Capturing the Spring

This week I've been doing projects that don't lend themselves to blogging, so instead I thought I would show off a project which I've been working on in my spare time: capturing a natural spring seep.

I am fortunate to own 10 acres of land in the mountains near Asheville. It's a picturesque place, with a bold creek winding through it, plus at least one seasonal waterfall.

But the real attraction for me was a muddy hole in the ground.

It doesn't seem like much, but this is a steady spring bubbling right up out of the ground. It flows year-round, and I believe that with the right care, it could be used as a back-up source for drinking water.

When I first bought the property, the spring was choked with weeds and multiflora rose bushes, as well as the dirt and leaves that continuously fell into it.

However, it does have a history of use by the farmers who once owned this land. Apparently it was the primary source for drinking water for the occupants of the old cabin, which is now marked only by a chimney and a few foundation stones.

Once the spring was cleared, I read up about some simple low cost methods to cultivate a spring and found a system that looked like it might work.

Here's how the spring looks with the first layer of gravel on it, with the overflow valves laid down and ready for more gravel. My first attempts at an earthen dam tended to leak, so this dam is made from a cut-out section of a plastic trash can.

So far, so good. The spring measures the same output that I gathered before damming it up, and it seems to be picking up in flow as a couple of weeks have passed.

This photo is showing about a 1/4 gallon per minute. It doesn't look like much, but it adds up with a continuous flow. It comes out to 15 gallons per hour or 360 gallons in 24 hours.

And as long as I'm making work for myself, I've been thinking of making a pond in this field, with a rock water feature using the stones from the old cabin foundation.

On second thought, maybe later. Anyway, this should help with keeping the old spring flowing and unclogged. All in all, this has been an enjoyable project, and I've learned a lot.

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