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Anyone know where in Pioneer Valley has homes with wood stoves and well or spring water?
I know Leverett and Shutesbury do and am guessing Wendell and Conway too. Saw a Deerfield or Sunderland property with a cabin like that. Cummington and Plainsfield seemed like they would.
Anywhere else though? Like would any parts of Northampton, Florence, Leeds, Whately, Hatfield, Amherst, Easthampton, Greenfield, Montague, Shelburne, oe anywhere else?
While we're at it I'll ask what areas have or would allow tiny or natural homes such as yurts or cob huts or little homemade cabins? So far have found some in Leverett and Shutesbury. (Laws and rules can be weird about stuff like that in some places or landspace too limited so I know not every city has that stuff.)
Anyone know where in Pioneer Valley has homes with wood stoves and well or spring water?
I know Leverett and Shutesbury do and am guessing Wendell and Conway too. Saw a Deerfield or Sunderland property with a cabin like that. Cummington and Plainsfield seemed like they would.
Anywhere else though? Like would any parts of Northampton, Florence, Leeds, Whately, Hatfield, Amherst, Easthampton, Greenfield, Montague, Shelburne, oe anywhere else?
While we're at it I'll ask what areas have or would allow tiny or natural homes such as yurts or cob huts or little homemade cabins? So far have found some in Leverett and Shutesbury. (Laws and rules can be weird about stuff like that in some places or landspace too limited so I know not every city has that stuff.)
Lots of houses have wood stoves. Well water isn't such a good idea because it can be contaminated and you would never know it. Water testing is very expensive so it's better to have town water. Easthampton had TCE in the water about 20 years ago and other towns could have contaminated water from agricultural run off or from factories.
Most places have pretty strict zoning so no mobile homes or huts or yurts. You would have to get quite far out, I would think. The closest thing I ever saw was when a friend lived in a (new) log cabin in Leverett. But most of those towns that might allow such things would be pretty inconveniently located if you are wanting to be near Northampton, as you stated in your previous post.
You might live out in the hilltowns and just not come into Northampton except in good weather, not on a regular basis. Or try somewhere in Vermont where it's rural. The Northampton area is not rural.
Lots of houses have wood stoves. Well water isn't such a good idea because it can be contaminated and you would never know it. Water testing is very expensive so it's better to have town water. Easthampton had TCE in the water about 20 years ago and other towns could have contaminated water from agricultural run off or from factories.
Most places have pretty strict zoning so no mobile homes or huts or yurts. You would have to get quite far out, I would think. The closest thing I ever saw was when a friend lived in a (new) log cabin in Leverett. But most of those towns that might allow such things would be pretty inconveniently located if you are wanting to be near Northampton, as you stated in your previous post.
You might live out in the hilltowns and just not come into Northampton except in good weather, not on a regular basis. Or try somewhere in Vermont where it's rural. The Northampton area is not rural.
Thanks for the reply. I am very interested in splitting my time regularly year-round between a bustling city like Northampton and also rural or semi-rural and really enjoy Pioneer Valley.
I enjoyed living a short time in very rural, gorgeous, special Vermont but it wasn't enough going on for me long-term. And I've enjoyed time in many other special states/cities which were beautiful experiences, but this Pioneer Valley really currently speaks to me. I've learned through tons of experimentation snd travel that my sweet spot is rural or semi-rural woodsy-farmy-eco within an hour or preferably half-hour drive of bustling/urban enough progressive area.
Gonna keep asking around about this such as in permaculture communities...and see about how to research zoning laws.
Whenever I've lived or visited at places with well or spring water it felt so fresh and healthy and delicious. Except one Virginia farm that had do much lime in it that built up on toilets and showers and sinks and felt unhealthy. Its residents had signs of lime-related health issues but were too poor or uninterested to test well (and interestingly also had health problems from ticks with lYme disease). Another farmy place had a well badly in need of repair but couldn't afford it.
I agree regular testing of water source is important. But feels much more likely to have contamination in a massive water supply that serves a whole city (along with all the crap in city/tap water like peoples' medicines) versus a private well or spring.
Last edited by NatureYogi; 11-27-2019 at 05:59 AM..
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Originally Posted by NatureYogi
I agree regular testing of water source is important. But feels much more likely to have contamination in a massive water supply that serves a whole city (along with all the crap in city/tap water like peoples' medicines) versus a private well or spring.
Really? The medicines (etc) would be in the waste water that goes to the treatment facilities (and often pass through), not incoming from the reservoir. The issue, it seems to me, with the water coming from reservoirs isn't the reservoir/source itself, but potentially the old piping. I guess a river source could have issues, but the testing is really rigorous. I'd be much more sketched, on its face, of a private spring in a state with such a very very long history of industrialization, personally. Maybe I'm way off.
Really? The medicines (etc) would be in the waste water that goes to the treatment facilities (and often pass through), not incoming from the reservoir. The issue, it seems to me, with the water coming from reservoirs isn't the reservoir/source itself, but potentially the old piping. I guess a river source could have issues, but the testing is really rigorous. I'd be much more sketched, on its face, of a private spring in a state with such a very very long history of industrialization, personally. Maybe I'm way off.
Oh, interesting. I'm definitely not an expert on the topic of well or spring water. Am curious to research it even more. Have always heard they're generally way healthier than tap water.
I think you can have problems either way. Both surface water and ground water can be contaminated, and pollutants can spread far from the source. Even "out in the country", there can be industrial plants, plus runoff from farms includes fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and manure from animals. In "the good old days", pollution from industry was really egregious and widespread, but some pretty terrible practices have continued to this day - just look at what Dupont/3M/Chemours have knowingly been doing for over 50 years with PFOS, POFA, C8 in the Ohio River Valley and beyond. La caveat emptor.
Oh, interesting. I'm definitely not an expert on the topic of well or spring water. Am curious to research it even more. Have always heard they're generally way healthier than tap water.
It can go either way. That said with municipal water, there are more established standards and monitoring to ensure consistent water quality. With well water...you're on your own.
In case some people try to reference it the issue that was in Flint Michigan is that they decided to change the water that was coming in and that water and fortunately was a bit more corrosive than what they thought which led to the melting or eroding the lead pipes. So it wasn't so much that the water itself was bad but that what it was causing to the pipes we caused that to go down the line.
Doing things like living off-grid weather at the water or electricity or Plumbing can be possible but it really does depend on how much you have things maintained and inspected. Backup generators for example should be inspected annually. Personally I think being able to cook Preserve and prepare food is a much better skill than trying to live off-grid.
So then maybe the best water is a very deep well or spring on a long-time organic farm far from factories...so no fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals in it? Where it is as mineral-rich as possible?
As for manure, I know manure (including fish poo) is often used to build great soil and to grow nutritious organic produce but I haven't at all researched if manure being near well contaminates water but guess it could. So to prevent that could any chickens or goats or whatnot be kept far enough from the well? But anywhere there's soil you have the poo of worms and bugs and stuff...and worms for example help soil and compost be healthy.
And could test the well once in awhile.
And could also still filter it? Though it's nice to not have to install a whole-house filter or sink and shower filters.
Again, water purity is not a topic I've researched and I don't pretend to be an expert...just kinda guessing. The standards for what passes as legal city tap water doesn't seem pure enough to me for optimal health.
Last edited by NatureYogi; 12-02-2019 at 07:41 AM..
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