Spring water - how to collect it?

Typically, to collect water from a spring source, one would install a tank of some sort and feed the spring water into the device. Usually, the tank is dug in underground and covered with some type of roof so that one can control the mosquito population. There are probably plastic or fiberglass tanks available which will seal off the collected water from the bugs. One then can draw the water from the "springbox" with gravity feed, if possible, or a small pump, and control the flow to whatever use one desires.

The amount of information that can be found through the Web is amazing http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7775252_connect-ground-spring-water-tank.html Now, before doing anything, check with Council.

If you Google "french drain" you will see many illustrations of ground water collection. These are very useful & cheap. Different grades of cleanliness can be bought depending on the planned use. You can join them together with plastic plumbing fittings if neccessary. https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&rlz=&q=ibc+containers&oq=ibc+&... In bocco al lupo

Also check with GAIA the water people as they inspect water sources and monitor supplies, even though the water may be on your land you may not necessarily be able to use it.

All water in Italy is public so technically you're supposed to register the spring and then apply for a 'concessione demeniale' (permit to use the water exclusively) but unless there is a reason to do it most people don't bother. It does mean that in theory anyone can use your water if you don't. Pretty unlikely though... I think the people that check the water are different in each Region. In Liguria for example it is ARPAL.

Thanks for the help. I really need to try and find where the point is that the water is rising from. Has anyone found out how you work out where the flow is actually coming up from? The puddle is pretty dispersed so it's not obvious! The french trench idea looks great and would give me a way of at least bringing the water to one point so it can be collected and made useful rather than a mosquito breeding ground!

You could try 'dowsing' - most people can do it to some extent or another [When I was working, i had used it a few times to trace drains [with water flowing in them] see;- http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=dowsing+rods&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=8915508873&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=s&hvrand=9877614261304878370&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_9jdopjrqu2_b

I do think that alan h is onto something with his idea of dowsing. I used to have a house with a very reliable well, which was located in a vaguely marshy bit of land, and as far as I could understand it, somebody many moons ago had simply dug a 120cm diameter 'shaft' about five metres deep, lined it with plastered brick only on the sides (not at the bottom) and water simply appeared as if by magic. We threw a bit of tube attached to a surface mounted pump (with remote autoclave) into this hole and never bothered about water. I suspect that the exact positioning of the shaft was determined by somebody with a twitchy stick. Then, having decided to do some serious irrigation and maintain a pool, we supplemented this old well with a geologist approved borehole - 100m deep. Guess which water supply dried up in 2011. Yup - you got it right. In your situation I'd drain the existing cement well, give it a good poke about with a big stick, and hope that it recovers. 2012/2013 has been pretty wet, so there should be some pressure underneath.

"............. But there's also an untapped area where water springs up from the ground and lies in a big puddle ..........." It could just be a leaking water pipe