# Should I cap my well and switch to city water?



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Our new place has well water. The well is deep (150 feet?) and provides plenty of fresh clean water. Not only that, but it's water that I'm happy to drink straight from the tap. I'm a water snob, and Iceland is the only other place where the water tasted good enough that I'd drink it from the tap.

Things I like about having a well:

self-sufficiency
good quality water
cheaper (maybe)?
water is not treated (I can purify it myself if I have to) so it lacks bleach or whatever else the city puts in it
Things I don't like about the well:

doesn't work when power is out, really. You'll get a trickle in the basement, the owners told us
it's noisy and the giant tank takes up space
But my big issue -- the wellhead is almost under where I want my sacrifice lot to be (the space abuts the barn). I'll be out there scooping poop every day, but eventually I'm afraid the urine will soak into the ground water. It is by far the best place on the property to put a sacrifice lot, as it's right next to the barn, in view of the house, and is relatively flat (the property as a whole has a gentle grade to it).

There's actually city water in the street, but the neighbors say that if you sign up for city water they make you cap your well. So it's either-or. What would you guys do? Sign up for city water and cap the well? Or keep the well?


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Can you not keep your well for gardening and livestock and use city for the house? That would be my ideal.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

So, I guess I need to talk to the county and clarify, but what the neighbors said is if you're using the well for official agricultural purposes you can keep it, otherwise not. In my mind, I made this into "If the property is used in such a way that you would qualify for an ag exemption," but maybe that 's not the case. Maybe it's not that strict.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Keep the well. City water is not all it's cracked up to be and it's expensive for watering horses. Get a generator for the house and put the well pump on it, that will solve the no power situation. 

I would find another area for the sacrifice lot. Not over the well nor the septic.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I would keep the well and find a new sacrifice lot.

I know wells and pumps come in different shapes and systems but they shouldn’t be noisy or require a big tank.
Invest in a small generator for the pump in those power cuts if you don’t want to splurge out on a whole house generator.


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

y on the well. If you are worried about know water during a power out use a generator big enough to run the well pump and 2-3 outlets then you will always have water and a back up for the refrig freezer and a couple lights or a tv. I use a 3500 watt for this. Nothing better than fresh, cool well water


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## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

Considering where the world climate is going and future issues with water scarcity in terms of access to clean water, sufficient volumes of water, and water at an affordable price, no way I would be giving up my own water source if I had one. In my mind, water is the most pressing environmental issue. We can only live days without it.

Fresh water is more than valuable (so valuable) enough to find another place for a sacrifice lot so that you don't contaminate your water supply. I would also check with some geotech experts in the area once you are there to make sure where you pick won't contaminated it. They will know the groundwater conditions in your area and how things are likely to move around in the soil. 

Promisingly, some soils can be used to remediate contaminated water, so you may not have to move it to far depending on your local conditions. 

I just have to repeat it, fresh water is such a valuable resource, please do everything you can to retain it and protect it. You don't want to end up down the track being stuck in a water scarcity situation or paying very high costs for a city supply.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Well water is the best. City water is full of chemicals. I'd find another sacrifice area or just make sure you are far enough away from the well that it won't have an impact. 

You can have the pump wired so you can hook it up to a generator for power outages. That's your best bet. You'll want a generator if you're out in the country with horses anyway.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Have to agree with the rest. Keep the well. If you are going whole house generator make sure it is hooked up. If not a small generator as mentioned will run it. You want the tank sized for the motor and your anticipated use.

This link can give you an idea. You may hear the pump if there is something on in the house or barn using water and you are outside but you shouldn't hear it inside. Ours is in the corner of the shed and has its own vented cabinet. We hear it if we are in that area. Most around here put it in its own well house and insulate. Keeps sound down and protects the pipes.









