I have a water weep

[forgeblast]

Hi all, I have a water weep on our property (a place where the water pushes up through the ground) not really a spring but it is wet all year long.
Its almost at the bottom of our property so it has to be coming from all the run off down our hill.
I was wondering about making it into a spring, or for a shallow well to have an emergency water source.
I cannot find any info on what to to with it (googled keep getting willow trees ).
Has anyone developed a weep, or do you have any info on what to do with one.
thanks
Forgeblast

 

[Brushhill dave]

I by no means am an expert in this but what comes to mind is dig a hole. Place 2 well crocks vertically stacked on top of 10-12" of 3/4+ stone. Just below the crocks and above the stone use some sort of screen to keep the sand and debris out. Back fill and enjoy.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Have done it but many moons ago. First spend time looking where the most water comes up and dig around there a little to see where it is coming from, down or from the side. after you find where the water is coming from stand a big piece of concrete pipe on end and dig out the dirt, muck, ect. out of the middle. Sometimes you have to put a second piece on top if it sinks in far enough, Don't use block as the water gets inside and breaks them in winter. That is my way and it worked for us, It was out only water supply for our home and farm buildings for 30 years. The pipe was 3ft across and sunk 6 feet in the ground. Others will have other ideas, hope this helps. Ed

 

[forgeblast]

Guys thank you thats more info then I had a few hours ago. The well crocks are you talking about sewer pipe? the ceramic glazed kind? I have a few pieces that I was saving for a smoke house.
I think that I saw something similar to that on "Alaska the Final Frontier", they put in a galvanized pipe for a well after digging down a few feet and then back filled and put a lid on to keep out bugs.

Is this type of well called anything? I would like to find more info on it. The wife and little one are going to make cookies tommorrow and I think I may have some time to poke around maby clean out the weep.
and get some pictures.

 

[WayneB]

Many years ago I installed a Sand Point Well at our place in the mountains and we have been able to provide all the water we need for our camp. You can buy sand points at Amazon, Lowes and Home Depot (just to name a few places) I purchased a 11/2 diameter point and connecting pipes. They are available in different sizes and I have seen 2 points. You will also have to purchase a point pounding cap and pipe connecting joints. 1

I have mine down about ten feet and have added a check valve at the top of the pipe in the ground prior to running to the pump.

I used a 3 foot section of 11/2 plastic pipe running to the pump and this seems to maintain enough water for when the pump kicks on the water comes without any delay and it never lose the prime.

I guess you could use teflon tape for the joints to seal them, I used plumber's putty to seal my joints, easy to work with and will provide an air tight seal.

Here is one site with some information on installing a Sand Point:

Google Image Result for http://www.ncdhd.org/Images/drivenWell.jpg

 

[Fossil Farm]

What you are looking for is a "spring development." Your local Soil and Water Conservation District or Extension service should have pre-drawn basic plans on developing a spring. They may be able to drop by and give you some suggestions, depending on their involvement in your county. Basically you put a tile parallel to the spring in the hillside to catch the water and direct it to a "Crock" or holding tank and then a smaller pipe comes out of the crock to a watering trough for livestock, or to a spring house for the house, etc. As long as you have a decent elevation difference from the spring to your trough it is not too hard to install in most cases. Good luck.

 

[vwnotrunning]

My grandmother's property had a weep area that they used to get potable water from. Most of the local wells had been contaminated with salt water from oil wells and drilling operations. There was not a significant spot or concentrated area that the water would come from. They built a reverse septic type system. Filter cloth around gravel around perforated piping sloped toward a septic tank utilized as a cistern. They put in a submersible pump and ran a line about 500' to the house. This was out in the pasture, so they would take a sample in to the county for periodic testing to verify it did not become contaminated.

 

[Fossil Farm]

Basically you put a tile parallel to the spring in the hillside

Should have said put the tile perpendicular to the spring flow, parallel with the land contour. Hopefully you know what I mean and I got it right this time. Getting late.

 

[forgeblast]

Thank you all, Its on the other side of our property, away from the house. But it is next to where we have a little orchard. No power, and down hill away from the house. (I am thinking to possibly do a spring house over it maby, not sure, I do need to see it better when i get it cleaned out.

I will do some web searches. thanks again.

