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04/12/08, 02:09 AM
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Joie de vivre!
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How to develop a spring
I have Googled this topic 'til my eyeballs are hanging out...and I'm still not sure how to tackle this project:
I have a 'wet-weather' creek that is fed by a spring that comes out of a clump of exposed tree roots growing from a big tree on the side of a small slope. The roots are a tangled muddy mess when it is not raining. After a rain, the spring bubbles through the mess of roots well enough to pinpoint the location....between this big o' root and that little one...
The tree is big, and I'm afraid that chopping it down and excavating the roots may disturb the spring too much?
How do I develop this (for irrigation purposes)? I want to divert the flow into a cistern or two, for the dry months...
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04/12/08, 03:02 AM
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Banned
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Just dig a hole down where the clean water is comming out of the ground,, build a wooden box about 2 ft high and 3X3 and drop it in the hole, in a few days when everything settles, you'll have an old time spring, snakes, salimanders and all, we have one that has been up in the woods for over 80 yrs, I've owned it for 40, i think the wood is cyprus. I was told that this same spring fed 3 houses all thru the great depression, before auto matic washers of corse.
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04/12/08, 03:20 AM
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Joie de vivre!
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Waaahhh! If the spring was unobstructed by big ol' tree roots, I could do that! These are big roots, f'sure...some are as big around as a person's leg... 'tis a mess of roots, large and small.
Last edited by CajunSunshine; 04/12/08 at 03:34 AM.
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04/12/08, 04:52 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: S W Virginia
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I once saw where someone took a steel pipe and pushed it into the trickle of a small spring, then took a large mallet and beat the pipe way back into the hill and after a while cool clear water flowed out consistantly. However, from my understanding that could also seal the spring up too.
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04/12/08, 09:21 AM
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Master Of My Domain
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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar... 
"All that is gold does not glitter..."
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04/12/08, 09:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunSunshine
Waaahhh! If the spring was unobstructed by big ol' tree roots, I could do that! These are big roots, f'sure...some are as big around as a person's leg... 'tis a mess of roots, large and small.
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cut enough roots to set the box down, use an old chain saw chain and hack it out, what kind of tree is it, willow,sycamore, there's not to many trees that can live in water. even get a 12inch or larger piece of PVC pipe or colvert pipe, see if you can drive it down in some how and use post hole digger to clean it out.
I have a spring 40 ft in back of my house that i got from trying to make my yd larger, was digging with my old back hoe and water shot out of the bank like oil,i tried everything to plug it up yrs ago, but no luck, the 2inch stream just kept opening up, i had to make a ditch to route it around my lawn, it's been 40 yrs and never goes dry, now i look at it as an asset because if the town water ever gets shut off, i'll make a box and stick a pipe in it..
I live out in the country but paid extra to hook on the town water, bought the pipe and did the digging yrs ago, now it would be illegal. since then the board of health has made the town put in an 8inch main and a fire plug.
Last edited by stranger; 04/12/08 at 09:31 AM.
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04/12/08, 09:44 AM
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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
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04/12/08, 11:46 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agmantoo
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I can't get this link to work
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04/12/08, 11:56 AM
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Join Date: May 2003
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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
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04/12/08, 12:30 PM
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i captured a small wet weather spring in my back yard that was always about 3 inches deep and the size od a wheel barrow.i dug down and laid a bed of gravel then put a pipe in with holes drilled in sides and top(not the bottom).then i put a sedment sleeve over pipe and laid on bed of gravel then added more gravel on top.then i jsut covered it all up with dirt...presto..no more water in the backyard.when it rains the water comes up...enters the pipe and runs down the hill 100 ft.....now ia m going to add more pipe and run this water into a water tank and either raise catfish or shrimp or jsut let he deer drink from it.i have more water projects i am currently working and wil get a few pic's as it all goes along.i also am going to add my roof runoff to this entire sytem.by the time it is done it will have 2 springs and my roof water in it. try searching 'french drain'...good luck.
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i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
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04/13/08, 01:58 AM
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Joie de vivre!
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Join Date: Apr 2007
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Thank you for the links, and thanks to all ya'll for sharing what you know! I am thrilled with what I've learned.
 I love this place, and the generosity of the folks in it!
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04/13/08, 09:53 AM
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Id be carefull about that "after a rain" part If a rain changes the flow of a spring its obviously surface fed, fine for irragation but you want a good filter for drinking water.
two ways I can think of to gather the water without bothering the tree,
A. Go downstream just a bit and build a dam to just a bit higher than the spring level run a draw and a overflow pipe out of that. It could be concrete ,rock and rubble ,dirt , wood whatever you like.
B. Go into the hillside just a bit above and to the side of the spring and dig a hole down to water level.
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04/13/08, 03:00 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2002
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Thanks for the good links from Meloc and Agmantoo. I've got a steady bank spring I need to start improving this Summer...Glen
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04/14/08, 08:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stranger
Just dig a hole down where the clean water is comming out of the ground,, build a wooden box about 2 ft high and 3X3 and drop it in the hole, in a few days when everything settles, you'll have an old time spring, snakes, salimanders and all, we have one that has been up in the woods for over 80 yrs, I've owned it for 40, i think the wood is cyprus. I was told that this same spring fed 3 houses all thru the great depression, before auto matic washers of corse.
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Stranger, you just described perfectly the spring my grandfather had on his place. I remember the first time he took me to see it. Back in the woods, cool and quiet, there was a damp spot with a wooden box full of clear water, with a little spilling out over the sides. I remember looking down into this black hole and seeing little fish swimming around. I still wonder how the fish ended up in that spring.
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