A family with a natural spring under their council house said they would not be selling water like television's Del Boy as they did not own the land.
The spring has burst from under the house of the Pashby family in Plymouth.
In the sitcom Only Fools And Horses, Del and Rodney Trotter sold bottled "Peckham Spring" water from their home.
But father-of-four George Pashby said he would not try to follow suit and he hoped it would soon be resolved because the spring had ruined the garden.
Not chlorinated
Mr Pashby, who lives in St Budeaux with his wife, said their children - aged 11, nine, three, and five months - were cooped up in the house and unable to play in the garden.
The 31-year-old said: "We just want it stopped.
"We have lived here for 10 years and we had the garden looking great, now it is ruined.
"We can't sell any of it, it's not our land or our water to sell."
He said South West Water had twice tested the water and told him it was likely to be a natural spring.
A spokesman for South West Water said: "We cannot say for definite that it is a natural spring, but it seems likely.
"We had someone go to the site and they have said it is not chlorinated water and, therefore, not ours.
"It is also well known that there are springs in the area."
Trench dug
A Plymouth City Council spokeswoman said: "We have been doing everything we can to identify the source of this problem.
"If there is no fault with the main, then this would suggest an underground spring or blocked culvert may be causing the problem, in which case, we would have to take appropriate action to divert the water."
The council has sent experts to the property and dug a trench in the garden to allow water to flow more freely away from the site.
The Trotters' plans for "Peckham Spring" water were featured in the 1992 Christmas episode of the comedy, Mother Nature's Son.
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