Coffee anyone ?

[Alaskan]

Right on both counts.

But, you want to talk money . . . .

Our house stands maybe 50 yards from the ends of two streets. When we built the house (20+ years ago), both streets had their own little "package systems," both of which were maxed out on the number of homes they could support (or at least, that's what we were told), so we couldn't hook up to either one. Nonetheless, we were charged a hookup fee, even though we had to put in a well.

Over the years, the county took over the package systems and connected them to the county-wide system. At different times and for various reasons, we have put feelers out about getting connected, and have come to the conclusion that they really don't want to bother for just one house. Hubby inquired again, and was told that the distance is too great for the water to maintain reasonable pressure on the usual size of pipe that they use for connecting a house, so they'd have to extend the main from the street (weird; we've run a 3/4" hose from the neighbor's house to ours to have water during this mess, and the pressure is fine), price tag, $60,000. Doesn't that sound like "go away, and stop bothering me," to you?

So yeah, we are drilling a new well.

How deep is your water table?

And did I miss how/why the last one failed?

 

[Bunnylady]

How deep is your water table?

And did I miss how/why the last one failed?

Oh, boy ... .

Being close to the coast, we have a "perched" water table that is only a couple of feet below the surface. That, of course, is "surface water;" can't use that for a residence (too easily contaminated).

We have two aquifers that are reasonably close to the surface here, the Castle Hayne Aquifer and the Pee Dee Aquifer. The Castle Hayne Aquifer is so close to the surface and has historically had such good pressure, it has supplied an artesian well downtown for decades. Originally, our well had a static level 12 ft below the surface. A few years ago, the county drilled a number of wells in the woods behind our house for the county-wide system, and when they started pumping, it dropped our well's static level below 25 feet, and our well ran dry. Fortunately, our plumber could re-rig for a deep set up, so we had water again. About 5 years ago, that well's casing became so porous and rusty (we have highly organic and very acid soil), we had to replace the well, and the fly-by-night operation that we hired left us with no end of problems. It wasn't long before the foot valve failed, so every time the power went off to the pump, it lost the prime. One of the most frequent causes of power loss was tripping the circuit breaker, which might happen once in 6 months or 3 times in the same day. At some point, I started noticing that the water sometimes looked a bit milky, and would see a whitish sediment on the bottom of the water troughs. There's more, lots more, but most recently, though the pump was running constantly, it couldn't create enough pressure to shut the switch off. When we finally got the plumber out here to fix it, he discovered that the little gadget at the bottom of the deep-well set up had a hole in it, but even with that fixed, and the pump working perfectly, the well could only produce 3 to 4 gallons per minute. So he said, "dude, you need a new well."

Because we are close to the coast, well water is considerably less than the best. Our water softener gets most of it, but there is iron, sulfur, and lime in the water (the porous rock layer is limestone, and yes, there are lots of little caves down there). Sometimes, during drought or conditions of heavy usage, the wells at the beach get salty; it's possible that at some point in the future, our water may no longer be drinkable, too. But for right now, we have water again.

 

[Alaskan]

Oh, boy ... .

Being close to the coast, we have a "perched" water table that is only a couple of feet below the surface. That, of course, is "surface water;" can't use that for a residence (too easily contaminated).

We have two aquifers that are reasonably close to the surface here, the Castle Hayne Aquifer and the Pee Dee Aquifer. The Castle Hayne Aquifer is so close to the surface and has historically had such good pressure, it has supplied an artesian well downtown for decades. Originally, our well had a static level 12 ft below the surface. A few years ago, the county drilled a number of wells in the woods behind our house for the county-wide system, and when they started pumping, it dropped our well's static level below 25 feet, and our well ran dry. Fortunately, our plumber could re-rig for a deep set up, so we had water again. About 5 years ago, that well's casing became so porous and rusty (we have highly organic and very acid soil), we had to replace the well, and the fly-by-night operation that we hired left us with no end of problems. It wasn't long before the foot valve failed, so every time the power went off to the pump, it lost the prime. One of the most frequent causes of power loss was tripping the circuit breaker, which might happen once in 6 months or 3 times in the same day. At some point, I started noticing that the water sometimes looked a bit milky, and would see a whitish sediment on the bottom of the water troughs. There's more, lots more, but most recently, though the pump was running constantly, it couldn't create enough pressure to shut the switch off. When we finally got the plumber out here to fix it, he discovered that the little gadget at the bottom of the deep-well set up had a hole in it, but even with that fixed, and the pump working perfectly, the well could only produce 3 to 4 gallons per minute. So he said, "dude, you need a new well."

