Spring development

[windyoak]

DW and I want to develop a spring to act as a standby water source in the event our well pump goes offline. The spring area is a wet area of about 35 feet where the water trickles along the surface before it disappears back into the earth. We are in a drought at this time, and I think I will be lucky to get 1 gallon per min. Does anyone have any experience with spring development? Can I do anything to increase the yield of the spring?

 

[windyoak]

Well, my first casualty occurred on this project. While clearing the vegetation away from the spring, I had to pull a bunch of poison oak out of the way careful as I was, It wasnt enough to keep me from coming down with a good dose of the stuff. I got both barrals WOE IS ME! :/
The spring is more extensive than I thought, as it runs about 200 feet before it goes underground. I am thinking (hopping) it is the top layer of the aquifer because when they were drilling the well, which is about 1200 feet away, they started hitting water at 300 feet that is the same elevation the spring is at.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ewwwwwwww - poison oak. I'm not allergic, but my son is - and it's not pretty. So sorry you're having to deal with that! Good luck on the spring though!

 

[baymule]

I can walk past posion oak and break out! Pour a cup of clorox in the bathtub water and wash as usual. It will clear right up!

 

[windyoak]

Ewwwwwwww - poison oak. I'm not allergic, but my son is - and it's not pretty. So sorry you're having to deal with that! Good luck on the spring though!

Thanks Frustratedearthmother! The silver lining is that my DW now refers to me as "poor baby"; so I get to be a Poor-baby for a little while. I started this spring project not knowing anything about the subject, but at least I now know that there are different types of springs, and depending on the type it is will determine how I develop it. My only problem is, I can't see what lies under the ground to determine its type. I will have to dig somewhere along its path - but where? DW thinks I should dig at the bottom end of it because the vegetation is lusher there. Her instincts are usually quite good; so I will start there.

 

[windyoak]

I can walk past posion oak and break out! Pour a cup of clorox in the bathtub water and wash as usual. It will clear right up!

Strange - DW told me that her mother would put her into a bathtub with Clorox when she got poison oak as a child. Now you come up with the same cure .. hmmmm ... I'll give it a try .... thanks for the tip!

 

[Denim Deb]

I've heard that a few times and have also heard that it's not the best thing to try since it can damage the skin. Not sure how it would work for poison oak, but I know for chigger bites, I use vinegar.

 

[windyoak]

Thank you, folks for your suggestions! I tried both remedies. The Clorox bath did very well in drying out the rash. I think that is the first step in curing the outbreak. But it continued to itch and burn; so on one arm, I swabbed vinegar on the area and ... WOW it burned! But in a little while, the itching and burning went away. Ahhhh ... Comfort! I might even be able to get some sleep tonight! Thanks again folks.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've used it in the middle of the night when I've itched so bad from the chigger bites that it woke me up! Good thing is, you can reapply it w/out any worries about applying it too often. And, I've found that it works BETTER than any of the anti itch formulas they sell in the store.

 

[Emerald]

I can't help with the spring(but am fascinated to see what happens!!) but with the chiggers I got some of the best advice from a little old lady when I had problems with them in Florida.. she told me to go to the pharmacy and get powdered sulfur and dust my ankles where I was getting chewed to death.. and it worked!!! Sure you smell faintly like an egg toot but no more itchy bites..!

Apparently the word F@*t is a nono here..