Are woodland springs a reliable source of water,ie can the water be used after necessary treatment?
woodland springs
- Thread starter wolf
- Start date
-
Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
Eric_Methven
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Depends on where the woodland is situated. If downhill from a potential contamination source I'd be careful (like a factory or old mine workings). If in the open countryside it should be OK. However I'd do some tests on the water first. If it's coming straight out of the ground, you may be lucky enough to have a pure source. Treat it first though until you know for sure.
Eric
Eric
Springs can be an uncertain thing. I have a farmer friend who has two on his land and he had them checked by the local water board (I think - I'll ask him if you need to know who exactly). One of them is totally safe and he's toying with the idea of using it for all his water needs. The other is likely to kill you if you drink from it long term - all kinds of nasties from harsh chemicals to farm poop in it!!!!
You may find it is a water leak. At my last house water ran across the rod constantly and everone around us believed it was a spring turned out to be a burst pipe. This was not a typical urban setting.
I believe there is a lot of misguided concern about water. My belief is that there are far worse chemicals in the food chain than you find in most rivers, and chemicals are all that really bother me too much.
I have swum in many rivers and swallowed my fair share of them, and I've drunk a good amount of river water just as it came up in the bucket.
Yes, on occasion I've had a bit of 'gippy tummy' but not very often, and so far after all these years I'm still here.
If it worries you, then boil it. If that still doesn't satisffy you then you're probably not cut out for the wilderness so don't stray too far from a tap.
I have swum in many rivers and swallowed my fair share of them, and I've drunk a good amount of river water just as it came up in the bucket.
Yes, on occasion I've had a bit of 'gippy tummy' but not very often, and so far after all these years I'm still here.
If it worries you, then boil it. If that still doesn't satisffy you then you're probably not cut out for the wilderness so don't stray too far from a tap.
Wildpacker,
S0rry fellah but I need to mention here that drinking unboiled unpurified water in certain parts of the world can kill you or leave you with very, very serious illnesses.
Chemicals may be all that bothers you (and in certain areas such river borne pollutants such as mercury are not only toxins but cumulative toxins at that leading to a slow and agonizing death) however water borne diseases include cholera, typhoid, bacillary disentry, polio etc. not to mention pleasant little numbers like giardia and cysts.
Even in the UK, certain areas I know of still discharge untreated human fecal matter into streams and rivers with all that that implies either during flooding from municipal works or from discharge pipes from private drainage systems.
My advice is to coarse filter and boil as a minimum in safer areas and use a proper water filter and chemically treat or boil in more hazardous zones
Red
S0rry fellah but I need to mention here that drinking unboiled unpurified water in certain parts of the world can kill you or leave you with very, very serious illnesses.
Chemicals may be all that bothers you (and in certain areas such river borne pollutants such as mercury are not only toxins but cumulative toxins at that leading to a slow and agonizing death) however water borne diseases include cholera, typhoid, bacillary disentry, polio etc. not to mention pleasant little numbers like giardia and cysts.
Even in the UK, certain areas I know of still discharge untreated human fecal matter into streams and rivers with all that that implies either during flooding from municipal works or from discharge pipes from private drainage systems.
My advice is to coarse filter and boil as a minimum in safer areas and use a proper water filter and chemically treat or boil in more hazardous zones
Red
Wolf, testing for chemical contaminants is a complex business. If it marked as a spring, the ground water in the area could still be contaminated from agricultural use and a number of other factors (I use private water supplies and you would be surprised what can come up even from deep properly maintained bore holes). The EHA perform tests of water safety on both municipal and private water supplies so could probably oblige if you plan to use the area a lot. Otherwise, filter and boil as per river water (or use chemical means like puritabs or a water filter with built in viral eradication or in combination with chemical treatment).
Red
Red
This is an interesting topic for me, Being new to all this modern tech stuff for treatment ( have used boil and tab technique for many years ), I have always managed to gather rain water for drinking but have never been in a situation in this country where I needed to look at an alternative source such as rivers , streams or even springs.
Maybe some one would be kind enough to do a tutorial on making this sort of water safe by explaining the usage of these new fangled chems and straw thingies.
Don
Maybe some one would be kind enough to do a tutorial on making this sort of water safe by explaining the usage of these new fangled chems and straw thingies.
Don
Having been involved (rather peripherally) in water testing at some point in the last few years I can add another dimension to this. The quality of water you get from springs will vary with rainfall. I seem to remember that cryptospordia numbers increases after rainfall.
