednesday so hopefully the bacteria count is good.

 

[jdieter]

Live in NW Indiana in a wooded hilly area full of ravines with springs popping out in almost every ravine. Consequently the wells in my immediate area are extremely low producing because of the porous substrate, no pockets for underground water to pool, it all moves through the sand and gravel into the springs. For that reason our home was designed to use spring water. They used a distiller for drinking water so all the sinks had a 3rd faucet. A waterfall built into the back of the house carries the overflow to a brook running through our patio and on to a creek about 20' away. It's a neat water feature and flows year round. The owner had to drill a well before selling the property to us, but being a low producing well, around 2gpm, with a house full of kids we kept the spring water system and used the well for drinking water. So you may want to do a little investigating with neighbors about their wells. When all the kids moved out I eliminated the spring system in the house and only use it for outside water. Also added a 400 gallon cistern to the well system so we don't run it dry during heavy use.

 

[Flivver250]

We owned an 1830 farm house that was fed by the original spring and still is. Water was positively great and endless. Yours may be stagnant if the water hasn't been used in a while? Try to drain it down and let it refill (if you can). My spring could run endlessly without lowering an inch. If it needs a cleaning, you can add a touch of chlorine to flush through the system. Of course get the water tested. Keep us updated. Much more fun post than "Hey guys, what brand of vise grips should I buy from Craigslist?"

 

[bannerd]

I'm all ears to see what people are using for a setup. Not much out there. Sketches or photos.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

When we first moved onto our property water was supplied by a small dam on the hillside which in turn fed a captive tank below via pex pipe then pumped to the house.

If something happened at the dam -which was often- that stopped water flow you wouldn't find out until the 500 gallon captive tank ran dry. Now mind you this never happened mid afternoon on a sunny day. This would only happen in the dead of winter while enjoying a hot shower; indicated by a face full of disgusting brown sludge from the shower head.

I don't know how many times my daughter and I slogged up that hill to clean sediment from the damn. I'm sure she picked up some colorful phrases and I stood crotch deep in frozen water to clear the plug. Then you had to wait hours for the tank to fill back up so you couldn't even wash the frog slime and salamander poop off your body!

When we put in the the new house we had a well dug and I still am thankful for the clear water that so easily flows from the tap! Smashing that stupid damn was a red letter day here.

 

[bannerd]

Update:

Bought a champion trash pump from amazon for less than $300. Going to pump the house out and then see what she has for flow. Should I be looking for a hose or more of an artisan style?