BUCKET LIST UPDATE – No. 115: Drink from an artesian well

Scratch Ankle, Alabama's 'Overflowing Well'

An artesian well is a deep well from which water flows to the surface by natural pressure. The best known well of this type in Monroe County, Ala. is the artesian well near the intersection of County Road 61 and County Road 17 at Scratch Ankle, 12 miles northwest of Monroeville.

I’ve known about this well for as long as I can remember, ever since my father pointed it out to me when I was a kid and we were on our way to the Claiborne Lock and Dam. I think I was in the fourth grade. I've driven by the well dozens of times since then, and I've often wondered what the well's water tasted like. For that reason, I added a field trip to this well to my “bucket list” a couple of years ago, and I officially scratched it off my list on Saturday morning.

My son and I found ourselves in Scratch Ankle on Saturday, and we stopped for a few minutes to check out the well, which is called the “Overflowing Well” by people who live in the area. The well's water flows from a piece of PVC pipe, and when I stuck my hand into the flow of water, I was surprised by the amount of force it generates. The water flows from the pipe so strongly that it took some trial and error to cup enough in my hands to drink.

Like most people, I’m accustomed to drinking filtered, fluorinated water from a municipal water system. However, I grew up drinking water from a backyard well that was pumped into our house, so I figured it would be about the same. Before sampling some of the water from the artesian well, I did have a few second thoughts, mostly due to the long string of green slime hanging out of the end of the PVC pipe.

No one lives forever, so I cupped some of the water into my hands and sucked up a big mouthful. I swished it around for a few seconds to get the full effect and then swallowed it down. The water was warmer than I expected, and it definitely had what I would call a strong sulfur taste. I would be told later that, due to the sulfur taste, older people in the area swear that if you consistently drink the water, you’ll never get red bugs or ticks.

I would learn later that the origin of the well is seemingly lost to memory. Most folks in the area remember it always being there, as far back as more than 70 years ago. Others say the well doesn’t flow as strongly as it used to, and Oscar McKinley is said to have been the man who laid the cement blocks that are currently around the well site.

Today, the well is still considered an asset to the community, mainly because farmers use it to fill tanks and drums in order to water their livestock. Others fill gallon jugs with the water and take it home to enjoy. Some people even make wine from the water and report that it turns out just fine. Others say that water from that area makes the worst pot of coffee you’ve ever tasted.

In the end, how many of you have ever drank from an artesian well? If so, when and where? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? Do you know of any other artesian wells besides the one at Scratch Ankle? Let us know in the comments section below.