 

[forgeblast]

http://www.in.nrcs.usda.gov/smallscalefarmers/Small Farms Spring Development (IN)-web.pdf
Protecting Water Supply Springs

http://vwrrc.vt.edu/pdfs/specialreports/edureports/protection_of_springs.pdf
(following from them)
To begin the development process, identify the seep site. Large seep areas are usually
covered with dense plant growth. Smaller seep areas
many have standing water
that appears colored fromiron content or has an oilyscum due to plant decomposition.
Dig several 3-foot deep test holes uphill from the seep site. The
purpose of digging test holes is to locate the impervious
layer of rock. Water flows over this rock layer through
the sand and gravel layer (water-bearing layer) into the
seep area. At the site where the test holes indicate that the
rock layer is at least 3 feet underground, dig an 18- to
24-inch trench across the slope. The trench should be
dug to a depth of 6 inches below the water- bearing

 

[forgeblast]

I got to do some work there today. I cut back a lot of the veg and overgrowth that was in the weep itself. Mostly red dogwood. I then took a rake and moved all the leaves out of the water and then took a shovel and
dug the mud and roots out of the way.
I think I have a very good little spring there. It was starting to clean up as I was leaving, i had hit gravel, and could see where it was coming out of the ground and it was moving pretty good.
My next step is going to look at building a little well box and then test the water.
I really apprecaite the help, I fogot my camera and when I go back out there Ill take some pics. thanks again for the help.

 

[Egon]

Four foot diameter manhole sections work well for what you have in mind. They do come in different lengths and there are also cast concrete covers!:thumbsup:

 

[Jstpssng]

Gravel is a good sign. Ihad one on my property which I had dug out with an excavator; they hit ledge a few feet down and the water was surging out in multiple places. :thumbsup: I dumped in about 10 yards of gravel screenings, buried a well tile, and ran a 1inch line to my house, which gravity fed until I hooked the pump up. In a 3 day period summer 2011 I pumped about 10000 gallons of water from it.

 

[txdon]

Has anyone developed a weep, or do you have any info on what to do with one.
thanks
Forgeblast

I have one also. Last year during the drought it dried up giving me the chance to dig it out. Here is the TBN thread about it opening it back up. My water is coming from the side of the hole dug between sand and clay layers. This weep is on a fault line at the base of a large sand hill. It has only dried up this one time in the last 20 years.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/216321-opening-up-spring-track-hoe.html

 

[SPIKER]

Just wanted to mention that I hope this is not down hill from your septic system

some good info already. Just be sure to get it tested if you intend of drinking I have a LOT of springs on my place and tried once to clean one out in the creek bottom to deepen it and it ended up closing in on that spot and moved 30 or so feet off and right in my tractor path..

Mark

 

[forgeblast]

Just wanted to mention that I hope this is not down hill from your septic system
I had to laugh at that, but its a great question. No its not coming from my septic, or neighbors septic. A picture is worth a thousand words so we I go out to prune some apples today Ill take a few pics.
Don thanks for the link, And Egon great idea. My buddy drives past a place that does these everyday. Ill have to have him stop and check it out.
I just bought a very good test, to see about the water quality. I would not drink it without running it through a filter though.
Watersafe Well Water Test Kit
I also just got there .02 sawyer filter.

 

[Davinator]

You might want to research using a "ram pump" if the flow is sufficient. The ram is powered by the water itself (no electric required) and is capable of moving water up hill over very considerable distances. Do a search on YouTube for tons of information. Good luck!

 

[forgeblast]

I have some ram pumps bookmarked. This would be something that I would put a small hand pump on, just for emergency use.
When I went to look at it I was really happy. The water cleared up to be crystal clear. It was muddy and leaf filled yesterday.
This picture is the inlet, where the water is coming from.

This picture shows the current size.

This is the water cleared up.

As you can see there are some indicator species of a wetland, the red dogwood love it there. I cleared out a lot of them and there are still more.
When I develop it I will work on getting the sides stabalized and make it nice with fieldstone.

 

[txdon]

Forgeblast, be sure you make it wide enough to be able to clean out the sand and silt that will accumulate. I'm looking for something to hook on to my FEL or BH to lower into the 30"x 6' culvert grab the sand and silt and clean it out. I'm visioning something like those toy machines that let you grab a toy and drop it in the out chute.

 

[forgeblast]

Do to medical bills from trying to have my daughter (shes 4 this year), I have 2 more years of loans to pay off. Before this its all hand shoveling, after the two years I will be able to look at tractors with purchase in mind instead of just dreaming. So anything I do will be hand powered. The third picture is the low side, I would be able to get a back hoe in there easy to scoop anything out.