Posted by Paul Strauss on July 02, 2003 at 09:50:07:
Bottle and sell it. Tap out the side of your house and sell rights to neighbors…
Natural Spring in Basement…No Kidding - Posted by Jeff Denney
Posted by Jeff Denney on July 01, 2003 at 23:51:20:
Just my luck! I bought an Reo and I noticed the sump pump was running about every 1-2 minutes. There was a crack by the sump pump hole with water coming out. Long story short, after much city inspection and die testing , they informed me I am the proud owner of a natural spring that is 10 degrees colder and twice as clean as city tap water.
I can’t sell with the sump pump running constantly, any ideal where to start to solve this problem ? The basement is a small celler type in the middle of the home. There seems to be a small amout of pressure behind it and if I plug the hole I can hear the water gurgle under the floor.
Thanks,
Jeff Denney
pea gravel - Posted by Anne_Nd
Posted by Anne_Nd on July 02, 2003 at 09:32:38:
Jeff,
If you want to keep this property as a house rather than as a bottling source for spring water or the local pool, I suggest trying to deal with the water.
I live in a place where all the best houses have sump pumps- there is no stigma attached to having a sump, but somewhat of one if you do not. I’ve been in very expensive homes where the sump runs constantly. So the fact that yours is running won’t be an issue unless you allow it to be an issue.
You can put additional sumps around the house to help deal with the constant water pressure that is causing leaks in the basement. Outside sumps are not cheap, but they’re considerably cheaper to install than ones in the basement.
I think you need to worry about the effect the spring will have on the structural integrity of the foundation- find out from your city inspectors what is usually done locally.
Some solutions will be cheaper than others, but I’ve seen people dealing with this in a variety of ways, including moving all the mechanicals to the main floor and filling the basement with pea gravel. The gravel provides enough pressure on the inside of the walls to counteract the water pressure from the outside- thus the house is stabilized.
If the basment is small and wet, it may not be such a loss to the property value. If your mechanicals are already on the main floor this could be the cheapest solution.
I don’t know what happens to the existing sump pump if you go the pea gravel route, I suspect they disconnect them as you’d never be able to replace it when the pump wore out.
Good luck,
Anne
Re: Natural Spring in Basement…No Kidding - Posted by Eric_Tx
Posted by Eric_Tx on July 02, 2003 at 09:14:47:
Hmmmmmm Open it up a little, put a heater on it, with a air pump, natural spring hot tub, side tap it prior to the tub and pull water out of it…
Re: Natural Spring in Basement…No Kidding - Posted by Dee-Texas
Posted by Dee-Texas on July 02, 2003 at 07:17:27:
Check in the yellow pages under water wells. Find someone that drills water wells, see how much it would cost to make this into a water well to drink/wash/water the lawn, etc. If this is done right, I would love to have free water for the life of my home and so would many others.
The water well driller will know most of all the permits needed and you can check with city building inspector for the rest…(I would do this on the quite until I decided what you want to do…not let them know that YOU have in mind)
Great $uccess,
Dee-Texas
Re: Natural Spring in Basement…No Kidding - Posted by js-Indiapolis
Posted by js-Indiapolis on July 02, 2003 at 03:11:46:
As I type this, I’m sipping on another gallon of natural spring water from my city’s artesian well. They simply crammed a long tube in the right spot, and attached some piping, allowing for 6 heads, that run constantly. Free clean natural spring water for all at over 10 gallons a minute. They’ve built an entire 17 acre park around this well, Flowing Well Park. It brings a steady flow of people with truckloads (literally) of containers to fill up.
So my advice to you; when life throws you lemons, make lemonade. Mmmm…fresh spring water lemonade. Here’s my secret recipe-Put water in a glass, add lemon juice and sugar til you get it right.
Yeah, I have nothing. Unless turning the house into a park is a good idea. Hey, you know how people are always saying that bottled water is just some guy sitting in his house filling up bottles and putting a label on them? You could be that guy!
Yeah, I still have nothing.
Re: Natural Springs in Basement - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on July 02, 2003 at 02:28:41:
I grew up in a house in western Michigan with the same problem. Most of the year, the spring ran just below the cement. In the springs when the snow was thawing the spring came right through the basement walls and everywhere else. My step father made a series of little ditches with a jackhammer all around the basement that led to the hole with the pump. The sump pump only ran a few times a day during those times. My brothers slept in this basement, an unfinished basement. Along with the woodpile and the homemade wood furnace that had ducts to every room but mine. Somehow my parents got the idea that my little 10 x 10 corner room with ancient windows and no insulation didn’t need heat.
Thanks for the memories. I really thought the underground spring was something unique to my autobiography. It was that special time in the seventies that helped me get my act together and I sent myself to boarding school where the ugly cinderblock dorms had steam heat and endless hot water. I loved it.
Sincerely, Kristine
Re: Natural Spring in Basement…No Kidding - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on July 02, 2003 at 24:53:22:
Jeff Denney-------------
What a wonderful selling feature. Put up ads at all the natural food and health stores. “Own a home with free wonderful artesian spring water.”
Then set it up so that there is a nice clean basin, neat looking pump, and a nice stainless steel container for the water. Be sure to check on laws related to this, I am not a specialist in water. My grandparents on their ranch in Nebraska had a windmill pump depositing water in a tank of about 150 gallons on their back porch. Cool clear water. It did not even have a cover over it. Kept the porch cool.
Good InvestingRon Starr***