Well and spring cooling

In short

• In summer a well or spring is roughly 8–14 °C (46–57 °F). Water cools much faster than air, but never below its own temperature.
• A spring trough is ideal for the first step: a churn of milk from 35 to about 15 °C in 1–2 hours. For 4–6 °C you need ice (H57-02 The ice house).
• Milk cooled by water alone must be pasteurised and processed within 12–24 hours.
• Do not lower food into a well you drink from. Cool it in a trough below the spring or in water drawn from the well.
• Never climb down a well for a bucket that has fallen in. At the bottom there may be CO₂ and too little oxygen.
• A trough, spring and well have a lid and a fence. A small child can drown in 20 cm (8 in) of water.

What's inside

Chapters

1. How cold the water is
2. Why water cools fast
3. A trough with running water
4. The spring house
5. Cooling in a well
6. Streams and rivers
7. Milk: from milking to the pan
8. What may go in the water and what may not
9. Clean water and containers
10. Safety and regulations
11. Common mistakes
12. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Water and trough calculator
• Water temperature through the year
• Milk cooling log
• A year of the spring and trough
• Trough or spring house sketch
• Inspection and contacts