Video series about our journey to building a cabin in the mountains of Western North Carolina. In this video we start the development of a spring water collection.
Nice job and great video. Looks like you will get 1500 gallons a day from that time of year. I think every collection maker does theirs a bit differently. I know the first one I ever did, (50+ years ago) I made a dam out of concrete. Worked, but it silted up easily. Now I do them out of clay. I admit readily I normally use a small backhoe. Have to be careful to dig down and not go thru a clay layer so the last digging is by hand. I make a "V" sort of trap. I clay up the bottom well, then spread with a big sifter a layer of bentonite, (you can buy it in 50 lb bags). It is a naturally found very fine powder that when wet becomes clay, and seals up any leaks. I then lay in a layer small stone, then the perforated pipe, (holes on the top or bottom or sides seem to work fine. I put a couple yards of washed rock above the pipe, maybe 2 feet, then 4 or 5 layers of plastic, then a few inches of dirt, then heavy fencing wire, then a foot more of earth. The fencing wire keeps the animals from digging it all up. The pipe needs to be sloping downhill so that it drains and doesn't silt up. I run my vent just after the damn, then down the hill to the pump storage. I've found that trying to filter my water it is useless. I get enough silt that I'm constantly trying to clean filters. Instead, I run the water into a small (300 gal) tank, on the bottom of the tank, then pull the overflow to another similar settling tank, then to the main tank. This way, the water is clear and no silt. I have to pump my water up a couple hundred feet usually to my holding tanks, so water that is free of silt is important, as silt will destroy pumps pretty quickly.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
@paulkramer4176, thanks for the input, extremely informative. I will be making the collection box soon and then install the main tank near the camp site. I'm definitely going to use more clay if I make another one and not use the hydro cement. I do need to add a layer of dirt or something to protect it soon. Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more!
@EastyUK
10 ай бұрын
Looks great, I installed one 18months ago and with 1/5 of your flow we get 200gallons a day, more than enough for living off and we have large gardens we water every day. Best bury that to prevent surface water getting in, that can contain bad stuff and block up the system, even a few “ will help the water flow over. Also get a pro water sample done after it’s settled taken past any filtration you going to use, they cost 120-200, but will give all the elements and you can check levels. We had marginal high barium levels so had to use a water softener. We put ours into a 250gal tub I put underground and then a 80 dollar sump pump moved it on 120watts solar 100ft up to big tanks. Great vid, look fwd to seeing more
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Great feedback. Thank you for watching. I'll keep an eye on barium levels. I'm hearing (0.1-2.1 mg/L) throughout NC so we'll see. I'm not sure yet how many feet up I have to pump but it will be interesting. I wish it was high enough that it could be gravity fed but it's not.
@terribrewer2687
10 күн бұрын
Anyone looking for a natural spring. You need to be looking higher up the hill. Highest point in landscape, Low points are most likely run off. The High point will be more likely a spring. Plus gravity will help with the flow. Water runs down hill. Check the flow with a pipe and a gallon jug. Dig a hole bowl shape, place the pipe in it , bank the pipe one side in the bowl and other side out. Time how long it takes the jug to fill up. Anything less then 3 gallon a minute is most likely run off. Before you build anything. Wish I had seen this long ago , could have you saved you time and money . Best of luck to you.
@LETowers
9 күн бұрын
Thanks for watching. We are getting so much water that I think we will be fine.
@LETowers
9 күн бұрын
Thanks for watching. We are getting so much water that I think we will be fine.
@noyopacific
10 ай бұрын
One gallon per minute is 1,440 gallons a day. If you can figure out a way add a storage tank you should be ready to handle the dry season. Thanks for the video & good luck !
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thanks. We will be adding a storage tank soon. Stay tuned. Thank you for watching!
@kimzocco3911
10 ай бұрын
thanx for recording that... bought some land in Tenn that has a "creek/water" but similar to your's, so this was helpful for me to conceptualize how to DIY on my own w/o calling in the troops for now.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Glad to hear it was helpful. The hardest part for us was digging because the ground was so rocky. Look for that clay to seal the water....that stuff is amazing!
@kurtbraisch9572
10 ай бұрын
That's interesting video my friend big likes 🤠👌👍
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thank you! Big likes for watching!
@angeldedios7377
11 ай бұрын
Wow!Great effort and a well done job.Congrats!Hope You get water year around.
@LETowers
11 ай бұрын
Thanks. We will test the flow regularly and compare. It will be great to see it increase.
@abhishekpareek9228
10 ай бұрын
Good job 💯👍
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thank you! 💪
@hollybarnes2346
10 ай бұрын
Bentonite is a clay which is used to seal leaks in water projects. It can be purchased in hardware stores. But it would plug your pipes if put down above them.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thanks for the input. I'll keep that in mind for the next potential water collection.
