water plans

oldstyle · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:16 pm Post subject: water plans

I live in the city, but have purchased land and in the process of developing it with a goal of moving out in the coming years.

My current decision point is water. I have spoken with some drillers in the area about wells and gotten some ballpark numbers. To go down 250-300 feet and put in a pump and small pressure tank is looking to be in the 6-7k range. Adding a modest pumphouse and its a little more. When I ask about solar or look at my own solar add-ons to their proposals everything goes north of 10-12k. ouch.

City water is newly available to me at the road however there is a 4k meter and piping conect fee to get the main down to my place. It sounds very tempting.

Here at my house we have rainwater collection for plant watering and this is likely something I will have no matter where I live for the rest of my life. Finally, I have a nice pond on the property, and like the idea of a DC direct pump for shallow well as an option. I might end up with this anyway for greenhouse use in the country and just consider a filter kit for emergencies.

What are some opinions from others on the approach of going with city water, having a rain collection process and planning a small shurflo or the like dc pump for plan B? Any obvious problems with this approach? Do you guys think the well is a necessity?

Ludi · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject: Re: water plans

I would mainly be concerned about the quality of city water.

We have a well, but of course can only rely on it as long as there is electricity, unless we put in an expensive PV pump system. We also have a number of rainwater tanks (total 8000 gallons capacity). A rainwater system should be adequate unless you plan to irrigate, in which case you will want the well or city water.

Remember your pond is not reliable in times of drought, unless it is on a permanent (not seasonal) creek.
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kpeavey · Expert Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 1321

City water is treated. The chemicals used to treat the water will build up in the topsoil if you use it to irrigate your crops. Then again, I do not know the condition of your ground water. City water also brings a monthly bill. I'd put this at the bottom of the list

Do Texas wells draw from the Ogallala Reservoir? If so, how long is a well expected to last with the current overdraft rate? With the investment in a well and solar or wind power to pump the water, you end up with no bill other than maintenance. The greatest advantage here is independence.

Rainwater harvesting keeps looking better all the time. The problem is dependability. More storage capacity is the answer there. Once you have the gutters in place, you can add on more capacity for the cost of a tank and some plumbing. The advantage here is the low cost of the system.

I would opt for the well/solar to get going with rainwater backup.
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kpeavey · Expert Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 1321

not enough coffee in me yet, I left out the pond.

Flowing water is the best, but a pond will do. Surface water is a tremendous advantage. It takes little energy to pump, is available in volume, the price is right, and offers catfish/trout/frogs and draw migratory birds. If livestock can access the pond, it saves you time in tending, but can add undesirable material. Using it to irrigate may bring a few extra weeds. Drinking the stuff would bring a need for purification, but this is as simple as a pot and a fire. In a crisis situation, its available as long as you can still crawl.

Further development of the pond as a water supply merits great attention.
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oldstyle · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:02 am Post subject: Re: water plans

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll answer what has been asked.

The city water is good, it has a clean report and is not heavily chlorinated. I have drank city water from this county and found it doesnt stink, is clear, and has almost no taste at all. It's fairly hard water but not as much as the well would be. For what it's worth the main piping is all brand new in my area. I do not know where it is stored, I have not seen a large elevated tank nearby,

A drilled well would be from the Yegua Jackson aquifer, which also has a clean bill of health. It also is not overused as I understand it.

The pond has withstood the drought from 2 years ago that hit Texas. It was way way down, but kept water in the deep end and kept the fish alive. Granted it was not being used for anything which would affect things. And that does not guarentee the strength of any future droughts either. There is a seasonal creek on the back of the property (heavily wooded) but I did not count it as it only has moving water during our rainy season. It keeps pools of water mostly year round but I wouldnt count on it. It is down about 40 feet in elevation from the pond and the pond has an overflow spillway that flows into it.

I do understand the point about getting a well means no bill. But with a cost difference of 7k my 20 a month bill comes out much cheaper for a long long time. Likely more than the expected life of a pump and solar batteries. While I have been saving for this for a long time, I am not made of money, if I spend it here it means other things cannot get done until next year. I would like to accomplish more.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

skyemoor · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:42 am Post subject: Re: water plans

Per Planning Forum Policy, please examine the Planning Topic Index at the top of the Planning Forum page before posting, as most times, existing threads will have answers to your questions there. If not, posting a question in that thread helps grow a knowledgebase, instead of having many hundreds of disjoint threads.

There are two water threads at the bottom of the index. Please ask away to your heart's content there.
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