Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:53:30 -0400:
I always wondered how much of that lost fuel mileage you get back on the downhill drive, which is done essentially in neutral for the entire 5 miles.
I realize it won't exactly cancel out, but, essentially you get 100mpg (or whatever) on the downhill drive; while you probably get something like half your city mpg on the uphill climb.
trader_4 wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 04:54:16 -0700:
I just found out that the divorced lady who has run out of water is sharing the well with the lady whose husband recently died. They have separate tanks, so, it's just a matter of time before the second lady has the problem.
Both have young kids, and not much by way of finances (other than the huge illiquid equity presumed to be in the homes). The plan, I'm told, is to drill deeper (but that plastic vs steel casing may be an issue).
Luckily, the divorced lady has her ex to back her up, so I think the plan is to cut the single mother a break, at least until the home is foreclosed on (which takes about a year). It's currently up for sale, but there are no takers that I know of.
It's hard to help them, as I'm out of my league when it comes to this stuff, having never owned a home with a well before the current one, and, well, when the well works, it just works. So I don't know much more about it other than watching the little block of wood go up and down.
which side of San Jose is this neighborhood?
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:05:11 -0400:
I'm *not* by any means an expert. So, what I tell you is just what I happen to observe or hear.
In "my" case, I have two wells. I don't remember what the initial inspection said of the depth, but the good well is about 400 feet deep, and the bad well is shallower. The good well produces water enough to keep my 10,000 gallon tanks full, but I don't use much water at all. In fact, I prefer to pee outside, for example, assuming it's good for the environment (and nobody can see me doing it!).
For "my" two wells, one can't run more than two or three minutes (or maybe not even that) before shutting down, even in the late winter. The other well, the deeper newer well, can run for ten minutes or longer in the late winter, but right now, it's cycling every three or so minutes also. So, we all know what that means.
However, *most* of the neighbors are not complaining, yet one has a well which (she claims) is a thousand feet or more deep! (I find that hard to believe). Another just told me he had a well drilled which is 500 feet deep. There are vinyards here, so, they *must* be using a lot of irrigation water (although most have a run-off collection system for interring the winter rains underground).
The main ones with the problem are the two single moms, who have at the moment, what I'm told is a "dry" well. It may just be that the two of them are both renting out portions of their households, so, their water load is too much for the one well (I don't know), but, at the moment, the concerns are more prophylactic than dire (at least for me).
With 40-acre zoning out here, nobody is going to build any more houses, so, we have to make do with what we have right now.
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:05:11 -0400:
This is good information to think about, as the main intent is to plan ahead about our options, if the drought continues in force.
We can rest assured there will be no rain until about November, but, after that, we won't know what will happen.
Another year of no rain would be telling.
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:26:30 -0400:
I don't think code allows inground tanks.
They're all above ground.
I've never seen a single tank, and most have clusters of two or three.
Most of the people around here have their water trucked in from the water plant in town about 20 miles away. I believe they get about 2000 gallons for $70 or $80.
I have a 200 gallon tank on my 1/2 ton. I go into town once a week, mail, groceries etc and pick up 170 gallons costing $2 and change. (prepaid card) That water is used for all our household needs. We practice water conservation to help stretch the supply. Don't flush after every leak, turn the shower off while soaping down. Not an overly inconvenient lifestyle and as I see it the truck pays for itself. Depending on the amount of company we get on the weekends I generally need to bring in a load three weeks out of four. We live on a riverbank so irrigating the lawn and garden is not a problem but I don't use any river water in the house.
LdB
HomeGuy wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:53:43 -0400:
Oh oh!
While I have almost a full tank of water, my well situation is (apparently) much worse (for me) than I had thought it was!
So, I just shut down all the circuit breakers, and will give the pumps a half hour or more to "rest", and then I will turn each pump on, to time how long they last.
I am not the expert, but, I think the well runs dry every day all day. I only go out there when there is a problem, but, for example, my main well wasn't pumping anything when I just cycled it, and my old well ran for just a few seconds (barely enough to spin the water meter a tenth of a revolution).
I'm not climbing up right now, but, I *have* looked into my tanks, and, yes, it's rusty and spidery in there. But we drink the water all the time, and, AFAIK, there is no filter.
Yes.
- House
- Sprinklers
- Pool
While I have one of the smallest houses here, my pool is almost
40K gallons, and their are almost 200 sprinkler heads, so, that's an appreciable amount of water. When the sprinklers turned on earlier this week, they drained the tanks, so, that's another homeowner task I have to figure out why that happened.
Don't know. I'd dare to guess you will go through rear axles and transmissions at rapid rate. Rented truck might be best.
