Quoting%20commentary for Parah 6:5

הַמְפַנֶּה אֶת הַמַּעְיָן לְתוֹךְ הַגַּת, אוֹ לְתוֹךְ הַגֵּבִים, פְּסוּלִים לַזָּבִים וְלַמְצֹרָעִים וּלְקַדֵּשׁ בָּהֶן מֵי חַטָּאת, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא נִתְמַלְּאוּ בְכֶלִי:

One who redirects a spring into a pit or into small pits, [the collected water] is invalid for a <i>zav</i> and a <i>metzorah</i>, and to sanctify the waters of a <i>chatat</i>, since they were not filled in a vessel. [A <i>zav</i> is one who has a seminal emission which makes him ritually impure. One stage of his purification process is to immerse himself in naturally flowing water. Once the water is collected in a pit, it is no longer considered flowing and thus can not be used for his purification process. A <i>metzorah</i> is one afflicted with a particular skin disease and he is ritually impure. One stage of his purification process is that a vessel be filled with water from naturally flowing water and that a bird be killed over this vessel. Once the water is collected in a pit, it is no longer considered flowing and thus can not be used for that ritual. Similarly, the water for sanctifying the ashes of a red heifer for the <i>chatat</i> ritual must be drawn from naturally flowing water.]

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