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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

Bob, if you paged through the article and saw the 
underground water chambers on the following three pages, 
this is more of what I have starting at 40 feet below the 
surface where the pioneers dug through rock to get to it. 
The opening and shaft all the way down is about the length 
and width it would take a man to swing a pick axe, so 
rectangular, maybe 4' x 5' or so.

I don't have an above ground natural well like this one, I 
have something that's tapped into the watery cave below, 
and the 40 feet down to it is air space. Our well is 
covered with a heavy iron lid so that animals don't fall 
in (lots of rocks and blocks piled on top, wild vines 
growing taking it over), but it doesn't have a lip as it 
should. Our well service men have been down in it, but I'm 
not that brave, I only peer in with a flashlight. During 
this drought we've been able to see more of the cave space 
which looks barely big enough for a skinny person to 
squeeze through. We have an electric submersible pump 
bringing the water to an above ground tank housed in a 
small "well house".

I just thought it would help you visualize how a river 
might be flowing through the bottom of my well. I'm on the 
same aquifer as Jacobs Well. I have a friend that used to 
climb down into a Hill Country cave near there and swim in 
a large underground lake. This is not a place you want to 
be in one of our flash floods.

Apparently my worst fears are confirmed on Jacob's Well:
http://www.visitwimberley.com/cgi-bin/water/viewnews.cgi?category=2&id=1225125916

--Sage

On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:06:19 -0800 (PST)
 bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> That's neat Sage.  Okay, I went to the photo at the link 
> (Of jacob's well).  That water comes to the surface.  If 
> I understand correctly, your does not?  You have to send 
> a bucket down (or some pumping apparatus) thru 40 feet of 
> open air before you touch water?  In other words, you can 
> see, way down, but not touch, the water?.  How big is the 
> opening of the open well?  An underground river 40 feet 
> down would be a trap for any animal ? ...bobford
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> --- On Wed, 11/5/08, eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net> 
> wrote:
>
> > From: eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net>
> > Subject: Re: [Homestead] Wild water
> > To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 1:53 PM
> > I think it was Bob that was interested in my pioneer 
> > well, 
> > where about forty feet down you can see a river flowing 
> > through it. Although it is clear and cold and coming up 
> > from deep within the earth, undoubtedly stuff trickles 
> > down into this very wild water. We use a reverse osmosis 
> > filter for most things, but honestly we drink it from 
> > the 
> > hose and haven't died yet.
> >
> > Speaking of wild water, I am reminded of another Hill 
> > Country locale I've visited called Jacob's Well, a
> > natural 
> > hole in the bottom of a rock bottom creek that goes down 
> > at least 400 feet and during the pioneer days pumped a 
> > geyser up. When I swam into it a decade ago it was just 
> > a 
> > couple inch roil on top of the water, but still strong. 
> > A 
> > golf course and subdivision have since been built 
> > nearby, 
> > so I wouldn't doubt if it's a depression in the
> > creek now. 
> > All of this is from a large system of pockets and 
> > tunnels 
> > through our limestone known as the Edwards Aquifer, 
> > where 
> > San Antonio gets all of it's water.
> >
> > Here's a link, with some interesting photos if you care
> > to 
> > page through the story of how divers lose their life 
> > exploring it. This might give you an idea of what my 
> > well 
> > is like on a much smaller scale.
> > http://www.visitwimberley.com/jacobswell/
> >
> > --Sage
> >
> >
> > On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:15:13 -0700
> >   Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:
> > > 
> > > On Nov 5, 2008, at 12:50 PM, bob ford wrote:
> > > 
> > >> Don, one time I was hunting along the stream bed
> > of a 
> > >>wooded area of  
> > >> a farmer's land.  I drank from thwe beautiful
> > clear 
> > >>water of the  
> > >> stream.. 'Walked up aways , bloated dead cow
> > in stream, 
> > >>possum  
> > >> crawled out of its butt ..
> > > 
> > > And you appear to have not died. At least not all of 
> > >you.
> > > 
> > > All surface water is rife with bacteria. As even with 
> > >the water you  
> > > now drink, no matter city water or bottled, the key to
> >
> > >health safety  
> > > is the percentage of bacteria and your state of health
> >
> > >when you drink  
> > > it. The water in Hurricane Creek has bacteria
> > "too 
> > >numerous to count."  
> > > Beavers had populated the upper reaches, so the water
> > is 
> > >also full of  
> > > giardia.
> > > 
> > > Btw, for others in a similar good circumstances, which
> >
> > >is to say with  
> > > abundant surface water, I learned this summer of an 
> > >apparently sure  
> > > cure for giardiasis--our old friend, garlic. Raw
> > garlic. 
> > >Mince two or  
> > > three cloves, put it into a glass, add water, swish it
> >
> > >around, drink  
> > > it. Do this on an empty stomach and two or three hours
> >
> > >before your  
> > > next meal. Repeat daily until symptoms disappear. One 
> > >dose does it for  
> > > me.
> > > 
> > > Think of the pioneers, traveling a few miles each day,
> >
> > >stopping to  
> > > camp when possible by a spring or a stream,
> > replenishing 
> > >their  
> > > supplies. 'Course we don't know how many died
> > along the 
> > >way.
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>      
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