The result of any water test is good for that time at that location only. We had water tested by a EH team last year. It showed different results for the same source over 10 minutes. Dont trust it is my advice ( for what its worth). Boil it at least. If there is any concern over chemical, or heavy metal polution hten you could try to distill it or better still (excuse the punn) bring safe water from a tap. 1 litre weighs about 1 kilogram. For one days average work load in a temperate environment thats roughly 8 litres, 8kg or 16 lb. Note the average body will wbsorb about 1 litre of water per hour through the gut, the rest is lost. Personally I dont risk any natural water in the UK. I will always take my water with me. Its heavy I know.......beter a bit of hard graft than watching your world run down your leg!!!
The yorkshire wolds (my local tramping ground) has alot of agriculture in and around it so have always been concerned with the levels of peticides/pollutants in the open water (and there isnt much of it). My strategy is to always use chemical tabs to purify and always gather water uphill from farms etc. Check your map, you can always work out whats above you even if you cant see it from your position. However this does sometimes mean you'll have to build a 'gypsy well' in order to get water you can be reasonbly sure is safe.
However when Im in areas that are less heavily farmed/industrialised like the Lakes I tend to take my chances with springs and just filter the water, but I always treat river or lake water, and well im not dead yet
However when Im in areas that are less heavily farmed/industrialised like the Lakes I tend to take my chances with springs and just filter the water, but I always treat river or lake water, and well im not dead yet
A gypsy well is a hole dug into the bottom of an incline (or the lowest point in the area). It should be a couple of feet deep I guess, but really just keep goin till water seeps through. Then leave a while and bail out the first filling, when it refills it will be clearer, then treat as you would any wild water source. However I only use as a last restort as there a pain in the 
to dig when youve got other camp jobs to do. Also there not 100% reliable as, if the water table is low you could be digging for a while! I think some people call them 'sip' wells.
to dig when youve got other camp jobs to do. Also there not 100% reliable as, if the water table is low you could be digging for a while! I think some people call them 'sip' wells.Aha! OK, I get you now. That's what we used to call a muddy hole
I have a spring in my woodland, and I'm trying to work out the best way of tapping it. The water comes up through the ground, rather than out of a rockface.
G
I have a spring in my woodland, and I'm trying to work out the best way of tapping it. The water comes up through the ground, rather than out of a rockface.
G
Are you looking to tap it for all your water needs or just to fill your canteens? When I was last in the Lakes I used a spring like you describe for a couple of days, I just dug out a shallow hole where it was bubbling out and waited for the silt to be carried away, then filled my bottles... Bingo
Needed to be dug again in the morning but 5mins work for fresh waters a good deal to me.
And yes 'a Muddy Hole' is the technical term
Needed to be dug again in the morning but 5mins work for fresh waters a good deal to me.
And yes 'a Muddy Hole' is the technical term
Are you looking to tap it for all your water needs or just to fill your canteens? When I was last in the Lakes I used a spring like you describe for a couple of days, I just dug out a shallow hole where it was bubbling out and waited for the silt to be carried away, then filled my bottles... Bingo
Needed to be dug again in the morning but 5mins work for fresh waters a good deal to me.
And yes 'a Muddy Hole' is the technical term
I'd like to be able to use it for all my water needs whilst camping there for a weekend. I won't be using it as my everyday water supply. It rises at several points close to each other, and the ground is very boggy. The bog goes down to knee-depth - I know, I've tried it
Last time I was down there I managed to get some water from it by dangling a collapsible bucket under one of the tiny falls, but this isn't practical longterm, and contained a lot of silt. In the end we decided to use it as grey water, and used the tap water I'd brought from home for cooking and drinking - we had young children with us so needed to err on the safe side.
Next time I'm down there I'd like to use it for making a brew, but would need to strain it in some way to get rid of the creepy-crawlies and the silt. How is that best done? Would muslin or similar be the right thing to use? Remember this is a camping trip, not a survival expedition so if its going to cost too much in monetary and time terms, then I'll just carry on taking my own tap water.
Thanks for all the info so far copper_head, very interesting.
G
You could try collecting that water in an old cotton sheet (be carefull of the dye running) and then wringing it out into your container.
Now that's a good idea :You_Rock_ I have a few old sheets that have very little dye left in them anyway, so I'll give that a try, especially as I can cast them into the stream. Might take a while to collect a bucketfull, but hey, what else have I got to do
Cheers
G
The old army method of filtering water is by using a 'millbank bag', see one at http://www.strikeforcesupplies.co.uk/stock.php?page=cooking. Its a pretty tried and tested method, and well a bargain at £16
Similar threads
