Water table and root cellar?

barnyardfun · #1 02/20/10, 06:49 AM

I need some help. I don't know how to go about finding what my water table is where I live. I really wanted to have a root cellar of sorts but DH thinks we just have WAY to much water and that our water table has to be HIGH. I am inclined to believe him. We have two hand dug wells on the property that are unknown amount deep (at least unknown to me!) but the water is only about 10 feet from the top of the well. It stays that way year round. We also have a creek that feeds our pond about 6 months out of the year. Right now with all the snow and rain we have had it is starting to feel like I live in a COLD swamp!

So with this basic info I am really thinking digging a hole in the ground for a cellar is just going to lead to yet another well.

Aside from all of that I would still like to know what my actual water table is AND what on earth I can do for a root cellar!!!!!

blooba · #2 02/20/10, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barnyardfun

but the water is only about 10 feet from the top of the well.

Thats pretty much your water table ^ You can also have an above ground root cellar, pretty much build a room and bury it. Do you have any hills nearby? Maybe only have a 6ft deep root cellar with dirt mounded on top. There still are options.

barnyardfun · #3 02/20/10, 06:59 AM

Well darn!

Sure was hoping for a different solution. BUT we do have a lot of natural rock around here (I call it sandstone or Ark natural rock)......guess that would make a pretty good above ground one. If it was made thickly with rocks do you think it would still need to be covered with dirt? Nope, no hills around here......just flat. At least my property!

Alice In TX/MO · #4 02/20/10, 07:02 AM

Looks like an earth bermed above-the-ground root cellar may be your only option. Here on the coastal bend of Texas, we can't do cellars, basements, bomb shelters, tornado rooms, etc. They would simply fill with water.

blooba · #5 02/20/10, 07:15 AM

The more rock/dirt covering the better insulated it will be, It will never be quite as moderate as an underground cellar but I have seen some partially buried ones that were pretty darn close. Maybe someone here has one and can tell you more.

geo in mi · #6 02/20/10, 07:33 AM

There is, or at least, used to be, a device that is like a post-hole auger which has threaded sections that will allow you to auger deeper than post hole depth. Check your local equipment rental places for one. When you hit water, you'll have a pretty good idea.

solidwoods · #7 02/20/10, 07:39 AM

The wells water line is your water table grade/elevation in the area around the well.
You'll need to know the grade difference between the floor of the root cellar and the high water line of the highest of the 2 wells you have water well.
If the elevation where the well is happens to be lower than the building site then that difference will be in your favor.
Or said another way- the top of the ground around the well may be a few feet lower than the top of the ground at the building site.

Another concern is does the property have allot of springs on it. You may hit a spring vein when digging the cellar.
Well diggers and contractors may be able to help with that info.
If the cellar may hit a small vein put a sump pump in the cellar (you should have one anyway).

And if you don't go cellar under the home, you can do the alternate site like others talked about, but consider putting the cellar directly over one of the wells and the water will help cool the room (cover the hole with a grate obviously).
jim

uncle Will in In. · #8 02/20/10, 02:49 PM

When you get one of those spring goose drownders the water table will be just above the surface for a while. When the sun comes back out your cellar will be level full of water. If you can't put in a tile drain or a sump pump, you best not have the floor below ground level.

ronbre · #9 02/20/10, 02:50 PM

2 options...one ..do an above ground root cellar covered with earth..and a really thick insulated door..preferably in a shady area

two..do a spring house..drive down a flowing well into your water table and have it run into the springhouse and then out into the pond..basically an outdoor refrigerator

arcticow · #10 02/20/10, 04:29 PM

I have seen folks use a connex or a short truck box aboveground, then use a loader to make the earth berm around and on top, just point the door north or east.

**Cabin Fever** · #11 02/20/10, 08:29 PM

The depth to your seasonal high watertable is found by looking for "redoximorphic features" in your soil. The elevations of the water in your well or in a hole dug in the backyard is the depth of the watertable TODAY, if can rise and fall depending of the weather and climate. The depth to the seasonal high watertable (ie, the highest your watertable is ever likely to get) can be found by looking for mottles in the soil. If you find grayish spots or reddish spots in the soil, you can pretty much conclude that the watertable has reached that height (or depth) sometime in the past. Also, if the overall color of the soil is gray or olive or blueish, it has been saturated at sometime in the past. In other words, if your soil shows these colors or mottles, even thought it may not be saturated today, it probably was saturated to this elevation at some time in the past and will likely be saturated to this elevation in the future.

Old Vet · #12 02/21/10, 01:08 AM

Sounds like you live near the south part of the state. The water table is high their (less that 16 feet on a normal day and 1 foot on wettest day) so the only way to have a root cellar is to have one bermed. I live in the north central part but am aware of this because I own property near Monticello. That is the only way we can have a root cellar on that property.

barnyardfun · #13 02/21/10, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Vet

Sounds like you live near the south part of the state. The water table is high their (less that 16 feet on a normal day and 1 foot on wettest day) so the only way to have a root cellar is to have one bermed. I live in the north central part but am aware of this because I own property near Monticello. That is the only way we can have a root cellar on that property.

Actually Old Vet I live in NW Arkansas. Our property just seems to have A LOT of water on it. Guess I am just back to research, research, research!

rambler · #14 02/21/10, 08:14 PM

All flat land, or do you have a 6-8 foot hill?

Dig into the side of the hill, lay plastic drain tile so it takes all the water out the bottom/side, build the cellar, fill in with gravel that drains to the tile.

If you're flat, then can't do too much.

--->Paul