Description
Giant pool of clear water, limestone perk, 64,000 gallon daily flow.
Nearest Address
Zilker Park, Austin
Directions from Nearest Address
Giant pool of clear water, limestone perk, 64,000 gallon daily flow.
Vital Information
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Hours Spring is Open:
Dawn to dusk most days.
GPS: N/A
Map Link: Barton Springs Map
Submitted by: Mac
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Drinking pure spring water is one of the most important things we can do for our health. Our bodies are over 99% water at the molecular level, so water affects every aspect of our biology. Yet, not all water is created equal. Almost all the bottled spring water available is pasteurized for shelf stability, which neutralizes many of the powerful health benefits such as increased hydrogen, healthy probiotics, and crystalline structure. For more about why unprocessed spring water is the best water to drink, read this.
The best way to guarantee you are getting real unprocessed spring water is to collect it yourself. This is a short and simple guide filled with information about how to gather spring water. We will cover how to find a spring, how to collect the water, how to honor the spring, how to store the water properly and other tips.
FindASpring.org is the best resource for locating a spring near you. However, not all springs are on the map. First, check the map to see if there is a spring in your local area. If there is, look at the reviews and comments. Has anyone shared helpful information about flow rate or posted a water test result? Is the spring in a pristine area? Do a bit of research and make sure the spring is safe to drink from. If you have any doubt about the purity, don’t risk it and get a water test, HERE. If you don’t see a spring on the map in your area, there still might be some that aren’t listed yet. First, ask the older generation who have lived in your area a long time if they know. You can also ask people in your community who might already get spring water such as people at a health food store or at a farmers market. Another great option is to view A US forest service map, where many springs have been marked. You can view these maps through the Gaia GPS or All Trails hiking apps on your phone. The map overlay you want is USGS Topo. Not all are easily accessible or ideal for drinking, but some are and it can be a fun adventure to find them. We have found over half a dozen great springs this way.
Once you’ve found your spring, figure out how you are going to gather the water. Is it right on the side of the road and easy to access or do you have to hike to it? We recommend storing spring water in glass instead of plastic to preserve the purity of the water. It is better for the environment, your body, and the water. Even BPA free plastic has toxic chemicals that can leach into water and cause health issues. If you do want to use plastic for safety reasons when filling at the spring, we recommend transferring the water to glass as soon as possible. FindASpring is sponsored by Alive Waters, which offers beautiful reusable glass. They have a 2.5 gallon option, which is a convenient size for carrying that isn’t too heavy. They also sell handles that you can use to transport the jugs even more easily. If you have to hike to access the spring, we recommend putting the water jugs into an extra large backpack to hike the water out with ease. We use Osprey packs that hold 2 jugs each. You can also use a wheelbarrow or even a stroller depending on how easy a walk it is.
When you get to the spring, remember to first give back before you take. Springs are considered sacred in indigenous cultures around the world for their life giving water and also as a connection to the inner earth. A powerful and simple way to give back is to clean up. Is there any trash that needs to be collected? Could you move any dead leaves or sticks to improve the flow rate? Show up in service. Some other wonderful ways to give is with a moment of expressing verbal gratitude, singing songs to the water, offering the water an ethically sourced crystal, a feather, or some other physical gift. Flowers are a popular and beautiful thing to offer, but please be careful to source organic ones as most flowers from the store are sprayed with pesticides and can be toxic to put near a spring. Also, flowers can attract bugs as they decay, so it can be best to offer them to the flowing water directly or a little downstream from the spring head.
When gathering the water, fill the jug as close to the spring head as possible, never gather downstream. Be very careful as wet glass is extremely slippery. Make sure the lid is securely fastened. When transporting the spring water home, the jugs can sometimes slide around the car. Secure them in place or wrap them with towels or something so they don’t crash into each other.
How you store your spring water is essential. It is not pasteurized like spring water from the store, so it will start growing algae if left in direct sunlight. This is good because it means it’s alive! If the water you drink can’t even support the most basic life forms, how do you think it will support your body? Store your water in a cool, dark place such as a dark corner, pantry or closet. The fridge is ideal if you have room. Some people prefer to filter their water through a Berkey filter before drinking, but if the spring is pure, it’s not necessary. We drink our spring water completely unfiltered.
