We are about to start building our house which sits about 1000' from the road. We have city water available but are looking into having a well. I am told that the iron content is high in the area but folks on that street were on wells before the city water came in about 7-10 years back.
We are considering a well since a water line from the street back to the house will be very long, cross two creeks (one is rather large) and be in heavily wooded area. The lot is 7 acres and densely wooded except for what we have taken out for the driveway and house. I forsee a lot of problems with 1000+ feet of pipe near all the trees/roots.
Can high iron water be treated at the well/pump somehow to correct this? What are the prolems with high iron content? Is it unhealthy or foul tasting? We will be talking to folks in the business very soon and will get their opinions but I thought I would throw this question out to you guys.
Questions on the city water line: Do you get freezing temps out there requiring the line to be deeply buried? What is the normal city pressure (PSI) at the street?
If deep burial is not needed AND city pressure is high (~80 psi) I would at least consider it. A trenching "plow" can bury plastic pipe quite rapidly. Maybe even consider a no-trench boring machine service. The creeks will need special consideration and design. The line will need to be over-sized to keep pressure drop reasonable.
Iron in the well (I'm *not* a well expert), can be filtered with a large sediment filter, then treated by a softener, and finally perhaps a chlorinator.
Besides the discoloration issue, iron bacteria (GOOGLE that) create a smelly situation.
I live in a similar situation, but a little over twice as far from the city water. If your local water company is like ours, you'll have to get a paper signed by them allowing you to have a drinking well - they try to force you to use city water if they can. I have no idea of what is considered the minimum distance you can be from the water line and not have to connect - probably varies from company to company and the creeks may be a consideration also. The local company here said that since I have road frontage, where the water line is, I would have to hook up and didn't want to sign off until I made them look at a plat to see where the house was located in relation to their pipe, so be prepared to do so.
Before you start construction, if you're planning on copper water pipes, find out what the pH is of the well water in the area - the locals or the local well drilling company should be able to tell you. Here it is acidic due to dissolved CO2 and corrodes copper pipes pretty quickly. I had planned on copper plumbing, but changed to CPVC instead because of this.
Using a filter (I use whole house filter) with carbon will help remove some iron - problems depend on exactly how high the iron content is . Iron will give a metallic taste to the water. It can cause brown staining in tubs, sinks and toilets. It isn't particularly bad for you, could save having to take supplemental iron if you're anemic.
Here's a list of what the Extension Service checked when I had my test done in '97, including any maximums in effect at that time. Following it is an explanation of the letters on some items:
Element EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (ppm except lead)
Aluminum No Standard Boron No Standard Cadmium 0.01 (P) Calcium No Standard Chromium 0.05 (P) Copper 1.0 (S) Iron 0.30 (S) Magnesium No Standard Manganese 0.05 (S) Molybdenum No Standard Nickel No Standard Phosphorus No Standard Potassium No Standard Sodium No Standard Zinc 5.0 (S)
Lead (parts/billion) 15
The letter (P) beside an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level indicates that EPA has established a primary drinking water standard for this element. These are elements which have been shown to cause adverse health effects. The letter (S) indicates that EPA has established a secondary drinking water standard for this element. These elements are not generally considered threats to health, but can cause nuisance problems such as staining, tastes or odors.
-------------------------------------------- Iron fits into the stain and taste categories, but I understand that iron bacteria (harmless to humans) can cause sulfurous smells.
My best advice is to ask the locals what they do to reduce the iron (if anything) and request a glass of water to see if you like the taste/smell. What really matters is if YOU like the water and how much staining you get (and are willing to deal/live with) from the minerals (not limited to iron). Minor staining is easy enough to control in sinks and tubs - there are treatments that can be put into toilets that claim to stop staining also, but I don't use them (have cats which occasionally drink from the toilet) so I dunno if they work or not.
Couple of other things to consider. Since you're so far from the water line, probably means you'll be on a septic tank.