Because we are close to the coast, well water is considerably less than the best. Our water softener gets most of it, but there is iron, sulfur, and lime in the water (the porous rock layer is limestone, and yes, there are lots of little caves down there). Sometimes, during drought or conditions of heavy usage, the wells at the beach get salty; it's possible that at some point in the future, our water may no longer be drinkable, too. But for right now, we have water again.

Night. Mare.



I think here a well has to be 20 feet deep to be legal... and our well is 25 feet deep...or is it 32?

Whatever...shallow.

But just a bit north and east of us everyone's wells are well over 100 feet deep!

Well water..... crazy complicated stuff.

The issues in our neck of the woods are coal pockets all over the place, and the jillion earthquakes. Each earthquake has the potential to collapse a well or shift the water about.

So sorry you are having water issues... always stressful.

 

[thistlebloom]

I hope your bill is less than you expect. That's real tough.

Around here wells are generally over 600' feet deep. Many years ago when dh and I were young marrieds our rented house shared a well with our landlords. It was 3gpm and went dry every fall, so we hauled water for a few months. We really learned how to conserve water there and I never took it for granted again.

 

[Alaskan]

Here when a well slow producer, people usually put in a tank...so the well can slow fill it all night.

But yes, running water is NICE.

I hated having to wash dishes with hauled water.

 

[promiseacres]

Coffee is on.
@Bunnylady I sure hope that your new well works for a long time.
Sounds a bit frustrating.
DH didn't have to work today but went to our church to help record the pastor's sermon for tomorrow. I need to get groceries but not sure how or when... DH may have to go after he goes to his Grandpa's place. We trying to keep the kids out of public places.

 

[Bunnylady]

Thanks for the coffee, @promiseacres

Kids, bless 'em - they seem to catch everything, don't they? You can tell them and tell them not to touch anything, but keeping them home is the best way to avoid exposure.

Night. Mare.

We really learned how to conserve water there and I never took it for granted again.

People who just turn on the tap and there it is really have no idea, do they?

As painful as this has been financially, this may actually mean we sleep better at night. No joke - at odd times during the day, or if someone woke up at night, we might go turn on a spigot just to see if there was water. Power failures for the usual reasons have meant that someone had to scamper out and start the generator and switch the pump over (quickly, before the pressure goes and the water drains out of the pump), or at minimum, go throw the switch in the pump house so the pump wouldn't burn itself out if the power came on when nobody was around to notice (no water to cool it, remember).

And I hear the gov't has moved tax day to mid-July. That gives us a little bit of breathing space; got a sunny start though rain possible later with a high in the 70's - a day with lots of potential!

Have a great day, y'all!

 

[Bruce]

The feds have moved tax day, now for both filing and paying, originally it was just for paying. But I don't know that the states have followed suit so one should check on that before they decide they have an extra 3 months.

$60,000. Doesn't that sound like "go away, and stop bothering me," to you?

So yeah, we are drilling a new well.

Wells here run about $10/ft, most are 100' to over 300'. Of course that doesn't include the price of the pump or wiring. Still, even at 300' that is a lot less than $60K

Plus your well won't keep jacking the price per gallon on you every year. To my knowledge the well at our house (125') has been in operation since 1979 with the original pump. Replacing the pump would be IIRC about $1,300. At the prior house there were no meters. 80 house neighborhood well and city sewer. The water cost was about $70/quarter thus 28 feet of well per year Wouldn't take to many years to pay for a well. The sewer was $112/quarter and was based on the number of bedrooms.

Of course you do have the issue of proximity to the ocean and brackish water plus all the "elements" in your water. Hopefully the people you got this time do the job right.

 

[WolfeMomma]

Good morning everyone, Coffee is on. Hope you are all doing well

 

[promiseacres]

Thanks @WolfeMomma slept in a bit... got the NZ does bred.