Well water?

[Thor]

My well is 130+', the neighbors are 30' maybe a little more. I think our well was during a lean time for the driller who charged by the foot to our contractor. I know that if I took the pump out it would have flow rates and pressure that might break our plumbing because the plume coming out of the ground looked like they struck oil, about 10' with significant volume.

We did have issues with iron and hardness, we put in a whole house filter, an iron filter and a water softener which we run at max. It's still better than the city water we moved from.

 

[hoosierdoc]

You ran your well at a constant 120 psi? It is a wonder you had any pipes or fixtures left.

no, only when watering the 3 acres we seeded

 

[Clarity]

Hey by the way, if you put in your county you can run through the listings and find out what to expect for depth and get some inkling on water quality.
https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/dowos/WaterWell.aspx

This. Your county and well drillers should be able to gather data on surrounding wells. You may have to take a few extra steps to get the water quality where you want it, but if you are weighing against 15k for city water, you could take a lot of steps. And you might get lucky. My well is only maybe 160 feet deep, but can produce 19 gpm and has a hardness of 20 and no odor or solids. We use a reverse osmosis filter, but I've not yet had to change the filters or membranes after 3 years. We do soften everything, and rely on the RO to remove the salt. I'm a fan of wells, especially if you drill when building and can lump it in with your mortgage.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Our well water in ediburgh was fabulous. Ran it through a softener and RO for kitchen use also. Mmmm.....

 

[.458socomhunter]

+1 on the INDNR well database, used it to see how deep neighboring propeties were drilled.

Get several quotes. Once you get your well, get your water tested from a lab that can tell you as much as possible.

ISDH: Indiana Certified Drinking Water Chemistry Laboratories

That will help you decide on the level of filtration needed.

Two supply sites that I have used:

https://www.uswatersystems.com/

https://www.affordablewater.us/mobile/default.aspx

 

[Lex Concord]

Wasn't sure where to put this thread, figured this was as good a place as any...

Wife and I are planning on putting a small (<1000sq ft) cabin on our property in northern Clark Co. I'm investigating costs involved with hooking up to the local water & electrical utility, but using well water has been brought up to me multiple times.

Well water would be new to me, but I'm sure plenty of people here use it.

Anybody have a WAG what kind of well depth we might be looking at, as well as estimated costs for a well water system? Any significant gotchas? We would be using septic for waste.

Thanks!

Your best bet for estimating well depth would be to search the IN DNR and other well log databases online and see if you can find any logs for the nearby properties. Not a guarantee, but should give a decent SWAG.

I posted some links in a thread posing a similar question a few months ago... I'm just doing a quick drive by, else I'd track it down for you. The search function should find it.

Best of luck on the cabin and the well.

Depending on what you find, you may want to consider a DIY driven well w/ a hand hydrant for livestock/backup.

 

[fjw2]

I agree with other posters that say to check with neighbors. But it doesn't cost much to get a well point,driver, couplers,and a few lengths of pipe to see if you can get get sweet water at 25 feet that has the volume you need. Beyond that, get references for a good contractor for a deep well.

 

[woodsie57]

I've been running on a shallow well that was probably pounded into the ground in the 1960s - no bad taste or smell, never runs low. The well house sits downhill about 15 ft from the house elevation wise; you do lose pressure when you push water uphill- but no real complaints

 

[bigbaloo95]

The well we put in 2 years ago was a little under $4000cash. At 180 ft it is nearly double the old wells depth due to every neighbor running irrigation around here. Going deeper was the safe bet. Old one kept running dry in the summer.

 

[bobjones223]

Municipal water is about 3600' from my driveway, and then another 400'ish from there to the homesite; I've been given a WAG of $15k but have not yet consulted with a contractor to sharpen the pencil on estimated costs.

Ballpark of $5k for a well is certainly more palatable on the checkbook...assuming, of course, the water coming out is quality...

Ok I will chime in on this one!

Being in the excavation business if you can get a 3600' main extension and 400' of service line put in for $16K I would do it!!!

Just saying....you can't even buy the materials for $15K. Assuming a 6" main extension (because they will MAKE you provide hydrants and service for future connections).

To be totally honest with you I would think the main extension would run $250k! Your service line might be $15K

 

[avboiler11]

2" main extension, solely for my property (single home).