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:39:45 -0400:
I'm no expert, but I can see the wharf hydrants at *every* home. Here's mine, for example:
Plus, since we're in the most extreme fire hazard zone there is in California, there's always a helicopter flying around which can't but help notice the pool:
However, pool or no pool, it's my understanding every home is required to reserve a huge portion of the bottom of their water tanks, I believe, for that wharf hydrant.
For example, here's the bottom of "my" tank with the fire reserve marked off at some point years ago where the outflow shuts off:
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:39:45 -0400:
I don't know how much water most people use, but I emptied both my tanks a few times this past month to the point that the water completely shut off to the house (it just dribbled out the faucet).
It's actually a slightly complicated system, where this little block of wood determines my fate.
If I can "see" the block of wood, that's bad. If it goes over a certain line, the water shuts off. When it goes below another certain line, the water shuts off.
My fate is determined by a little yellow block of wood! :)
trader_4 wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 04:58:29 -0700:
I only called Hertz in San Jose: Hertz Equipment Rental 408-451-9320 (1695 N. 1st St, near SJC airport) Because I just was running a quick survey for the neighbors.
Given the fact the Fire Department idea is a better idea, that seems like a reasonable approach to take if it works.
Also, the fact that water tanks on the move are "baffled" was entirely new to me, as I wouldn't want an unbaffled tank to throw a pickup truck off the cliff (the roads are very windy).
I like the idea of drilling deeper, but, of course, that's an expensive (albeit more permanent) option.
But, what's worse, all of a sudden, is that I found "my" wells weren't working. I've had the circuit breakers all off for about an hour and a half, so, I'll test the flow soon.
Pico Rico wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:27:42 -0700:
The mountains with the trees!
You just need to make sure the tank is full. A full tank will not slosh very much if at all. You also want the lowest and flattest tank that will fit to keep the center of gravity as low as possible.
Jim Rusling wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:14:27 -0500:
This is the kind of advice, that, (a) isn't obvious, and (b), if you don't know it, can win us a Darwin award.
So I greatly appreciate the tidbit, because I hadn't even thought of the sloshing until it was mentioned.
trader_4 wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 04:59:41 -0700:
I wasn't even thinking about it. Sorry if that offended you. I merely was replying, and adding pictures, and cutting and pasting, and running outside to snap a picture, and then replying back, etc.
You must admit that I'm trying to be responsive.
What happens sometimes is that I lose my train of thought, and, that, with the pictures and details, the replies go deeper than most, so, it helps to break down the response into multiple posts.
I'll try to keep *all* yours together though, if it bothers you.
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:42:12 -0400:
We all have "wharf hydrants" on our property for the FD.
This is mine:
BTW, since "my" tanks seem puny at (much?) less than 5,000 gallons (I think, based on the writing on these pipes today):
I started looking for the unincorporated Santa Clara County code, but, so far, I only found this, which intimates 10,000 gallons is pretty normal:
If the calculations on my pipes is correct, then I only have a dismally puny 3,094 gallons + 1,446 gallons = 4,540 gallons
CRNG wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:37:08 -0500:
I suspect that, as long as the water tanks & wells meet the code of unincorporated Santa Clara County, then the property values are not adversely affected.
But, I never understood property values anyway, as houses in the Silicon Valley that are literally a postage-stamp POS habitually go for well over a million dollars.
Googling for the relevant residential water tank storage standards, I see a chart on page 4 of this local Fire Department PDF:
This document says that the second tank (which is required) is for the fire department, but I don't think mine is hooked up that way (I'll snap some pictures separately):
Page 6 of this document says I must connect the tanks by 4-inch steel pipe, which is what I have currently connecting them:
Stormin Mormon wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 07:48:53 -0400:
I am positive that almost every house here has BIGGER and MORE tanks than I do, but, I just looked at mine, and I seem to have only a puny 5,000 gallons! :(
This document seems to apply to homes with their own water supply:
It says: a) You must have at least 2 tanks (which I do), b) The 2nd tank is for the hydrant (which I don't think mine is) c) The minimum for my size home is 10,000 gallons (mine is apparently not!)
That document provides the rules on the wharf hydrant, so, I was correct that at least one hydrant must be on *every* property (even if they share a well like some of my neighbors apparently do).
So, I think I only have half the water I'm "supposed" to have, since any decently sized home has to have 10,000 gallons and mine, based on my look today, are only half of that.
But, the more disturbing thing is that my tanks don't seem to be plumbed for one-for-the-house, the-other-for-the-hydrant.
Mine seems to be the top half is for the house, and the bottom half is for the hydrant.
I'll snap pictures to show you after I run the test on the well where the wells have been turned off for a couple of hours now. (I'm going to time how long they run before drying up.)
LdB wrote, on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:53:05 -0500:
I was quoted $3,800 for 38,000 gallons of water by this outfit: Franks Water Service, 408-353-1343
So, out here, it's $200 for those 2,000 gallons, which is more than double what you pay, you lucky guy!
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