How long the water stays good for depends on how cold a temperature it’s stored at. Spring water is best fresh. We personally do not prefer to drink spring water past 2 weeks old. However, we know other people that will drink it at a month old. It’s great to get in a rhythm where you know how long the water lasts you and put your collection day on the calendar in advance.
I believe that water is calling us to reconnect with her in the deepest way, to gather our own water. Just like our ancestors did. Our ancestors didn’t have fancy water machines. They also didn’t create villages or settle where there was no water. Water was revered as the center of the community and the nodal point around which life could spiral out and take root.
Here’s to restoring the sacred connection with the waters of life.
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Sam
Hi,
New to this website..so glad I found it! I’m a native Texan, living in Austin now for 24 years. Been drinking out of the Barton Creek watershed (pool/greenbelt) for just as long, with zero adverse effects and no filtration used, though drinking sporadically and in small amounts, until recently. Only in the past month have I begun taking a quart jug to the Pool and filling for regular drinking. Again, no filtration, and zero adverse effect so far. I was a Boy Scout and am a US Army veteran, and this is solely MY experience, so, be smart about your practices.. Barton Springs watershed is a highly environmentally sensitive, protected & regulated water zone. (I read that to mean pretty clean, and cleaner than it used to be). I have no idea what the City of Austin would say as to the potability of the water, (municipalities don’t want us to have raw milk either, for example..) but I drink it and so far so good.. The staff/lifeguards are all good-natured, the pool is cleaned on a regular basis (few times per month), and I go either early or late in the day and fill away from other users (*upstream*). Have not taken a gallon+ jug there yet, but a conversation with the staff is likely what I’d attempt first for larger amounts. Thousands upon thousands of people use the springs yearly and I’ve never heard of one incident of toxicity. Due Diligence..
I sure dig this website and the philosophy behind it. Thank you. Happy drinking, and, cheers everyone!
Thanks for your post! Have you been able to find a fresh spot to fill up? Or do you just take it from the straight from the pool?
Not sure why anyone would want to drink from this spring. It’s a highly populated spring/pool where people and their dogs swim in/pee in. I’ve seen dogs poop in it it’s gross. Also many homeless people in area use to bathe and who knows what else. Also all along the green belt people do similar things.
on the south bank of the Barton Creek to the east of the pool you will find a foot bridge where you can descend to the banks. there you will see a small cascading waterfall which dumps into Barton Creek. there is a steel grate there, but you can collect spring water that is coming up from the ground not too far from the grate. this is not overflow water from the Barton Creek pool!
There are several springs that feed into the Barton Springs Pool. There is one next to the diving board– just to the west of it (to the right if you are facing the board/pool from the banks of the pool) at a V-shaped crevice in the rocks. There is a rarely manned life-guard stand just above it. Inasmuch as up to 1 million gallons per hour can come out of this spring, I would think that filling your jugs at this source would be perfectly fine. Maybe also filter it? I know the current coming out of the rocks where the Spring is can be very strong! The pool opens at 5:00 am and is free until 8:00 am each morning (also free from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm each night)– I would think going early in the morning and you would not get harassed filling water jugs.
I live in Austin where the Barton Springs are located. It is great to swim but don’t think you are able to fill up a container with the spring water. It just bubbles up directly into the natural pool that is made of damming the Barton creek. The creek itself is polluted with the runoff from paving on surrounding hills when it rains. The fee is $3 not $6 in summer, free in winter. Some people swim year round, the temp. stays F68 year round as well.
I am still in shock learning that It is not to my benefit to use my water ionizer that I bought specifically to try and alkalize my body in fight with cancer. It has a supposedly good filtration system filtering to 0.01 microns. Perhaps I will just use that and not the alkalizing feature.
Does anyone know of a spring anywhere in the area that we could fill from???
