6 Pa. Super. 293 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1898
Opinion by
The trespass of which the plaintiff complains was the laying of a pipe through his land, by the defendant, for the conveyance of water from a spring thereon to the defendant’s land adjacent. The defendant contends that the right to do this is an easement appurtenant to his land.
William Johnston, in 1810, conveyed part of a tract of land to his sons, William and John, and by his will, executed later, authorized his executors to sell the residue. The plaintiff holds under the deed and the defendant under the will. The deed contains the following stipulation: “Provided always, nevertheless, and it is hereby declared to be the express intent and meaning of the parties to these presents, that the right to one
The defendant contends that the water right thus described became appurtenant to the land retained by the grantor, and passed to his successors in title. As the case is presented, however, a determination of this point is unnecessary. First, there is a question as to the identity of the spring described with that reached by the defendant’s pipe. Next, it appears that a natural outlet or channel existed, by which the water of the latter spring was conveyed to the defendant’s land, and there is no allegation of interference therewith by the plaintiff. If the spring to which the defendant laid his pipe was not the one mentioned in the stipulation, it is clear that the pipe was laid without right. If it was that spring, the first question to be considered is whether the stipulation, if creating a right appurtenant to the defendant’s land, authorized him to lay the pipe. Access to the spring in some manner, for the purpose of taking water, it undoubtedly implied. But with an existing channel, natural or artificial, conducting the water, the parties must, in the absence of any provision for a different mode of conveyance, be understood as contemplating the use of such channel for that
Judgment affirmed.