@greigmercer7641
9 ай бұрын
Rollover bar a very worthwhile addition to ATV
@thepeople980
3 ай бұрын
Excellent video. Thank you!
@LETowers
3 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@OurCabinInThewoods
8 күн бұрын
New here and just subed, i like what you have going on here. Thanks for sharing.
@LETowers
7 күн бұрын
Thank you so much and thanks for watching. We will be posting more videos soon.
@peterkalinak6780
8 ай бұрын
beautifull source of water. good luck to you
@LETowers
8 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@mspeir
10 ай бұрын
Always put the gasket on the flange side of the bulkhead. It wont necessarily matter in this application; you'll just see some minor leakage around the threads. Still, it's a best practice.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
This bulkhead has two gaskets, one inside and another outside. I got them at Tractor Supply. They are well made. It's probably overkill for this application.
@mspeir
10 ай бұрын
@@LETowers Ah. I didn't see that!
@BobBob-il2ku
4 ай бұрын
Amazon has 1” threaded bulkheads my tractor supply & Home Depot only had 1-1/4”
@freedgonzaga8222
10 ай бұрын
You need to put something on the outside wall to support the weight of the gravel.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
We put some heavy rocks but I agree, we need to put more. The plan is to push the dirt against the wall completely.
@lamars2486
10 ай бұрын
17:06 beavers love that clay too, its key 😅😅😅
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
🤣
@dcranch4820
9 ай бұрын
Not sure where you but check and see if you can find bagged Bentonite clay, It is mined commercialy. You would just dump the powdered clay on the upstream side of your dam and it will settle into the leaking spots. This is non toxic. Good luck!
@LETowers
9 ай бұрын
Thanks. I will look into it. Thanks for watching.
@jeansinblue
11 ай бұрын
Great idea! The rocks you put on the surface looked beautiful! Do the gravel and rocks help with filtration?
@LETowers
11 ай бұрын
Thanks. That's correct. The spring is already naturally filtered and the additional rocks increases filtration.
@Yeet_Sir
9 ай бұрын
You should put like 4 tones of gravel 2" cling down around it and inside it ASAP! And Glue your PVC Joints OMG!!!!
@LETowers
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the input. I did glue the joints on the outside. I don't think it's necessary inside...we'll see. Thanks for watching.
@BobBob-il2ku
4 ай бұрын
No need to glue them there isn’t a lot of pressure on this kind of system
@zakglove6536
8 күн бұрын
That mud you're using looks like its full of organic material. Does it smell?
@LETowers
8 күн бұрын
I don’t remember it smelling but it was amazingly nice to work with. Now I’m curious…I may dig some to check it out. Thanks for watching!
@scottfoster2487
10 ай бұрын
I would have raised to the outlet at least a foot to create a larger reservoir for water acumulation . Developing spirings is not easy for sure. if you put a few large barrelss in a line for a resivor a person could use the over flow as a source of water for a mini hydro electric generator.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thanks for the input. My initial concern was that the water would not rise enough. I think it will be fine since we are going to connect it to a retention box before going to a bigger tank. I may even do something with the over flow. I'm collecting data at this time and make adjustments with time. Thanks for watching!
@tahanlaoboy
10 ай бұрын
You need to build the Ponds on to of that hill the rain waters will help you to get more spring waters
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
We will keep that in mind
@nikxohs3925
10 ай бұрын
to keep running water we use lime pulp with cement 1to 1..water cant clean lime, and slow slow it dries.and you can polish it even 2-3 days after
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thanks!
@nikxohs3925
10 ай бұрын
@@LETowers i dont know if you can find in usa but in greece is basic building material.marble in high heat became cao. plus water , gives a white mud. is to strong to connect everything and water tide.old timmers was using it with sand to plaster walls. are still alive after 150 years
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I have seen old ways of plaster walls and it is super cool
@nikxohs3925
10 ай бұрын
@@LETowers kzitem.info/news/bejne/o5CF2qednIt2lJg
@user-ew1gf5pj1d
10 ай бұрын
🇰🇷 응원합니다
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thank you for watching.
@rollier2090
10 ай бұрын
Great video.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Thank you!! 💪🏽
@BobBob-il2ku
4 ай бұрын
If you don’t have clay in your area just mix bentonite clay aka clumping kitty litter with dirt
@LETowers
4 ай бұрын
Thanks for the recommendation. I will keep it in mind. Thanks for watching.
@goodwaterhikes
10 ай бұрын
😎✌
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
💪
@uzumakikuroko9000
2 ай бұрын
Do you have specs of the pipes you used? My team and I are looking into tapping a spring, any info about dimensions will be helpful! Thank you!
@LETowers
2 ай бұрын
I used 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe. The length of the two perforated pipes are about 18 inches but the length will depend on the size of the collection system. Same thing for height. You want to make it high enough that you can access the shock port after it has been filled back with rocks. Thanks for watching.
