What’s the difference between spring water and artesian well water?
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
10:55 pm
Spring water flows from the ground like 24/7 and so does an artesian well.
So I’m confused about why it’s different.
Are they both healthier to drink than regular filtered water? Or bottled water? 
Tagged with: artesian • Bottled Water • filtered water • google • script type • spring water • text javascript
Filed under: Water Filters
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
–Hot spring –A hot spring may be either ephemeral or perennial, which is to say temporary or continuous, but all springs are the result of an underground water source known as an aquifer.Deep in the earth the molten rock of the earth’s interior transmits heat upward through solid rock to ground water aquifer . This extremely hot and pressurized groundwater then forces its way upward through fissures and fractures, emerges out in a steady flow. Where the hot water can escape at the ground surface, a hot spring is formed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_spring
difference between hot spring and artesian well –>hot spring water reaches surface on its own because of the heat and pressure it experiences beneath the surface.artesian wells are dug by humans but the water emerges out continuously without any pumpsets because of the pressure built up between the impervious rocks where the aquifer is loacted.
–Natural spring :
A spring is any natural occurrence where water flows on to the surface of the earth from below the surface. Thus it is place where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.
http://www.eoearth.org/image/Missouri_springs_formation.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_%28hydrosphere%29
–An artesian well allows water that has traveled through porous rock from a higher elevation to rise to the surface. it may be natural well or a well dug by humans.This ‘pumpless’ well seems to defy gravity because the pressure that builds up between layers of rock gets relieved when the water finds a path to the open air.An aquifer provides the water source for an artesian well. This is the layer of permeable rock, like limestone or sandstone, that absorbs water from an inlet path.Porous stone is sandwiched between a top and bottom layer of an impermeable substance, like clay soil or shale rock, this keeps the water pressure high allowing it to emerge at the surface. *sometimes a natural artesian well is also considered as hot spring if the water is warm enough and emerges out because of internal hydrostatic pressure .
see links ::
http://www.home2officewatercoolers.co.uk/water_coolers/mineral_water.gif
http://www.eoearth.org/image/Missouri_springs_formation.gif
http://geology.com/articles/bottled-water/artesian-well.gif
http://web.arc.losrios.edu/~borougt/ArtesianSystems.gif
Aquitard-A bed/layer of low permeability.
Edit — Humans require water that does not contain too many impurities. Common impurities in unpurified water include metal salts and oxides (including copper, iron, calcium and lead) and/or harmful bacteria. most springs are high either in sodium chloride or sodium bicarbonate (soda springs) or both; other compositions are found, such as a high percentage of calcium sulfate from the solution of gypsum.Many towns in iceland pipes hot water to every house – and it’s cheaper than supplying cold water!It’s also purified and cooled to provide normal drinking water.it is healthier to drink filtered water
SHORT ANSWER: You have to drill down to release the water for an Artesian well- and natural pressure sends the water up through the well…without the need of a pump. However a natural spring will naturally come to the surface in areas (although you can have underground springs) and when you drill down it won’t shoot up under natural pressure but continue it’s natural flow.
ADDITIONAL QUESTION: Is spring water/artesian well water better than regular filtered or bottled water?
Spring and artesian water can also be "bottled" as well. Personally I think it’s better than filtered water (especially if that water has been artificially filtered because it’s gone through the sewage system etc).
Having said that, both artesian water and spring water require analysis to check the water quality – some artesian wells and springs provide great drinking water – and others have too many impurities such as high levels of sulphur and naturally occurring minerals.
The FDA has established bottled water standards covering the various groups of water, which are: Spring Water, Purified Water, Oxygenated Water, Mineral Water,
Sparkling Water, Flavoured Water
It’s hard to be certain but it appears that oxygenated water may be more beneficial for the body – but personally I think it comes down to "pure taste" (if you’ve ever tried an array of water from the shops they all taste different and you’ll only like a few of them). I think the body naturally knows which one it prefers and I’d go with good quality spring water or artesian water above artificially filtered water any day!!
Here’s a bit more info regarding your initial question:
MORE ABOUT ARTESIAN WELL WATER
An aquifer is a layer of soft rock, like limestone or sandstone, that absorbs water from an inlet path.
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that will flow upward through a well, called an artesian well, without the need for pumping. Water may even reach the ground surface if the natural pressure is high enough, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian well. However for this to happen, we have to drill a well through impermeable strata to reach this water so that it is capable of rising to the surface by internal hydrostatic pressure.
Porous stone is confined between impermeable rocks or clay. This keeps the pressure high, so when the water finds an outlet, it overcomes gravity and goes up instead of down. The recharging of aquifers happens when the water table at its recharge zone is at a higher elevation than the head of the well.
MORE ABOUT SPRING WATER
A spring is any natural occurrence where water flows on to the surface of the earth from below the surface. Thus it is where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.
MORE ABOUT GROUNDWATER CHEMISTRY: http://www.sjrwmd.com/springs/waterquality.html tells you more about the characteristics of groundwater chemistry – and advises that …"Major ion chemistry is used as a general indicator of groundwater quality and provides a means to identify regional differences and changes in water quality with time. The water quality is determined by several factors. These include the chemical composition of the water entering the aquifer, the composition and solubility of the rocks with which the water comes into contact along flow paths, the length of time the water is in contact with the rocks as it moves from recharge to discharge areas, and the mixing of fresh groundwater with residual formation water or seawater. Land use activities in a spring’s recharge basin and the upconing of poorer quality water from deeper zones due to groundwater withdrawals may also impact water quality. " UNQUOTE
Strictly speaking, the only real difference is that the route to the surface for the groundwater is man-made where wells are concerned (there is often no natural spring simply because there is a subterranean barrier that prevents the groundwater from migrating naturally to the surface at the given location, the well transects that barrier and gives the water a route to surface).
EDIT. As to water quality, it is difficult to generalize. Springs tend to have some sort of interaction with the shallow groundwater and thus would be more at risk from surface contamination than a well inserted into a deep water source.
Whether groundwater from any source is better or worse in quality than some other possible water source can only be discussed on a case by case basis. Some artesian water is extremely pure, and some is non-potable because of dissolved salts (for example).