Water serviced by a spring

[Deena]

We are buying a property which is only serviced by a spring, we are quite rural about 1.5 mile away from any other houses. This we presume will cost loads to get pipes in! Does anyone have any experience of this. What are the pro's and con's of a spring serviced properties?

Any help would be great!!!

D&D

[BJSLIV]

No water bills?
Safety, nitrates, pesticides?
Security of supply?



I seem to remember that Jean de Florette had a few problems from that "source"!

[Moorejw]

If you take a sample of the spring water to the nearest Pharmacie they will test the purity for you (cost us 19 Euros)and then you may find that it is safe to drink. Otherwise you could do what a lot of French people do, use the spring water for everything except drinking - it may save you money over the installation of mains.

John and Angie Moore (17)

[Aitch]

We have a well in our garden and the water is from the spring. It is crystal clear but to be on the safe side we tried the local pharmarcies in Le Blanc (36) but they were unable to test it for us. They directed us to the 'Laboratoired'Analyses de Biologie Medicale', thankfully about 1km away next to the local hospital. We had to take 4 x 1-ltr bottles and they posted the results to us within the week as we had returned home by then. Our water had a full analysis report but was 'Eau chimiquement non potable'. The cost for this test was 22euros. We have since had mains water put in from a distance of about 500 mtrs with trenches being dug, connections,water meter etc, for 1250 euros. A reasonable price we thought although it was a cost we had not originally budgeted for. Our builder did some of the work. The Syndicat de L'eau, did the remainder but unknown to us one of our neighbour let the water board use his digger to complete the trench through his field to get to our property. We have yet to meet him to say thank you. A good builder should be able to give you all the details and an estimate. Good Luck
Aitch