Water Well dilemma

[ns_in_tex]

Thanks, everybody for the many thought provoking replys.

Answers to a few of your questions:

We do have plenty of water but shallow well & spring is iron water & we prefer not to use it in the house.

In addition to this we have a live creek and maybe a 15 acre lake that backs up possibly 2/3 acres on our place.

I think we could put a pump in & connect to our supply line for around 800.00. They drilled the well within 20' of our water supply line.

Operating cost estimate. 12 amp x 240 volt = 2.88 KWH x 10 hrs to pump 5000 gal x .075 per KWH = 2.16 per month power cost.

With an 8.4 PH, we wonder if the well water might be easier on our water pipes than the city water. It would be interesting to have the city water tested to see how it fares.

Our fence line is many places the city limits & we are outside the city, at least for now. We do not have city sewer at the present time.

We have replaced the pump in our iron water well, twice since 1968, the last time in 2002. Our thinking is, that in good water the pumps might last longer.

The thought of a car wash never crossed my mind. If we were a little younger, we might look into that. Now I think it might be more work & head aches than I want.

We really appreciate all the good thoughts.

 

[slowrev]

I would keep the city water for a number of reasons.

1. The well water is not free. It will cost you electricity to pump it, which may eat up all the savings from the water company.

2. The pump and plumbing will cost a fair amount. At $360/year it may take a decade or more to pay this off. Throw in the interest rate you could get by just leaving the money in the bank, the cost of electricity, and the cost of maintenance, and you are probably going to lose money on the deal.

3. The city water is going to be more reliable.

4. If you ever sell your place, being on city water is usually considered a plus by buyers.

We are not hurting for water, but it seems like a waste to have this well & not use it.

There are a lot of free things in the world that I just plain can not afford.

I would think about getting them to cap it so that I could use it in the future if necessary.

He is already on city water, so for future buyers it will be there.

City water systems can be compromised in quality or quantity, and when one suffers all suffer.
I like to have a backup and alternate when they have watering restrictions.

Spent 7 years in FL with watering restrictions....

 

[Unclebuck257]

OK, I'll add my 2cents worth on this one too.

I don't live far from Jinman and I have had a water well since I moved out here in 99. Here's a very real possible future problem I see for you, if you come off the city water system, especially with you saying they just drilled a gas well on your place.

Both Jinman and I live smack on top of the Barnett Shale, which is a very large natural gas deposit. As a result, the drilling operations in my county, Wise County, or any other Barnett Shale County, has really increased tremendously. So much water is being used at the present time by oil and gas for their drilling operations, and it is totally and completely UNREGULATED by anyone in Texas, that our Trinity and other Aquifers are being depleted faster than they can recharge themselves. At the present time, for example,the Trinity Aquifer is approx 100-125 feet lower than it should be, because of both the recent two year drought and certainly oil and gas drilling, from their unregulated usage of millions and millions of gallons of water used for drilling and fracing those wells. In some counties, people's private water wells have gone dry because of this.

Additionally, with all this drilling comes the concern of toxic polution of private water wells from seepage from the waste injection wells that oil and gas use to dispose of the water they use, after they drill or frac a well. This means, to be safe, constant water testing of your private water well, and that can get expensive too. Keep in mind that there are OVER 27 different kinds of deadly, toxic, waste in that water, after it is used to drill or frac a well, and oil and gas companies are pressure injecting that liquid toxic waste back into the ground at a rate of 30,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, 365 days a year, in most locations for a Commercial Injection Well. There have been a number of instances so far where that injected toxic waste migrated into other clean water supplies, totally poisoning them. Look up Penola County Texas if you doubt that statement, and the Rev David Hudson's fight. Also check out Chico, Texas ( Wise Co. Texas) and the injection well there that went bad in Jan 05. There are many other instances of these toxic waste injection wells going bad in Texas too.

If I were you, I'd stick with the city water for now and just cap off that water well, for use at a later time, if you would need it. It would be safer for you and your family right now and certainly a lot less expensive.

 

[ns_in_tex]

OK, I'll add my 2cents worth on this one too.


If I were you, I'd stick with the city water for now and just cap off that water well, for use at a later time, if you would need it. It would be safer for you and your family right now and certainly a lot less expensive.

OK, I think, the results are in:
Maybe: 6/7 for staying with city water, 2/3 for the well.
I guess that means stay with city water.
Also we won't have to worry about what mama thinks.

 

[deereguy]

Since you keep mentioning city water, I am assuming its not a county water system. Something to ponder (we are going thru this on a new (to us) farm), we have village (city) water and now they are trying to annex us into the village, this is an Ohio law that they CAN annex us. This is from the Clean Water Act enacted a few years ago. We are in the process of drilling a well and installing a new septic system and cutting off our city water from the farm. We don't feel a 150 acre farm belongs in a city--too many regulations!!

Good Luck!!

 

[ns_in_tex]

Since you keep mentioning city water, I am assuming its not a county water system. Something to ponder (we are going thru this on a new (to us) farm), we have village (city) water and now they are trying to annex us into the village, this is an Ohio law that they CAN annex us. This is from the Clean Water Act enacted a few years ago. We are in the process of drilling a well and installing a new septic system and cutting off our city water from the farm. We don't feel a 150 acre farm belongs in a city--too many regulations!!

Good Luck!!

Yes, this is city (11,000 population)water. We have 93 acres outside the city but inside the loop around the city & share a fence on two sides with the high school so I am sure it is just a matter of time until we will be in the city.

 

[dmccarty]

UncleBuck,

Good Info.

Its not only the oil companies that do this but city/county water systems.

Broward county in FLA dug a real deep well around 1990. Not to GET water but to pump treated sewage underground. The greenies did not want the treated water pumped in the gulf stream where it would be dilluted by trillions of gallons of fast moving ocean current. So it got pumped into a hole in the ground and who knows where it will pop out.

By the way, where does Broward county get its water?

From wells....

The waste well is much deeper than the supply wells and the two aqufiers don't connect. So they say.

Another water tid bit that I still can't believe. In the county in which Wilmington NC resides, land owners do NOT own the water under their property. Somehow that water is owned by a private company and you have to buy the water. This went to the State Surpreme Court years ago and the company won. I would love to her from someone if they can verify this. Its so outragegous that it cant be true.

Later,
Dan