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

When my neighborhood was hooked up to a city water system, we were in the periphery of their service area. I had heard that there were "on-demand" pumps that would boost pressure in the system when needed during high usage times. Funny thing was, if I was taking a shower, the water pressure and volume was much better during the high use times, because those pumps would be on. If you took a shower during the middle of a weekday, the pressure was noticeably less. It doesn't seem like there would be enough pressure in a 3600 foot line without some kind of booster pump.

Also, the schools, being even farther out, had to have their lines flushed quite often. I think it was because the schools didn't use enough water to keep the water in the lines from stagnating. I would think that might also be a problem with even a 2-inch line that was 3600 feet long, especially if the cabin is not lived in all the time.

 

[bobjones223]

2" main extension, solely for my property (single home).

I still think $15K is cheap for that run.

Pipe is $2.00 per foot for 2" Polly Water line = $8K
Tracer wire $.30 per foot = $1,200.00
Connection to existing main +- $1,200.00
Blow Off at the end of your run +-$1,000
So we are at +-$12K and haven't even started digging, installing, and testing the lines yet. Good rule of thumb on water is the material costs are close to the labor/equipment costs.

 

[avboiler11]

I think a well is definitely the way to go for this project, both in terms of cost and water supply risk mitigation.

Now to figger out how to make it play nice with a septic system...

 

[bobjones223]

I think a well is definitely the way to go for this project, both in terms of cost and water supply risk mitigation.

Now to figger out how to make it play nice with a septic system...

I am currently looking at the Infiltrator rockless system for our new house. It doesn't use rock and takes up a lot less space than the traditional systems. Material costs are a bit more but you save it on the install. Also we are in a heavily wooded lot so I don't want to cut down a ton of trees.

 

[BuickGS]

My parents former home in Merrillville was built in 1958 and it had a well until they connected to the city water in 1980. The water was fill of iron. It stained the clothes, tubs, washing machine etc. Worst of all it smelled like ass. Im sure now the water could be treated but that was a long time ago. My home in Winamac has a shallow well which is a single line above ground pump in my basement. Granted im not living out there all the time (it was foreclosed and im fixing it) but it works when it needs to, smells ok, looks ok, and tastes ok. I have a new softener connected. On the shelf for future install is a new pump and whole house filter. The house came with a large pressure tank. In my reading bigger is better. Probably a 80 gallon tank but they are rated much more. Before I bought the place I asked the agent what the well water was like around there. If he says it sucks plan on city water if its avail or a deep well. My 2 nickels is this is a prepping forum so if both are available then get them if money allows. Once my parents connected to the city water the original well was left connected to the outside for watering. One last item I have a 120v plug on my well pump which connects to a switched outlet on the wall on its own circuit. If the power is out I unplug the well and plug it into a cord going to the generator onsite. I also have septic onsite.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

My 2 nickels is this is a prepping forum so if both are available then get them if money allows. Once my parents connected to the city water the original well was left connected to the outside for watering. One last item I have a 120v plug on my well pump which connects to a switched outlet on the wall on its own circuit. If the power is out I unplug the well and plug it into a cord going to the generator onsite. I also have septic onsite.

I agree with that. I'm glad that I have both city water and a good deep well. I'm not in a corporate area, so I kept my well after we hooked up to city water. I use it for watering my big garden when I run out of rain water. The one thing I don't have is a septic system, and I guess, if the SHTF I may have to make a quick-and-dirty system myself.

My well water does have a lot of iron, but I think that the little bit of bad smell was coming from the water heater, since I haven't noticed any in the years since I've only been using it for watering.

 

[longbow]

Wells are the way to go......plus a nice gen hookup if you can

 

[JDimitri]

To give some technical information, I was a water treatment operator in the state of Texas for some time. Groundwater is usually naturally filtered so there a miniscule need of disinfection. Where you are getting the taste issues are from the natural minerals that occur at that particular level underground that seep into the water. Usually you can find a soil chart, or if necessary, send in a sample to the soil conservation agency for analysis. Using a softener is a good way to reduce some minerals, but also increases your salt intake. If you have to watch your salt intake, then be warned of this. Unless you want to use a reverse osmosis system after the softener to reduce the salt in your water as well. The other things to consider, as it was partially pointed out earlier in regards to septic system. Make sure you have proper distance from other potential hazards that might seep into the well water supply and to make sure that when covered that it will not have outside influences from the surface getting into your well system.