City or well water?

[rocky2]

From someone who can see the city water 500 feet away to the left of my property, and 500 feet away to the right but can't get it...go for it if you can. Since it hasn't rained here in 6 weeks, my 2 wells are in agony. Now, my wells are not real big producers, the clay causes very, very, very slow recovery rates. If I were building, and for that small price I'd do the tap in and avoid the frustration of not being able to flush when you have a gathering of the clan, or getting cussed out cause you stayed in the shower too long and the lady is standing there buck nekid with a head full of shampoo, and the shower is only a drip, or looking at the new washing machine as you head out to the laundry, or worse the Kubota went from orange to brown with dust because you can't hose it off. That's just a few, there's also: the garden (puny), her flowers (dead), grass(dried out), pond(mud puddle), truck(filthy). Honestly, I've been going round with the township for two years about them connecting the "loop" in the water line in front of my property. If they get funding, I'll tap in then run the 300 feet to the house. For me to pay for the main line extension it's $45-$55 a foot, on top of my 300' lateral. Water is one of your most important utilities.

 

[edt]

Hi hayseed I have a well in 10 years i have had no problems we have a softner system you have too add to. But i would love too have both city water and a well. City for power outages well
for not paying every month on water bill and well for times like now for water bans
ED.

 

[wasabi]

Michael,

As I'm sure you can see, the opinions here have a lot to do with location and condition of water source, and, to some extent, philosophy!. At our coastal home, we pay through the nose for what I consider to be average use...primarily because we have a full household.....and we are dealing with a very greedy, closely held, gestapo-like water co...I hate that! Personally, I also dislike recurring bills like water, trash and elec....and don't like being held hostage to their tax-like, inevitable price hikes.

At our mountain property, we are blessed with year-round springs of excellent quality. They are at considerably higher elevation (+300 vertical ft) than our homesite, so we simply gather it from a spring header in the hillside and let it run via underground pipe to a holding tank located at suitable height above the buildings to let gravity (@ approx .46 lbs per vertical ft) provide the pressure.

With gravity feed, even if the water feed is a trickle or power goes off, you still have at least the tank full (couple of days) to carry your basic needs for a while.

One thing I hear as a common problem here with slow re-charge wells is the "volume" problem. It strikes me that, using a food-grade tank of, say, 300 or so gallons, that the problem could be fairly easily mitigated. Pump first from well to the tank, even if slowly, occasionally or during non-peak hours, then link to pressure-tank-system (if needed).

If sufficent height is not available or impractical, at worst you have two pumps, but gone are the serious volume related problems ( &^$&^, there goes the *^$(&% water or pressure, again!!!!), /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

IMHO, even with drilling (not too deep, tho), filtering, pumping and pressure equip, investing in the gear and having some degree of control over costs beats dealing with water co politics. Then again, I don't have the option of the kind of deal that pbenven has. If I did, I'd probably go for that.

 

[Frank_Mulligan]

We had well water at our old house that had alot of iron in it. The stains in the shower would appear 3 days after cleaning. We ended up putting a water softner on. We have well and septic in our new house and the water seems fine without a softner. If I had the choice I would definitly go with city water. We just lost power on Sunday and was without water for an hour, and It actually happened one time when I was in the shower before work.

Someone else brought up the point about city sewer being available. I agree with them that that is much more important than water. We had to rebuild the septic at our old house. The leech field would leech no more, and we had to build a pressure-dosed (pumped) septic mound for about $15,000.

 

[tdenny]

hayseed,

Out west here water is plentiful - but also extremely expensive. Go figure it rains all the time and there are snow covered mountains (aquafers everywhere). I have a well in my new house and it was pretty expensive (15K including pumps, extra reserve tanks, filters) to put in. with that being said I would tell you I'd do it again in a minute. In our county you cannot have your own a well unless you own a minimum of 5 acres or are on a community well system. Government water regulations are getting extremely harsh which only adds to the cost.

