Interesting Question?

Just had an interesting question posed? What is your thoughts?

Could be built on top of a spring.

Is it natural water or could it be town water ?
… Cookie

At this point, I have given them the following answer…
(I really feel sorry for these folks and the problem they are having,
because the estimated cost of repairs will be in the tens of thousands of dollars
and they have not even begun to deal with stopping the moisture source
or the mold issue yet.)

My response:

People here run into springs all the time digging basements. Im not sure what would be correct but the older builders route it somewhere downhill with a drain system and seal it up. Could you pump it out? Also could you put dye in the water to see where it is going? Maybe pump it out and cut the water at the street for a while and see if it refills? What a mess!:roll:

They said that they had 3 plumbers at different times trying to find the source
and they said there was no problem with the plumbing.

Who knows what it is? At this point, it seems that they liked my answer,
for what it was worth. I wish I knew more so I could help them.

If the area of TX that you are referring to has had as much annual rain fall as we have had up here this year you could very well be dealing with a spring that that the water level raise and lower with the water table. I have very similar problems in one of the towns I inspect in. One commercial building in particular was constructed over the top of a known free flowing spring. The engineers re-routed the water during the construction period and poured concrete troughs to allow the water to flow completely through the building. The building was constructed on the side of a hill so pumps were not installed just free flowing water. I about freaked out when observing this during the inspection as I had no previous knowledge of this spring.

My thinking would be springs/sink hole type situation in other words a big mess good luck

If there has been building around them water source (springs) have been moved towards their home like some have said here. I think it is a septic tank problem from the drain fields maybe. Just a shot in the dark

Have the water tested and see if it is chlorinated

All valid points… thanks.

After the water filters through the soil, then it may be hard to find any chlorine.
The problem did not start for the first 80 + years … wow. what a suprise.