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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

We have 3 wells on our property. They each have their own well house and are insulated against freezing. We use frost free hydrants to water the horses and have insulated any outside pipes that would be exposed. Don't ever give up your water or mineral rights to any entity. As MR stated, clean, abundant water is going to be an issue if we, as people, don't slow down some of our waste and consumption. Don't let anyone talk you out of your water rights.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I would move the sacrifice area. If you do not like the taste of treated water why would you want to go on City water? How large is your holding tank ? I have a generator I bought at tractor supply to run my system when the power goes out. I have a large enough holding tank to hold water for 2 or 3 days and a pressure pump. The generator is not large enough to run the well. As long as my air conditioner / heater is working and I can flush toilets I am happy. I have two tanks to clean the water , one is to clean the arsenic and the other cleans the nitrates etc .


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

You'd have to pry my well water from my cold, dead hands! Wouldn't trade it for the world and certainly not for gross town water.


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## Zimalia22 (Jun 15, 2021)

Like the others, I would keep the well, and move the dry lot. 
Do you have the well log? If they went thru basalt rock, I wouldn't be terribly worried about surface contamination. 150 is a nice depth, but by no means a deep well. My well is 801. And it's not the deepest in the country by far.

I hate city water with a passion. It all tastes like you're drinking out of a swimming pool.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Zimalia22 said:


> I hate city water with a passion. It all tastes like you're drinking out of a swimming pool.


And we all know what people do in swimming pools ....... 🤮


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Keep the well and get the city water...
Where I use to live {LI} few homes had well water anymore...
Yes, chemicals are added municipal water, aka city water to assure the water is free of bacteria that can harm you...
At one time LI was a huge agricultural entity of food grown....pesticides sprayed and sadly years later it was learned so many were carcinogens. LI is one of the largest concentrations of cancers of various kinds in the nation.
Best with having city water is if a power outage you still have water in your home to flush toilets, take a shower {yes cold!} and have adequate water supply for your horses you not need to worry about dehydration.

Just be aware...
A generator for a well needs to be wired that the house does not get a back-surge if you are using the generator and the power returns...
A few hundred dollars will get you a electrician to wire for you and provide a long enough cable you can put a generator out of nasty weather to run your well...
You must have a large enough generator to power the well and do double check cause I know my well is 220 volt, not 110 so cheap and tiny generator is not going to happen here...
On the other hand, if a power outage you have power to save your freezer, ability to have lights at night and things that run on electricity within reason and not all at once unless you do a whole-house system.

Depending upon your municipality they indeed _*can*_ say either or, but not both...to well and municipal.
The reason for that is a back flow of water into the public water system just contaminated it since your well is not treated and following health department requirements.
I don't know if a back-flow valve is acceptable enough to use.
If you use the well exclusively for the barn and municipal water for the house, _*separate systems*_ then there is no issue, but don't get caught mixing them or face the judge and jury....
At 150' deep to the well-head your land should be a fantastic filter natural...but you don't know what others did to the land prior to you buying and what they may have dumped in the ground..
If this home has a mortgage on it you may not be given a choice by your banking institution but to hook up to city/municipal water.
If your ground is rich with minerals using well water may also shorten the lifespan of appliances such as washing machine, hot water heater, refrigerator if you have a ice maker and water spigot. Well water can often discolor toilet bowls, sinks and indeed your clothes over time can tinge colors from those minerals..
You may find the taste of the well water much desired compared to municipal water but due diligence of water testing should be done so you know, truly know what is in your ground water reservoir.. and that means more than just once but periodically.
Things to think about.

You want to keep the well close to the barn and make your sacrifice area very close....  
I would fence it off minimum with a 25' perimeter fence and extend that area out further is all.
Remember that horses do not have to stand on flat terrain, but can and it is good for them to go up, down and across varied terrains...
Make sure though your well-head is minimum o f 75' away from your septic...by us that is a law and minimum distance and nothing less is permitted. Or the county health department has the right to condemn your home for being occupied...
Yes, they _will_ pull your Certificate of Occupancy.... 

