Spring houses, for those who may not know, are simply a developed spring that can be used as a water source. Depending on the flow rate of the spring they can serve as the only water source on a property. Recently I was on a dairy farm that was having problems with the quality of water from their spring. The spring provided water to the 40 dairy cows as well as the main residence on the property.
The interesting thing with springs serving as water supplies is that it forces the landowner to develop an understanding of how what happens on the land impacts the water that is supplied from the spring. For example, this farmer had walked his farm during a rain storm and observed where the water flowed off the land, he realized that spreading manure on certain low-lying areas is more likely to lead to issues with the well, and he realized that both surface water runoff and groundwater leaching can both impact the water quality of the spring. This farmer has learned how to manage his own little watershed to improve the water quality that he supplies to his family and animals.
In this age of city water supplies and wells many residents have lost that understanding of how what they do on the land impacts local water supplies. However, the impacts of practices on the land have no less of an impact on the land than they did when people were in charge of their own water supplies.
My Earth Day challenge to everyone is to take back the responsibility for your own water supply. If everyone took more ownership in local water resources many issues would solve themselves.
Since I am a "city girl", I have little personal experience with spring houses and have seen only two in my life. The two with which I am familiar were used as a "refrigerator" of sorts. (I think there is one in the movie "Sommersby", too. Watch for the scene when R. Gere is dipping his kerchief in water following the confrontation with the two wanderers. Is that a spring house in the background?)
ReplyDeleteAccording to William Kibbel III
"Spring water would flow through a trench usually created around the perimeter of a stone or brick floor. This water, at about 55 degrees, would keep anything in the trough cold. The most common food product would be raw milk, stored in pottery crocks, set in the cold water. There are often stones protruding from the walls to support shelves. The flowing cold water would also chill the air that would extend the useful life of the most perishable food items kept dry but cool on these shelves."
It seems such a sensible thing to do, like root cellaring.