Checking our Spring Water Tank and Autumn in the Ozarks

Unless there’s a problem and we have to go up the mountain sooner, we usually check on our spring water tank before winter sets in. Today we went out among the beautiful leaf colors. Autumn in the Ozarks isn’t always spectacular, but this has been a banner year for color.

Our neighbor lets us have easement onto his property so we can use old logging roads to get to the part of the mountain on our property where our spring lives.

The spring itself comes out of the mountain. But the only thing to see is forest. A couple of decades ago, when I moved up here, we had someone come in with a backhoe to improve and protect the spring source. They dug it out, laid down gravel and a layer of plastic. A perforated PVC pipe went in next to collect the water and channel it down to a 1″ pipe. Then another layer of plastic, gravel, and backfill. So, now there’s nothing to see except the ground and surrounding trees.

The PVC exits to a 50 gallon plastic barrel about a 100′ above where our 1500 gallon tank sits. It collects the water that is piped down to it and allows any heavy sediment to drop out before going to the large storage tank. The bent pipe on top is overflow and air. The blue line leads downhill to the storage tank.

First Things First

So the first thing we usually have to do when it’s been a while since we’ve used the road is to move fallen trees. Sometimes we actually have to fill in ruts in the road if water runoff created trenches too deep for the 4-wheeler to get past. And we had to do both on this trip.

Sometimes, if I want to just get a quick look at the tank to make sure there’s actually good flow, I just walk up the mountain on the path behind our house. But if any repairs are needed, that means I had either have brought tools and supplies up with me, or hike down and then back up again. I have learned that if I walk, I had better bring the tools and supplies with me. It’s not an easy hike and I don’t like having to make it twice.

But if the easement road to it needs work, as it did today, then it’s neither quick nor easy to get a look at the tank.

Salamanders

There were several trees down over the path. When moving some of the logs, I found salamanders. Since I took their hiding spot, I moved them to a new location after I took their pictures.

Maybe Not Easy, But it Was Gorgeous

The colors were absolutely gorgeous on this day. It’s probably at or near peak at this point. So, some of my time was spent just ogling the beauty and taking photos.

The Spring Water Tank

Finally we made it to the tank, and there was a little critter on the top of it:

No Major Problems at the Spring Water Tank

Thankfully, there’s nothing critical to do at the tank today. The overflow line had puncture marks from where critters chewed it, but that doesn’t affect our water flow or levels. And one fitting on the input line was leaking, but it’s a small leak and can be dealt with later (we forgot the tools!).

The bears like to chew on the input line and we’ve had trouble with this for years because that DOES affect the water and the volume. The last thing we tried to discourage them has been working very well: coat the line with axle grease. Apparently they don’t like it and have left it completely alone, opting to chew through the overflow line instead.

Spring Water Tank Check Complete

Anyway, that’s a recap of the day’s Wild Ozark adventure and I hope you enjoyed seeing the sights.