digging a well

[trgore]

I am thinking of digging a well as a backup water supply. I have city water and I am somewhat in the city. Would I be able to get away with this? I am pretty sure when they hooked up my mom to city water and sewage they had someone cap her well.

 

[CathyInBlue]

That would be a function of the municipal ordinances. Find those for your city and search them for keywords like "well" "water" and "connect"

Here's the IC on the drilling regs.

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title25/ar39/ch4.html

Even those regs don't apply:

IC 25-39-1.5-3(a): IC 25-39-4 do[es] not apply to the following:
(1) A person who installs a well that:
(A) is for personal use; and
(B) is not greater than one and one-fourth (1 1/4) inches inside diameter and not greater than twenty-four (24) feet deep.

Also, here is the DNR's page on water wells.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/water/2457.htm

 

[trgore]

thanks for the info

 

[mrjarrell]

If you call a reputable well drilling company they should be able to tell you what you need to know.

 

[Clarity]

I looked into this in my community and learned that you CAN have a well, if it's purpose is to water landscaping/yard, etc. The systems are to be kept "separate." Otherwise, totally fine. Who is to say if you do a quick cross-connection in the event of an interruption, boil-order, etc.?

 

[cavakilla]

They want their waste water fee's... if you use well water they cant meter it. LOL

 

[CathyInBlue]

They want their waste water fee's... if you use well water they cant meter it. LOL

^^^ THIS ^^^

The primary reason for any municipality doing anything WRT ordinance writing is fees. Government, like business, is a self-perpetuating entity, and money is its life-blood. If you disconnected from muni waste water and potable water, they wouldn't care about what you do WITH you water, but they would care that they no longer have your fees and taxes as income.

 

[The Keymaster]

Some municipalities have taken this even further. The city of Valparaiso had many areas that were serviced by the city water system that were not annexed into the city. These areas were paying for city water and sewer, but were not paying the higher city tax rate. Over the last few years the city had launched a campaign to annex all properties that are served by city water and sewer. Not only do they want the water and sewer fees, but they want the taxes also.

There is one interesting sidebar to this story. I am aware of two areas in Valparaiso that have city water that the city refuses to annex. The reason for this is the streets in these areas do not conform to city standards, and the city feels that the cost to annex these areas is not justified relative to the tax revenue that will be received. It appears that those areas will continue to get the city water service, without paying city taxes.

I read in the paper this morning that he town of Kouts will be introducing legislation to weed out the rest of the water wells within the town limits. Those people within the town who's wells fail will have to pay several thousand dollars to tap onto the municipal water system. The town points out that the cost of the tap on is similar to the cost of drilling a new well. They fail to mention the ongoing cost of the municipal water service that these residents will incur forever.

 

[Blackdog765]

If you do a YouTube search on "Drill your own well" there is a helpful gentleman there with many videos on the topic. He has a website with a similar name. Keep in mind though that I believe he is in someplace like Florida, with very sandy soil and a pretty high water table.

The DNR site mentioned prior in this thread also has a link to an interactive map on wells that may be near you, and their reported depths.

 

[nate77]

How to Drill Your Own Water Well

I tried it with mixed results.

If you have clay, or sandy soil, it works great. If you live next to a gravel pit, not so much. I battled my way down to 14 feet through the gravel, before hitting a perfect sized rock that got stuck in my drill head. I tried to pull my pipe and remove it, but my pipe got stuck coming up, and came apart at the PVC coupler; I used short couplers, like the website author said not to do.

I went ahead, and sank my well screen, I get pretty good flow with a pitcher pump, when the water table is up, but it diminishes when the weather is dry. If I could have got that last 10 feet, I'd be golden, I might try again in the near future.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Matters not to me if you have a well outside of muni supplies...

But should you choose to consume that water, what will you do to ensure that it's potable?

Shallow water isn't necessarily good water, deep water isn't necessarily good water. Sulphery-smelling water isn't necessarily bad water.

Just feeding the lawn/flowers/garden - doesn't matter much. But what is upstream of your well matters a GREAT deal. (livestock farm...burying deceased animals in a pit on the "back 40", how many septic systems are upstream - and how many function correctly, ag. runoff, etc etc)

-J-

 

[trgore]

thanks for the information. I can see why the city does not want you to but I just want a back up for SHTF. I would use it now for the garden and maybe to wash the car. I have no intentions of hooking up to the house. I have seen the guy in Florida with the PVC method before. My soil has a lot of rocks so this method may not work. There are several gravel pits very close to me. So I know there are many rocks. I may try this method I could get lucky.

 

[nate77]

One tip, on the PVC method. If you have rock or gravel in the area, take the time to make a metal toothed drill bit. The PVC teeth won't last long grinding against rock.

 

[woodsie57]

Your best bet,laws or no laws, is do it and don't tell anybody- If it's not against the rules yet,it probably will be sometime in the future. My house has run from a shallow well since the late 30's,neighbor has county water,pays $60+ per month- he has more calcium and crap in his water than I do.