Re: Sharing well and pump--how much should we charge?

Feb 26, 2008 Last reply: 8 years ago 8 Replies


Why not assume that the capital costs heretofore have been paid equitably


> between both properties,

Well, for one thing, there is nothing to suggest who paid for what.


and then enter into an agreement that each one of


you will pay a fund to maintain the system. The fund would be in joint
> ownership and run with each one of your lots,
>
> Once a pre-determined maintenance reserve fund is established, the funds
> would sit and draw interest.  In the event of a failure, the fund would have
> sufficient reserve to pay for parts and labor to replace.
>
> As far as electric costs, a Hobbs meter can be installed to see how many
> hours a month the pump runs.  The electric cost can be derived by
> multiplying the hours times the rate of consumption, and then by the
> electric rate.  The neighbor would be responsible for half.
>
> This would be a good deal for both of you.

That's very debateable. If you had the opportunity to share your well with a neighbor under these conditions, would you?



> --
> Roger Shoaf
> If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent. >
>
>
> > I share a well with my neighbor.  For both of us, the well and pump
> > were supplied by the developer who old us the land on which we built
> > last year.  Both houses use the well and pump, but only one house
> > supplies the electricity--and that's our house!  We agreed that we
> > would pay for the electricity along with the rest of our electricity,
> > but our neighbor should pay us half the cost of the electricity
> > required to run the pump.  Problem is, I don't know how to charge for
> > that.  I don't even know how much electricity the pump uses.  It's on
> > a circuit connected to our house's electrical service--there's no
> > separate meter.  What would be a fair amount to charge?
>
> > In case it helps, both families have two adults and two children with
> > typical water usage--no hot tubs, swimming pools, etc.
>
> > Here's another thing I'm wondering about...  Ours was the first house
> > built, and ours was the first plumbing connected to the pump, so I'm
> > wondering if we paid for some initial set-up that our neighbors didn't
> > have to pay for.  For example, besides the electricity each month,
> > wouldn't there be a cost to initially run the circuit out to the
> > pump?  What other initial costs might there be that should be shared
> > with the neighbor?
>
> > Finally, when our house was built, we installed a pressure tank.  The
> > purpose of the pressure tank is to improve the overall pressure of the
> > plumbing in the house and to provide a sort of pressure reserve so
> > that the pump doesn't have to turn on so frequently.  I'm not sure the
> > cost of this tank and it's related controls, but I know it was over
> > $1,000.  I also know that our neighbor did *NOT* install one of
> > these.  My question is this...  Is our neighbor benefiting from our
> > pressure tank?  Besides lessening wear and tire on the pump, is it
> > also improving the pressure for our neighbor's house, too?  (The tank
> > is located in our house's mechanical room.)  Is this something that
> > our neighbor should be compensating us for?
>
> > Any advice is greatly appreciated.
>
> > - Johnnie- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

replying to trader4, RayRay wrote: well, just break down the costs. you gotta know gallons / kwh of running the pump. that will give you an idea of total water usage from all water usage. then split that cost. even though you are using less water. or charge them

2/3 or 3/4 of electric cost to run the pump. as for wear take the total life expectancy of a well pump, plus FUTURE estimated replacement cost and divide it to get a yearly, then monthly "wear & tear" figure. that would be fair to me . my situation is a girlfriend with nephew, his gf and her daughter w/o water for over a year now coming over to use my shower , get water to flush their toilet and do laundry. I've had enpugh of it and want to calculate their water usage (even estimated) so I can inform them the size of the favor I pay for the additional usage they cause.

If you are not going to divide the total cost equally, use water meters. Real meters are not cheap unless you can get a deal on used ones from the utility. I think the easiest way is just to run a tab and have all of the users chip in equally. If you need to meter the electricity, used electric meters are really cheap since utilities are moving to smart meters.

The original post is 9 years old.

Exactly what do you do to find 9 year old posts and why do you waste time replying to them?

I pay $60/month for water and sewer for 2 of us. Depending on frequency of visit, $30 would seem reasonable.

That is fairly cheap or you do not use much water. Around here $60 would get you about 3700 gallons of water/sewer with the fixed fees according to the chart. I am not sure if there are additional taxes on that tho.

I have one neighbour off my well - he pays me $ 250. per year and any maintenance / repair of the shared plant is split 50-50. The line from my property to his is his problem alone. It is a written agreement that is legally "attached" to our deed. The cost hasn't changed since the 2 homes were built in 1991. My lawyer says that I can cancel the agreement but would need to give him significant time to make other arrangements - like a year .. My other neighbour was being a nice guy and only charged his neighbour $ 35. per year - and he has regretted it ever since - the guy has been a jerk .. John T.

Our water bill out here in the woods runs about 25 bucks a month for the two of us unless I'm watering the garden . Then it will spike up to around 35 max - no sewer charge since we're too far out and have a septic system .

--

Snag

My last bill was for 6000 gallons and water was $113, sewer was $93. The sewer is a flat rate quarterly. It is pretty consistent every quarter.

We could cut the bill by going naked all the time to eliminate laundry. Instead of doing dishes, just eat right out of the pot.

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