I recommend that, if you can afford it, you go with a larger tank than is recommended by the local authority to allow for possible future expansion and less frequent pumpouts. I say this based on the recommendation of the fella that pumped my dad's tank when I asked him about house/tank size (was before I started construction on my current house) - he said to go with the largest tank you can afford, but I think that could be overkill, depending, of course, on what you can afford . I went with 500 gal over the recommended size, and when I had it pumped after 7 years (no problem, preventative maintenance), the fella said to call him back in about 12 years unless I just liked spending money every 7.
About toilet treatments (and cleaning products in general) - you need to watch what chemicals (and how much bleach from cleaning/laundry) you put in there to keep from killing the bacteria that break down the waste. A larger tank helps dilute the chemicals - another reason to go with a larger tank.
Hope I've been of help. If you have any questions, drop me a line and I'll be happy to answer them if I can.
Later, Mike (substitute strickland in the obvious location to reply directly)
Before investing aniy time/money in a well, check to see if you will even be allowed to put one in. Many places do not allow them after municipal water is available. 1,000 ft and a couple creeks looks to me like grounds for a variance if the powers thiat be object to a well though.
Hi, I have a cabin which is on my own well as well as communal government approved well. If I were you, it's no brainer, I'd go for the city water. Once the pipe is run, that's it. I wouldn't want to deal with on going upkeep of the well water for your family's health and appliance and plumbing.
Check on WHERE your responsibility for the pipes/pressure ends for the city and starts for you. If it's at your meter/street shutoff, near the house, it's the city's worry.
With a well, it'll be safe water or you wont' get a potability certificate for it. A little taste you get used to. Also, the cost/maintenance of a well might pay for a LOT of fixes to city-connected piping; it's expensive to drill; how deep will they need to go? You pay by the foot drilled as a rule. Also check to see if you'll have apenalty for using city sewers but not city water - inj some places it can make quite a difference, so you might end up wanting a septic, too at another
There are at least two possible types of "iron"...
The first is ferric oxide...iron particles (rust, actually) that can be filtered.
The second is ferrous oxide which is black. Normally, it is in solution and invisible (and cannot be filtered) but when the water is exposed to air it converts to ferric oxide and stains fixtures, clothes and the like. A regular soft water unit is helpful in removing it if there isn't a lot in the water; if there is, you'll need a unit just for that purpose...they use potassium permanganate.
AFAIK, neither is unhealthy. Most water that is foul tasting/smelling is water with hydrogen sulfide, not iron.
True, but not exactly rare "estimated 1 in 8 people as "silent carriers" and 1 in 100 to 200 people with the full blown disease" Source:
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I know it won't cause it, but if you are in the risk group it sure could tip the balance
Most people who have it don't even know they have it. Just pointing out a possible side effect, I know 4 people who have it. It has only been screened for the last few years, and then only by doctors who are aware of it.
Today our electric power was restored after a 43 hour outage. We had our city water and gas water heating. The house got warm but with flashlights we stayed there okay. In our previous house we had a well. No electric no water. Time in the house was limited to how much water we managed to get in the tubs before the storm and still no showers. Municipal water is reliable and usually pretty safe. Oh and someday you'll need a new well pump.
The cost of my water/sewer is not much more than the maintenance of a well and septic system. There will always be exceptions on both side, but my sewer has never had a problem and I know of people that spent $10,000 to have a new leach field put in when the septic system failed.
In some places, you have no choice if water and sewer are on the street. You must hook up.
Thanks everybody for all the good input. Seems that I have some homework to do. Also, I said "city water" but it is actually county (Henry county, GA), and we are zoned RA if that makes any difference as to whether or not you are required to hook up. No neighborhood assoc. either.
There is no sewer or gas service. We are planning on getting a tank for gas though. So the only utilities coming in are electric (which will be partially areial and partially buried), phone and possibly water.
I am not sure what the psi is at the meter (which is by the street, 1000' from the house) but the largest hook up we can get is 1 inch.
If anyone is interested, here is a link to some pictures of the project. We are actually getting the gravel driveway finished up this weekend and getting rid of most of the stumps and wood. Some to be buried, some chipped/mulched and some will be cut up for firewood. So I don't have pics of the finished product yet but I will soon.
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