If you have expansive lawns, gardens, plant life that you water excessively then the well would pay itself off over time and you would not be subject to any water restrictions that can and will be imposed. If you don't do alot of watering then the city water option would probably be best.

As it's been pointed out the city water is tested often and has a certain standard that it MUST meet. I also think that some additives (i.e flouride) are usually put in (at least around here). I'm not certain on this. I have tested our water supply a few times. In our case I don't do alot of watering (at least not the grass) but I am very happy I'm not subjected to the trials and tribulations of the local water district and its constantly rising prices.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Go directly to the municipal system. Do not pass GO. You'll be ahead by way more than $200. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Figure the costs of the city water. Ask your neighbors how much their water bills are. At our old hosue with city water, it was only about $12.00 for water per month average(sewage was extra). That's only $144.00 per year. 20 years would be $2880.00. What's the lifespan of the well equipment you are installing? Also, you have the advantage of the water being constantly tested. I don't want to get into the flouride debate(I'm pro flouride) as some people are against it and some aren't. If you have a well, and you have kids, your doctor will recommend flouride pills for the kids( another monthly cost ). Is the city water really that expensive? I know yours is going to be at least $35.00 per month, but go ahead and add it all up. Good luck /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[patrickg]

MossRoad, Egon, et al... Lots of good info and suggestions with only minor conflict. I too am in an area where there is no municipal sewage but will have rural water real soon now (they keep telling us). Lots of pros and cons. Our well water tested just fine (time to retest, again) and tastes terrific, way better than any city water I've tasted in years. Like Egon, I recommend a reverse osmosis unit for drinking water and cooking,if you are on municipal/rural water. Rural/municipal water will be treated, probably chlorine, and at best it will taste bad (to me at least). Some municipalities have reservoirs that get pretty rank with biologics and their products of decomposition. Safe to drink (after treatment) doesn't mean tastes good to drink but reverse osmosis and activated carbon/charcoal can make it the equal of anybody's bottled water.

Some drillers with experience in an area will offer a guarantee and or reduced cost if they have to go beyond their predicted depth or try a second hole. Depends on the reliability of the aquafer and experiene of the driller and local custom. A well can be great and it is your's not usually subject to terrorist threat or water rationing and a backup genny can be employed.

I have a well but am connecting to rural water. Our area is an old old oil field and wells are not always reliable due to early oil drilling practices (lots of brackish water around here where it was good water over 50 years ago). So far so good but I like to be belt and suspenders. I will have both available but not interconected (illegal). Everything is subject to change and rates are out of my control but supposedly the average water consumed by a familly of 4 will be $30 and the $30 will be your minimum whether or not you use a drop. Usage over that will cost extra. I expect folks to water a lot at the end of the month if they are under quota.

As I will be serviced by over 1/2 mile of 2 inch line (3/4 inch at meter inlet and outlet) from a 6 inch main. I anticipate that I may need a pressure tank with one way valve as with a well to get good pressure to house to be built. May plumb external bibs so I can select rural or well depending on economics etc.

In the final analysis both is better than either but is it economical? Prudent? I'm glad I'm not making your decision.

Good luck to you. Please let us know what you do and how it works out.

Patrick

 

[ejb]

I have a well and wouldn't tap into "city" water if you paid me...mine is the best tasting, cleanest water you'll find anywhere, better than any of the name brand bottled waters you might buy at the store...good knows what they do to most city water because everytime I taste it is disgusting...too much chlorine and everthing else.

I had wells for over 10+ years and never had a pump die, never ran out of water and never regretted it....

 

[Egon]

Forgot to mention that having city water available may reduce your house insurance.

ejb:
Unless you are tapped into a source of connate water[ in which case you could run out] your aquifier is fed from the surface somewhere. You are unable to contol the quality of this surface feed and what is excellent today may be useless tommorrow. Just for interest I have spent over 40 of my years on well systems.
For those who think wells are "Free Water" be prepared to start paying taxes on them as the demand for water increases and the aquifiers withdrawall rate exceeds the replishment rate.
My predictions as water is still our most precious resource.
Egon