I am sure the water at Barton Springs is good to use. If your concerned just filter the barton springs water through a Berkey Gravity filter using the black berkey filter.
I also am dealing with cancer. We use the Berkey filtration system and also an under the sink filtration system, plus a filter on our fawcett and shower.
Not to interfere, however PLEASE check into Baking Powder for keeping your entire body in an Alkaline State. It DOES work, I’ve seen it myself. GOD BLESS!!
Barton Spring’s average flow is actually an amazing 31 million gallons per day. I’ve been going to Barton Springs several times a week for over 30 years and its a treasure.
Where do you guys get your water in Austin?
Water is Austin goes through the municipal water plant but it primarily comes out of a series of man-made lakes. Austin has wells, but most of the drinking water comes from lake water.
Natural Grocer .. fill your own .. good water. They have the machine at Wheatsville, HEB, etc. bring your jug & fill.
We use the municipal water supply but we filter our water with a Berkey water filter..Its hands down the BEST water filtration system…. We have saved soo much money switching from bottled water to the Berkey…Not to mention the thousands of bottles we have saved from being dumped in the landfill!
The Berkey only works if you already have decent water. We used it for water in Winnipeg and the water tasted so awful and the Berkey didn’t do much in improving the taste. Hence, why we love spring water the best.
Yes, I agree about Berkey which our family also use. We live out near Lockhart.
We’ve bio-energetically tested Berkey filtered water. It tests poorly for “compatibility with the complex 4 polarities of human bio-energetics”. This may be due in part to the synthetically produced plastic vessel it uses.
JASONQA, what do you recommend as better than ‘poor’ quality water source? I’ve always heard berkey, but would love to hear more about your research, and the methodology you suggest/utilize. TIA
It would be better to use the Barton Springs water with the Berkey gravity water filter. The municipal water is too contaminated to deal with.
You are right. Limestone is the signature feature all through the Hill Country. That is why the spring water is there in the first place.
As you say, it is a swimming pool, not a drinking-type spring. It was dammed in the 1920’s to make a deeper pool.
Folks might want to know that there might sometimes be some nude sunbathing in that vicinity and has been a “hippy hangout”for many years. Some families might not like all that.
AKA ” Hippie Holler “
Hippie Hollow (which I think the “aka Hippie Holler” comment refers to) is not Barton Springs. Hippie Hollow is a location on Lake Travis.
GREAT for swimming — not for drinking! Part of the problem we have here in Central Texas is a LOT of limestone (which equals BAD CALCIUM in the water)…!
“Bad Calcium”, meaning..? High levels of calcium which over time and continuous drinking consumption would leave too much calcium in one’s body?
so is there no where to bottle your own water in austin??
it’s called density … more cement, houses & traffic
collected water from below the foot bridge on the south bank of Barton Creek downstream from the pool. there you will find a small cascading waterfall that dumps into Barton Creek pretty soon after the water emerges from the ground. this is not overflow water from the pool area.
Drove all the way to find clean spring water. People in the spring pool said they smelled feces while swimming. I did not go in after hearing that. There is no sanitary place to fill, no fresh run off. Don’t waste your time. I can’t believe people are saying you can get water here. Deception at its finest
I live in Austin. I doubt you can bottle the water at Barton Springs. Its a deep pool springing from the bottom. I wouldn’t want to gather pool water and if if I did, I really dount the staff would allow it and I’ve never seen anyone doing it. As far as I know, we don’t gather spring water in Austin, TX.
What about Dripping Springs? Is that just a name, no springs?
Dripping Springs has springs. There are numerous springs in the area. But most, if not all, are on private land. You would have to have permission to enter and to use from the landowner.
It would be cool to get the barton springs water tested for drinkability.
Like preferably upstream to avoid peepee.
I was thinking the same thing as I found this today. I have live here since 2001. I would filter, or have checked due that and atmosphere from air contaminants.
“watch in and out” should have read “walk in and out”
Where can you go in Barton Springs and fill jugs with water (to filter before drinking)? Would the people that work there have a problem watching me watch in and out the gate 10 times with a filled 3-gallon jug?