Water Well dilemma

[ns_in_tex]

Here is my situation:

Our household water is from the city water system which comes from the Sabine River & cost us 25 to 30.00 month. We normally use about 5,000 gal per month.

We have a shallow well which will produce maybe 8 gpm, 24/7, for livestock & other uses.

We have a spring which produces 4 gpm, 24/7, and storage of maybe 30,000 gal. for lawn sprinkler system.

They have drilled a gas well on our place and in the process drilled a water well to drill the gas well with. When they are done they will pull their pump & we can have the well if we want to use it.

Water well was drilled 540' deep
160' of screen casing
They installed a 7-1/2 HP pump at 360' depth for them to use.
I think it was producing about 30 gpm at the 360' depth.

I am thinking I may want to install a 1-1/2 or 2 HP pump & get off city water, but my better half, doesn't like the idea.

So far we have found:
40 PPM Calcium (we think this is soft water)
400 PPM Chloride ( is this salty enough to be a problem)
8.34 PH
Total Coliform = 2 per #/100 ml (they recommended treating well with clorox)

I would probably purchase & install the pump, pipe, & electrical, myself, which might help keep cost down, and do any maintenance. I am 69 yr old & think the wife may be thinking she might be caught someday without a water well man.

We are wondering if the well water might be as good, or maybe better than the city water. (boy, that sabine river looks nasty in our area)

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

We would really like any ideas and information which would help us in making the best decision.

 

[thingy]

Just shows you how the world turns,,,I would love to have piped in city water,,alls I got is a well,with iron and just a hint of sulpher,,they never will be any city type water where I live. Sounds like you got plenty o water though with out the well,,maybe if the spring or well water you do have is real good,,you could just tie it in to your kitchen,,for drinking and cooking? thingy

 

[CurlyDave]

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.

 

[Kubotasrking]

They installed a 7-1/2 HP pump at 360' depth for them to use.


I am thinking I may want to install a 1-1/2 or 2 HP pump & get off city water

hmmm...it seems strange that they would even bother w/ pulling the pump. If they left it, the ROI just might beat current interest rates that CurlyDave points out in his post. Interesting question...I would do something w/ the well.

 

[Egon]

I'd go with Dave's advice.

Just switching the well head over to home use could be a fair cost.

 

[jinman]

Hmm...Neal, have you ever thought about opening up a car wash?

You have lots of water, but I'm guessing you don't have public sanitary sewer. Is the water provided by a city or a private company to the city? Has it been reliable? Does the city not have ordinances that all residents must use their water? Is there a public sewer planned?

There are just "tons" of questions and issues to make your decision. I love being independent and having my own water supply, but it did cost me over $5,000 to install the well and it could cost much more at any time since it is over 6 years old.

By your description, I think I'd just cap the well and keep it as a backup for future needs. You have all the water you need currently at a very good priice. I'm not sure I would want to change things in your situation. Since your wife has doubts, I think that would sure seal the deal for me. After all, you are really "wasting" that well, you are just saving it. You tested the well water, but have you ever tested the Sabine River water you are currently drinking? That could also be a decision maker.

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree with Dave 100%, but would like to add a few thoughts.

Water provided by a Public Utility, regardless of who it is falls under guidlines that require it to be safe. It's highly treated, filtered and purified. In almost every case, it's much, much cleaner than bottled water. The people who maintain and operate the water systems are qualified and knowledgeable. It's a 24/7 operationg with constant testing.

There is no way that an individual can get water from a well to even come close to what is provided for you from a Water Utility.

$30 a month is cheap compared to what it will cost you to provide your own water, maintain it and then try to get it clean.

Eddie

 

[dmccarty]

Water from a utility is usually good water. Usually. Well water is usually good water. Usually.

The city I work in is having problems with its water. The Feds seem to be about to fine them for not testing the water correctly. Part of the mess is that some chemicals used to treat the water can leach lead out of older pipes. There have been some homes tested with pretty high levels of lead.

There have been major outbreaks in city water supplies that have sickened thousands and killed dozens. The city I used to live in had an issue where it appeared someone did not have a back flow valve and polluted the water main. Lots of people where boiling water for a week or so. Seem like this happens not infrequently.

I don't have the option of city water and I don't want it. It is nice to not have to worry about loosing power and thus not having water but I was paying at least $50 to $75 a month for water when we where in the city. Sometimes as high as $125. And that was at cheaper rates than what they have today. The city has since upped the charges for water with a graduated plan. Its one of these things where you pay a small amount for the first couple thousand gallons. Then you pay more for the next few thousand and so on. This was sold as a way to save water. I'm sure it was but it will turn into a revenue generator over time.

We had a wee small garden last year and want a bigger one this year. What I'm reading says we would need 1,000-1,200 gallons per week for the garden we want to plant this year. If we did not have rain it would easily be 4,000 gallons we would have to water. In the city that would be at least $20-30 extra on the bill. IF I could water in the first place.

Our well is 15 gpm and I think the pump only puts out 5 gpm so in theory we can run the well dry. I still wish we had a way to store rain water from the roof. I roughly figured that a heavy 1 inch per hour rain would give us about 1,500 gallons. But that is only one week of garden water! We would need a huge cistern to store the water. I'm am getting a drip system. Looks like for $50-100 I can get a starter drip irrigation system.

Given that you are on city water already you might as well stay given the rates being charged. You might not even be able to switch off the water main anyway. In my old city they would not ALLOW you to drill a well. If you had a well you hooked up to the water supply and disconnected from the well.

Later,
Dan

 

[RC51Boomer]

Just to add- if you go well water, 2-3 years you will have to start changing all the facets in the house or purchase a large water softner. I pay the electric company $24 a month for the well alone. :-(

 

[N80]

I've been on a well for 10 years. Hate city water. Reeks of chlorine to me, even when others don't notice it. I've spent virtually nothing to maintain my well. A pump is cheap. Transferring from city line to pump is simple.

Having said that, your water bill is lower than many municiple systems and you haven't voiced any complaints about it. So I'd keep it as well.

Put one of those hand operated pitcher pumps on your water well. Looks quaint and will be a nice resource when the terrorists, Russians, Hillary, Chinese or 4 Horsemen of the Apocolypse bring us down.

 

[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