i been having a hard time, replying to thread. due to use of using stream water for drinking water / human consumption. in a single day, you may have bacteria, you may end up with oil, to viruses to other going through that stream. dead fish, other dead animals dieing and rotting in stream not to mention peeing and pooing in the stream, and if you do not have a proper filter setup / sterilization setup that you can routinely and easily check. you are setting yourself up for a variety of health issues. anything that happens up stream of you, will greatly effect your drinking water...
have you thought about trying to drill a couple more wells at different locations on your property, and have them drilled at different depths. to see about getting into different water tables?
i am not saying getting water from a stream can not be done, but the filtration and setup for it can get rather expensive, pending on local county, state, federal laws, and getting things passed via "health department".
have you actually contacted some water filtration companies, local and far away? and had test samples taken of your well water. with reports so companies can look at things and set something up for you? pending on size of filters and what they used to remove iron and nasties in water, can determined length between cleanings and if you need to buy anything on a regular basis.
with above stated, what have you tried for dealing with your well water? and why has the given type of filter / filters failed?
around here, every few years, they slowly make progress in running water lines out into rural areas. allowing folks to choose between keeping well or hooking up to the water companies water line. have you double check to see were and how far you are away from a water line hook up?
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was about to hit "post quick reply" button but then saw "similar threads" with your name as thread starters. and skimmed through them.
seems every time you get a thread going, you end up getting frustrated to point of exhaustion. and then try again a year later.
you will want to get your pipe burried, you say a bunch of rocks and tree roots. which most likely getting a backhoe or small mini excavator out there, and digging up the rocks, and digging through / cutting through tree roots.
if you do not do above. the water line will be subjected to a lot of things. that can damage the water line, that could poke a hole in the water line. and siphon more crud into the water line. when the pump turns off.
you might need to place main water line in another pipe if above ground. (depends on health department and local codes / regs for your area.
getting the pipe burred below the frost line for your area, protects the pipe from freezing. as soon as you place water line above frost line for your area, you are subject to freezing issues.
when you get below frost line depth for your area, the ground will generally hold temperatures around 55F degrees.
moving water = less likely to freeze up in a pipe. reason why many folks turn a faucet or like on in there house to keep a slow trickle of water moving through pipes to keep pipes from freezing solid.
if you bury a tank, the tank will need to be approved for buried into the ground. with most likely man hole / man holes, to get into the tank and check on it. if you do a search for "septic tanks" on google. then get on various manufacture / dealers websites. you can normally click over to other links on there websites for various types of large size water tanks, some concrete some re-enforced plastic, to other. trying to search just for "water tank" or bulk tank. normally results in little containers that hold 10 gallons or less of water.
if placed above ground, pending on shape of tank, size of tank, and any internal baffles inside of it. it could be fairly easy to install some piping, to install an "air lift pump" using a larger size aquarium air pump. to circulate the water around in the tank. or using a small fountain pump. to circulate water around inside the tank. again shape and size and any internal baffles inside of the tank. can make a large difference. in circulating water in the tank to keep water from freezing up.
if placed above ground, it would most likely be good idea, to insulate tank, and put some sort of metal sheeting or plywood around it heck even a small shed. so the insulation does not get torn up by winds, sun, animals, bugs, etc...
if placed above ground, pending on tank setup, it might be possible to run a small tank heater for animals water tanks, to keep ice from forming in the tank.
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some other issues, you may end in, and having to abid by, is amount of water you use, and may be subject to having a meter placed on your water line. that comes from the creek. this may be required by local city / township / water rights. and everything setup so there is a min chance a leak happening. and not start a siphon or pumping water out of the creek. due to a major leak. and causing problems for folks down below you.
placing water line plastic to metal does not really matter just laying across the ground. sounds like a large fines just waiting to happen. what ever you end up doing is going to be costly. and it might be well worth contacting some local plumbers / companies and have them come out and get some bids. hopefully some of them will have done this before in your area. and be more up on codes / regs for your area. and be able to help you out, or if you have equipment / want to do portions of it DIY style. they may be willing to work with you. and at min hopefully get a good idea of pipe sizes and tanks, etc... that can work for you.
