Hartwell Springs
A few years ago the local chapter of the Lion‘s club adopted this unnamed spring and graced it with large Granite slabs which are native to the area.
Talking to the local self proclaimed historians,the parks and recreation department and the area newspaper, this spring has been in use for over a century now. And not much more is known about this location.
Water issuing from an artesian spring rises to a higher elevation than the top of the confined aquifer from which it issues. When water issues from the ground it may form into a pool or flow downhill, in surface streams. Sometimes a spring is termed a seep. Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks. This may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending upon the nature of the geology through which it passes.
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the water. Mineral water can often be effervescent. Mineral water can be prepared or can occur naturally.
Springs may be formed in any sort of rock. Small ones are found in many places. In Missouri, the largest springs are formed in limestone and dolomite in the karst topography of the Ozarks.
Both dolomite and limestone fracture relatively easily. When weak carbonic acid (formed by rainwater percolating through organic matter in the soil) enters these fractures it dissolves bedrock. When it reaches a horizontal crack or a layer of non-dissolving rock such as sandstone or shale, it begins to cut sideways, forming an underground stream. As the process continues, the water hollows out more rock, eventually admitting an airspace, at which point the spring stream can be considered a cave. This process is supposed to take tens to hundreds of thousands of years to complete.
A water analysis of the spring in Hartwell performed by Clemson University has shown that each test tube of water contained large quantities of Iron and Carbon,normal amounts of Magnesium and Sulphur with trace amounts of Iodine.These findings suggest that this spring runs through Limestone and Granite. All of these minerals combined give the spring its unique taste and odor.
Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge. The largest springs are called "first-magnitude".
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS: Email me what you think the magnitude of this spring would be according to the scale and upload a photo of you with a GPSr at the spring location (photo optional).
Spring flow scale
0 Magnitude - no flow (sites of past/historic flow)
1st Magnitude - > 100 cubic feet per second (100 cu. ft./sec. = 748 gallons per second) (cfs)
2nd Magnitude - 10 - 100 cfs
3rd Magnitude - 1 - 10 cfs
4th Magnitude - 100 gal/min - 1 cfs (448 gal/min)
5th Magnitude - 10 to 100 gal/min
6th Magnitude - 1 to 10 gal/min
7th Magnitude - 1 pint to 1 gal/min
8th Magnitude - Less than 1 pint/min
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