Spring water

[braucher]

Anyone else keep springs open and store water ?

[Brian_Rhoad]

We use spring water. We pipe it into a tank and pump from there. There are at least 6 springs on our property. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have one in the holler directly above my house. Old timers had it piped directly into the house and they even had a cinderblock spring house with an old sink with spring water flowing through constantly. They used it to keep the milk cool. Later on they drilled a well and we use the spring house to house the pump and a water filter/softener. I have a pipe from the spring running to an old bathtub to water the livestock. I pipe the runoff to another stock tank down the hill on the other side of a cross fence. Many, many years ago the county installed a perforated concrete pipe about 2' diameter and maybe 4' long in the spring with a short pipe nipple off it I hook my pipeline to going to the tub. Every few years I will remove the top and clean out that cistern/filter.

   I would not want to drink the water from mine without additional filtration and/or processing for fear of giardia and such. I have a number of springs on my property including one every spring right in my front yard I have to route to a ditch nearby.

[hacknchop]

We have a spring that we get our drinking water from , our well at home is ok but nothing like flowing springwater we own and operate a live bait bussiness there and that cold water keeps them minnows and leeches lively . I put a 12" cement tile over 1/2 the hole that the water comes up out of the ground put a 2 1/2" hole in the side of it water in the tile stays a little higher than the hole in the side and flows 24 /7 out the side and when the pump kicks in it creates the slightest ripple in the tile .

[Ianab]

Mostly our area is volcanic ash, and high rainfall. You don't do springs and wells. Just put a pump p or gravity pickup in the local stream.

But at my old place a few miles East, we had an artesian spring coming from who knows where? 

This was a serious enough spring to create a big patch of "bubbling sand", flow didn't vary with the seasons, and 3 x 4kw farm pumps didn't put a noticeable dent in the water streaming out. Also quite hard, so it had been filtering through miles of limestone. Crystal clear water, just rather Hard, murder on wetback 

[Chuck White]

Years ago my Dad dug a spring on the hillside, about 600 feet from the house and it gravity flows to my house!

I have a shallow-well pump in the cellar for pressure to the shower and washer, otherwise I wouldn't even need the pump!

[WV Sawmiller]

@Ianab ,

  What is a Kiwi definition of "Wetback"? Here in America it is generally a highly politically incorrect term for a person of Hispanic background. Evidently came from the terms for illegal immigrants crossing the Pecos River in Texas from south of the border. Using that term around any of our politically liberal members is almost sure to start an argument or fist fight and will probably get you written up or fired if at work. I suspect it is a much more innocent term in NZ.

[Texas Ranger]

I had clients, three generations of ladies, that had a tract of timber land that I worked on.  In the middle was a spring that had a curbing set up up and steady stream of water.  Commented to grandma about the spring, she said the only water she drank came from that spring, been doing it 80 some odd years, daughter said the same, grand daughter kind of frowned and allowed she didn't drink it.  Clear and cold, but I felt like the grand daughter.

[braucher]

My spring puts out five gallon per min .Looking into a Rife ram pump I have enough fall trying to push about one hundred yards and a lift of about fifty feet . I know they have different size pumps looks like they work well. Anyone familiar with them

[Ianab]

What is a Kiwi definition of "Wetback"?

Yeah, here it's the common name for water heater coils in the back of a fireplace. :D

[WV Sawmiller]

Ian,

   Thanks for the clarification. :P Of course now I am further confused because I never heard of water heater coils in the back of a fireplace. I had a neighbor who added a loop to his wood heater to heat his hot water for his house in the winter and I know lots of people use their OWB to heat their hot water as well as their house but never heard of a fireplace used for that. Sounds like a good idea which has not come to pass in the USA - of course someone here will probably figure out some environmental or cultural reason why we can't do it. :( :D

[Ianab]

This is the sort of fireplace we usually use in NZ, either free standing, or an insert box into an old style hearth in older houses.

https://www.metrofires.co.nz/wood-fires

The "wetback" option is available for most of them to connect to your hot water cylinder. With a good one you can basically switch off the electric water heater over winter if you are burning the fire every day. 

[Don P]

A house I restored a couple of years ago was originally supplied by a ram pump. They have the old cast iron top in the garden now. He built a pvc version for fun which worked but they have a well now. The old owner was kind of a terror back in the day, one of the local men, now in his 60's said as boys they would go down and jam a stick in the flapper valve just to keep the old coot going. I know of another homemade one in daily use for filling watering troughs.

[braucher]

Every thing should work as well and be as simple as a ram pump .I am going to try a plastic one and give it a try once summer gets here and weather settles down .

[Chuck White]

I don't know what the output is from my spring, but it does everything here at the house, including the swimming pool during the Summer, and there is a 1¼ overflow line that just spills into an old bathtub for the cattle to drink from.

The overflow line runs continuous 24/7-365, and I've never seen it stop running!