So many hidden decisions to uncover, learn about and then put in place....
Fun!!
🐴*....*


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I like living on well water although we have magnesium and sulfur in ours. We have a water softener and add soda ash and bleach... We don't drink it but the animals do just fine...

As for the power being out, get a generator, even a small one will run the water and the fridge. You might not get TV but the water and fridge are most important.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

The place I almost bought had a well that hit water at 350 feet. Backup generator. OTOH, I'm on city water now. Drink it with a Brita filter all the time. Not too bad without. Runs $60/month including watering trees, horses and the house...unless I forget and leave the water running at the trough. That has added $100 to my bill a couple of times....

Folks 5 miles from me have city water from a different city. They pay 2-3 times as much.


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## RMH (Jul 26, 2016)

Depending on the geology of the area where you live wells are either drilled in solid rock to intercept water bearing cracks in the rock or through alternating layers of fine impervious soil and coarse water bearing soil called aquifers. The success of a hard rock well depends on hitting enough water bearing cracks to produce the quantity of water needed. A "sand" well depends on having an aquifer containing water of a suitable quality and quantity. There may be relatively shallow unconfined surface aquifers but these are generally not permitted for drinking as they are susceptible to whatever is applied to the ground surface. When the well is completed the driller will grout the well with either concrete or special clay to seal it off from contamination from the surface so your well should be fairly safe. Here the local health department maintains well records and can give you required setbacks such as distance between the well and and an onsite septic system. If you have a good well I'd keep it but I'd also follow the septic setbacks for your sacrifice area. You may not be lucky enough to find such good water at another location on your property.

As far as power outages they are so rare here that I don't worry about them. I'll wait 4-5 hours to see if the power is restored before I'll bother to hook up the generator. You can stock up on water by filling a stock tank for your horses, milk jugs for drinking, and your bath tub for flushing toilets when you anticipate a power outage such as one caused by a thunder storm.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I have a well. All of our well houses are buried underground above the well. I can’t imagine noise or a big tank I guess, ours is a small tank with a continuous running pump… so I’m not picturing what you are saying. I guess the others may have a big tank, but again all of them are underground.

The only issue with our wells I see is when a pump goes out you are looking at like 10k at least. Also, we have a water issue where the water table is continually dropping, as the pumping overruns the refill. So, wells must be dropped occasionally when they begin pumping some air.


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## Zimalia22 (Jun 15, 2021)

The pump went out at my place this year. It's just a 5 hsp pump, but it's set down deep. 
So, called the water outfit, they came out and pulled the pump. Yep it was bad.
They ended up setting a couple of joints of pipe deeper, all new cable, new variable speed pump, new wall panel boxes, labor, and distance, all told, it was over $14K. I about did a back flip! They had quoted me $7500. 
So I called the owner of the water outfit. He laughed, said he knew I'd be calling as the quote was so far off.
He sold me some of the materials at his cost, so it was down to $12K. Still high, but at least I felt better about it.
Now with this variable speed pump, you can run just one hose at a time, and not have to have everything going to keep the pump running. There's no hard jolt when it starts up, as now it starts slow and easy and ramps up and then back off. 
Hopefully, it will be many years before I have to do that again!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

We have all the equipment, but the pump itself was 10k when ours went out.


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## Zimalia22 (Jun 15, 2021)

When my late hubby was alive, he had his drillers license, so we did it all ourselves. But since he's passed on, I have to hire it done. 
Used to take us all day to pull the pump and put a new pump on, and set it back in the hole the next day. 
Makes for LONG days.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

It does!! It takes a lot of work. Ours is an old pivot well, and the others we have done are pivot wells, so you can imagine. It’s often a weeklong job.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

I'd keep the well water city water is nasty tasting. Here horse pasture corrals have to be 50 feet from well. 100 feet from septic system. 

