“How to protect the sanitation of sources of spring water…
Open water springs, and similar containers have been used for centuries to supply water to buildings.
If the water tank is located higher than the building it serves the water supply can be fed by gravity.
If the open water tank is in the building or below it the water may be moved to the point of use by a hand pump or an electrical pump.
Spring water can be delicious and clean if it is in a protected location. But most residential springs serving homes are not so carefully designed.
Springs and cisterns that are open to groundwater runoff like these are unlikely to provide sanitary drinking water since they are easily contaminated by surface runoff. Where building security and personal security are a special concern, the water source needs to be protected from tampering; in these cases a spring could be deliberately contaminated or poisoned…”
