Building a DIY Spring Box for our Off Grid Cabin

We spent the weekend building a spring box to catch the water from a natural spring on our property. This is our main source of water as the cabin is completely off the grid.

[@isaaclopez3433]

Yeah. She's a badass! Hard worker

[@thewhit-acreway]

Yes she is ;)

[@jaquanaking3005]

I love how he just sits and stands there while she does all the work.

[@Outdoorsman24.7]

I know that guy, he had hurt is foot at work the night before fighting a house fire.

[@jungleforeva]

@@Outdoorsman24.7 People search out negativity based on assumptions and speak on it for some reason. I hope your friends foot is better and tell him thank you for his service for me.

[@Outdoorsman24.7]

@@jungleforeva I will let him know. Thanks!!!

[@70sfred1]

Maybe he is just supervising.

[@smckay6438]

Great woman! Not afraid to do anything she can for her family is how i saw it 😊!

[@davidsaylor3582]

We Had Sevier Flooring about 12 Years ago And we had our Spring box fill up with Silt and Had to Jackhammer And Use Liquid Grout to Break the Rocks And Build Another one Past the Floodplain....And Works Great Ever Since..No Leaks 🎉

[@westgatehygienecleaningsol3442]

You look so cute and beautiful and hard working and innovative too. Much love from kenya Africa. You have just gained a subscriber from Africa kenya. You guys are such a wonderful family...

[@fannieallen6005]

Very nice work!

[@jimewood83]

The collection tube should be as low as possible. The higher the tube, the more likely it is that the water will find a way around.

[@thewhit-acreway]

Yes, in retrospect, we wish we would have placed it lower. Luckily it has held up for us and is still flowing good!

[@albertnongrum1021]

I live in India at Meghalaya near Umngot river, our source of water are in great amount.thanks for your videos it helps me a lot.

[@thewhit-acreway]

Glad our video was able to help you out!

[@russell7489]

Gramps after WWII at sea went to the mountains - found a house w a hand pump well in a hand dug hole, so cheap. But there was a big spring on absentee neighbors land, made a deal to use it for 3 houses. About 30 feet below seeps he built a concrete 3 sided tank. Built a cover. Hooked pipes to that. Water ran over surface over a 1000 sq ft area depending on season. Yes animals birds leaves plants bugs all sorts of stuff also "used" ) contaminated water. We seem to have lived through experience. He planted water cress in tank pool. I'd go up hill w him & "help" clean it out every yr until he couldn't then I was old enuf to flip the lid off & do it myself. Also pulled out most weeds growing in seep field, raked off fallen branches, most leaves. Big trick w springs is DONT MESS W AREA WATER IS SEEPING OUT OF. It's coming out there cause pressure above is less than water pressure below. You cover w gravel etc like I see lots do eventually u get silt pushed between gravel until soil level builds up to the point it's so heavy water can't force it's way up. Unless there's enuf flow to keep pushing silt out & you have gradated your rock real good etc. Even your pool will let water push silt into it building up over seeping water possibly capping it off. Digging silt out should be done carefully so as to not disturb micro channels in earth gravel rock & bedrock. Hence Gramps & others in area building collection tanks BELOW the spring field. fyi water flowed to big collection tank further down hill for silt to settle & surge capacity. You can do this now w flushable sand filters & even add automatic chlorination systems.

[@thewhit-acreway]

Great story! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@robinindam6983]

Good idea 👍

[@andrew-cm3zn]

Use a plastic box heavy duty one and put your pipes into it,

[@powerplant9374]

Wow 😮❤

[@robertknechtel5391]

Young Lady, You did a fine job. Only thing I think you could have done differently is dig your trench so the first layer of blocks would be about 3/4 below the surface. That would stop most of the leaks. It would be a lot more work but worth it in the end.

[@thewhit-acreway]

Yes, I would definitely try to trench this deeper if I had to do it again and set the pipe a little lower as well. Thanks for watching!

[@fathertomoutdoors6579]

There is a Welsh guy who has a channel and he shows ways to make these water tight.

[@thewhit-acreway]

I would love to see what he does. Do you have the name of his channel? We looked at a lot of videos to try and find the best way to make ours.

[@fathertomoutdoors6579]

@@thewhit-acreway kzbin.info

[@Jojojamjar]

@@thewhit-acreway probably talking about this guy. Its a great channel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWjXe5tmlpyebpY

[@robinindam6983]

👍👍👍👌

[@johnmeier270]

That looks like a success! How does the water taste after its cleared up a few days?

[@thewhit-acreway]

Still going strong 2 years later! We usually still filter this water if we drink it, but its used as is for washing dishes, toilet, shower etc.

[@piratecutcake]

She does seem to do all the work

[@justinhall6365]

I just want to know if they even saw that ginseng plant in front of their new spring box. Lol

[@jerrycampbell9376]

Of a curiosity, especially as I plan to build one of these on our property, how do you deal with hard-freeze times? Seems like that PVC would split? Do you insulate the pipe(s), or keep continual flow going, or...??

[@thewhit-acreway]

Hi Jerry. We mainly use our cabin 3 seasons, so when the temperature drops in late fall, we take the PEX tube off, empty the blue bin, and let the water run out of the PVC which makes it way down to a nearby creek. Because the water is constantly moving it never freezes in the PVC. Note we are in western PA where it is in the teens and 20s most of the winter months. Not sure if this would hold true in a colder climate.

[@JoseOPerezRuiz]

Hello, that little crap is proof of a healthy water supply.

[@jodibradley5007]

What did you use on blocks mortar or clay?

[@thewhit-acreway]

Hi Jodi. We used mortar, but ended up going back and filling some spots with hydraulic cement later on that the water penetrated through on the bottom of the blocks. If we did it again, we would probably use all hydraulic cement to allow it to set faster.

[@joemc111]

First time on your channel so in the dry season are you getting any water? Nice the big people letting the little people help,most tell their children to STAY OUT OF THE WAY.

[@thewhit-acreway]

Thanks for watching! Yes, we are still getting water in the dry season. Flow is a little slower, but still enough to supply us with what we need. We try to get the kids involved as much as possible... it's not always easy or pretty, but its worth it to us to have them be out doing these things with us!

[@fathertomoutdoors6579]

Girl, doesn’t you back hurt from doing all the work? Typical Western PA girl! Uince did well.

[@TonyTonieTone]

Dudes lazy 🤣🤣