@mr.maskshow1362
8 ай бұрын
when you want to clean the leave, have a herb plant there
@LETowers
8 ай бұрын
Great idea. Thanks for the input and thanks for watching.
@BobBob-il2ku
4 ай бұрын
I think you should cover the top with dirt still
@LETowers
4 ай бұрын
Will do. I wanted to make sure everything was working ok prior to adding dirt on top. Everything seems to be working really nice so I'll start covering it soon.
@paulbeeker9515
10 ай бұрын
💪💪💪👍👍✌️✌️🙏
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
💪🏽💪🏽
@Frederwin
9 ай бұрын
Great job, but you need to back fill the front downhill side or you’ll lose all your work….. Prior to doing this, seal the downhill side of your barrier with good clay…
@LETowers
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the input. Stay tuned for an update 😉
@higheriam
10 ай бұрын
Water good, tarp on top to cover it up. 😂
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
We actually thought about not covering it because the rocks looked so pretty 😂
@xdabus
10 ай бұрын
raccoons like to shit in running water @@LETowers
@xdabus
10 ай бұрын
and all wild animals go to water to die best to cover it
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
That wouldn't be good 🦝🤣🤣
@davidepperson2376
10 ай бұрын
I wonder why that top fitting is reverse threaded ?
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Both are reverse threaded. The external thread is reversed so when the NPT pipes are put in the internal thread, no chance of loosening the bulkhead fitting since the reverse threads will only get tighter if a lot of force is applied.
@HandmadeMatt
7 ай бұрын
What's the top pvc pipe for? Overflow? Thanks.
@LETowers
7 ай бұрын
That's correct. The top pvc pipe is for overflow. The two vertical pvc pipes are shock ports. Thanks for watching.
@rickkrockstar
10 ай бұрын
You go water and that's a plus.. but think about bringing in a professional water dowser to find you a well.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
I may do a video about dowsing. I was not a believer but now I'm on the fence. My excavating guy showed me and I was still skeptical....then my wife was able to do it!!
@stevencoons450
10 ай бұрын
A professional dowser is equivalent to a professional fortune teller. Both are scam artist.
@JamesTolliver0708
Күн бұрын
I dowse for wells, i can tell you how many feet down to get water. I can find buried plastic pipe of any type I can find gas lines as well. That's a fact.
@Nelsonperez-bn4zm
10 ай бұрын
Yo surprised me that the water is coming up through that clay
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Water is coming through the side of the rocks. The clay is more on the bottom. I was definitely happy to see it was working 😁
@jjfore0921
9 ай бұрын
Never leave a engine on its side. Always roll it back over asap. I bet all your engine oil was in your air filter. Not good to run a engine with no oil.
@LETowers
9 ай бұрын
It was engine oil that leaked and I filled it back in. I'm taking it for first service soon. Thanks for watching.
@MichaelMarko
6 күн бұрын
OMG! I’ve done that!!!
@lamars2486
10 ай бұрын
23:31 uh oh, hope yer rock wall is up
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
All good 😁
@zakglove6536
8 күн бұрын
Jack hammer a stainless pipe with lots of small holes drilled in it into the mountain horizontally. This way you wouldn't have to filter the water.
@LETowers
8 күн бұрын
I did look into it but thought it would be too difficult to hammer it. I may try it in another section. Thanks for watching!
@zakglove6536
8 күн бұрын
@@LETowers It's pretty easy I've driven multiple wells like that granted they were in rocky sand but they were also 40' you only gotta go a couple feet. You can use a pressure washer with a jetter hose to help if needed.
@stevenbenavente1229
10 ай бұрын
It's dirt bikes for me, knock my 2 bottom teef out!
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
ha!
@supremeautomotive6749
9 ай бұрын
Don't use holes cut a slits
@LETowers
8 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching. I'll keep this in mind for the next one.
@myk55501
10 ай бұрын
Hey, you can get really sick from this water.
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
We will definitely filter and test the water before drinking.
@jamesholcombe435
4 күн бұрын
Never use bleach.
@LETowers
3 күн бұрын
Do you have any recommendations for an alternative?
@jamesholcombe435
3 күн бұрын
@@LETowers as bleach will destroy your water source. You don't have to use anything, only on stagnate water would you need cleaners. Maybe use micro filters at the end near the residence. But water from the spring is pure. If you have a spring lizard, that's sign of a healthy water source.
@LETowers
3 күн бұрын
Good to know. Thanks for the information!!
@fabvan3209
10 ай бұрын
That thing is not going to last if you guys don't back fill and retain the barrier.....
@LETowers
10 ай бұрын
Agreed. I'll post a new video soon with an update. Thanks for watching.
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