Re: Public water vs. well

[Cereoid-UR12-]

Plants always do best when well watered but that doesn't necessarily that they do best when watered from a well!!!!

Since you live in New Jersey, the toxic waste capital of the US, who knows what else is in your well water?

There is more than just bacteria content and chlorination to deal with. Have your well water tested for mineral content and toxicity before using it on the plants. If the mineral content with calcium and other metals and the pH is too high, it can damage your plants. Your local agricultural extension service can tell you what to do.

The ultimate decision is yours. Maybe you can flip a coin?

Dear fellow gardeners, > > Could you tell the amount that you are spending for watering your > garden? > > For gardeners using city water and sewer, could you estimate > annually how much you spend on watering the garden and how much extra > sewer fee because of that? > > For gardeners using well water, any idea how much does it cost for > the electricity of the pump and the maintenance of the well annually? > > The following is the dilemma that we are facing: > > We are building a house on about an acre of property in New > Jersey(zoned 6), currently there is a well on the property, we are > wondering if we should keep it for gardening purpose only . City > water is available at the property and the new house will be connected > to it. The well testing report shows that the well is ok, with no > Ecoli but has Coliform, so a simple treatment of Chlorine is needed. > The township allows us to keep the well but under the condition that > there is no plumbing going into the new house from the well, so we > need to build a well house outside for the water tank and the switch > for the pump. > > The cost to keep the well for irrigation for our case would be about > $4,200, which includes: > - Bring the well up to code(18" above ground) > - Building a well house > - Install new pump and water tank > - Lead the water and electricity lines from the well to the well house > - Chlorine treatment > > The cost to abandon the well would be about $1,200, from a certified > well sealer. > > Any opinion is greatly appreciated! > > Thanks. > > Foowah

[Warren]

Well, let's see. $1,200 to shut it down, or that same $1,200 plus another $3,000 to make it usable. And that doesn't count the electricity you would use to run the pump as you go.

You're in New Jersey, so let's say that you would be using the pump for, oh, let's say six months of each year. I have no idea what they charge you for water out there, so let's say you'd use $100 (because it's a nice round number) a month of city water. (Remember that there are fixed charges and usage charges on your water bill, and the fixed charges aren't part of this math.) That means it would take 30 months to recoup the difference. Toss in the electricity to round it up to 36 months, or six years for you to break even -- assuming no maintenance is needed on the pump.

If the amount of water usage charges are less than $100 a month, or if you don't need to keep it up for 6 months a year, or if I didn't allow enough for the electricity and other costs of running the pump (would you have to pay for annual inspections, for example?), and that six year estimate is too short. Maybe 10 years or more before it pays for itself. Now you're getting out into the range when you might have to start thinking about maintenance costs that'll take the break-even point out even further.

My gut feeling is that once you plug in realistic numbers for you, the break even point may be further out than you might live in the house, or at least far enough out that it may be a concern. But if there are other benefits, those may enter into the equation. As another poster mentioned, there is that risk that there are other problems with what's in the water, and you may not want to use it on your veggies or your lawn. Or maybe the city water may not be as good as the well water. So many other issues to consider.

But if you are just looking at the numbers, you may be better off asking your neighbors about their water bills. My round number could be very, very far off for your area.

[Pat Keith]

You could also just let it sit there unused. That costs nothing.

[Frogleg]

Too many variables. How large a garden? Growing what? Water rates? Electricity rates? Around here, water and sewer charges vary quite a bit from city to city, and even between 'flat fee' and 'actual use' areas. Also, in last year's drought, nearly all landscape watering was restricted, incl. by well water.

That is, there is little to be learned by comparing your (projected) use with a random sample. You're gonna have to sit down with a calculator and do the math for your own situation. One point: if the well is 'shut down,' can it be revived later after you have a better idea of your water use, etc.? After a couple of years, you should know roughly how much water *your* garden uses, how much it costs, and whether the investment would be worthwhile.

[Starlord]

I'm very lucky, the trailer park I live in has it's own water wells,(deep ones too) and the people living here do not pay for any water at all and I'm able to use all I want for my 300+ iris and my canna patch without worry.

-- "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

[dr-solo]

our city water comes out of the lake. I have yet to hear that there has ever been water restrictions, but that should be a consideration in keeping the well or not. Ingrid

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[Major Ursa]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

If taking city water is prohibited because of shortages, most times also taking ground water is forbidden. But I agree, it is a consideration.

One more thing: our city water during normal circumstances only is about

1.5 - 2 bar pressure. If the heat hits and ppl start to water their precious lawns the pressure drops to slighly above 1 bar (ie. it is coming out of the tap, instead of getting sucked in; but hardly so). It wil take a lot of time and planning to water your garden with that.

My pump otoh. produces between 5 and 6 bar pressure and can move about

5000 liters per hour. This makes life a lot easier under difficult circumstances.

Ursa..

[Lee]

4000 seems a bit enflated...

we didn't have a 'well house'.. just a pump house just big enough to protect the pump. very small cost.

should be most expensive part

why do you have to have a 'well house'??? you will need the electricity for the pump and we had a light bulb in the pump house which kept it from freezing in winter in zone 8..USA my neighbor here at my new place has a well and the little pump house is a bit higher than a chair and the faucet comes directly from it and she hooks her hose to it and does all the watering she needs. i know it is way less than 4' cube. it is about the right height and has a flat top she uses for potted plants.

if used for garden, why would you want chlorine??

like Ceroid says, all water is not pottable. it cost aroud $1500 (i think in our area )to have chemical tests for hazardous chemical/minerals etc. but it would probably pay in the long run if you did a lot of gardening. I think i would have it tested first before making a decision.

water is not going to get any cheaper unless the bottom totally falls out in our economy....a real depression like the 1930's... it will become more and more contaminated and more and more expensive to treat.. i have a 6 phase reverse osmosis treatment setup including UV and find that it is much cheaper than buying a case or two of bottled water every week for drinking. I have refused to go that rout of bottled water so having the RO i can still keep from buying bottled water and have pottabl water.!

like i said, my neighbor here has a well and if i did't have so many trees to disturb and such a tiny yard, i would too. love.... lee