Generator to run well pump needs to be 220. We have a generator that runs our well ,septic pump out, refrigerator an freezer. 

Power loss in winter doesn't effect heating our house. Both heating systems require no power. Power goes out when 20 below zero, house will get seriously cold an fast with no heat source.


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

The water crisis is not some far off thing - it is happening right now. My sister lives in Cape Town and they were a few days off from switching off the water to the entire city and they didn’t have a clue when they would switch it back on. Don’t give up your water.









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It may sound like “But Africa is like that” - it isn’t really. Cape Town is a big, sophisticated city and never had a problem like this in its history. 

Curiously, if the waters is switched off the sewer system will be in big trouble as well - sewage systems are designed to work with a specific levels of water flow. If there is no water the sewage stops working as well.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Within the last year our neighbors property took a lightning strike....that transferred the charge through the ground and that burnt out our well pump. We are about 1/2 acre from their home where our properties come together...
Charred the pump, charred all the lines of power that went from house to well to make it work....
Of course it was discovered at dinner hour when I turned on the tap and nothing....before that no idea there was a issue since we have a pressure tank of good size that had to be drained down to find we had a problem.
Well drillers I spoke with at 5:30 in the afternoon arrived at 11:56PM... and worked fast and furious till nearly 4:00AM to get our house water running...
When you have the volume of lightning strikes as we do in this state...well-drillers are busy, busy, busy.
My bill wasn't terrible for all of what they did...$4,800 but was not a planned expense and hurt.
The neighbors home lost 3/4 power to their home, lost water, lost every appliance and more...to the tune of over $27,000.....
_FYI from the well-drillers...submit a claim to your homeowners company and minus deductible should cover the balance of work done if it was emergent in nature as ours was. That was something I did not know and was grateful to learn._
And yes, because of hurricanes and just bad wind storms/events we can go days with no power we do have generators and now we have that cable and house power disconnect so we can power our well if a power outage to water the horses, store more water for flushing toilets and take cold showers feel glorious when you haven't showered in 5 days....
Last hurricane that was significant put us out for 10 days... the fire department was going to homes and filling livestock tanks to keep the animals alive with a water source._ I see several of those farms now have some windmills and enormous tanks beside the ordinary ones so not caught again in such dire for the animal situations._
It isn't just freezing cold or lightning strikes that can create issue...wells just wear out too needing some TLC so indeed it isn't bad to have a alternate source of water available is my thought.
_Any idea of how old the well pump is AC?_
The guys who came to our aid that night said in our area 10 - 15 years is average for a normal home with 3 people in it, so if a older pump...another thing to look into.  After that the pumps may not be as efficient and reliable for many reasons we were told.
So much "hidden" when you go from a suburban existence to more rural and larger lands owned you suddenly become responsible for more "necessities" to have a home surrounded by acreage.
🐴... _jmo..._


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

That's a good question @horselovinguy . I got the well inspected when we moved in (surprisingly this was not required by the county and even the realtor seemed surprised that I wanted it) and I'd have to look at the report and see what it says. Well, first I'd have to find the darn thing. I know they looked at water quality, flow rate, and depth, but I don't remember if they looked at the pump mechanism. That's crazy what some of you guys are posting, paying to get it fixed. That is a huge chunk of money.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

They are not going to look at the pump when you have your well inspected. That means they would have to pull all of the piping up to get to the pump. Where I live they charge by the pipe foot - so if you well is 150 ft down then they will charge X by 150 or so. 

I second well water. City water charges you by the meter flow and watering horses and a garden or anything else adds up.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

As for power, if I know a hurricane or snowstorm is coming then I fill a bathtub for the toilets and I have a 100 gallon tub in the barn that I fill for the horses. That way I can fill their water buckets. When Isabelle hit us we were out of power for 10 days and we had no generator at the time so I ended up buying trash cans and driving to my parents house (they had a generator) so I could fill the cans and water the horses. It was extra work but not really that huge of a deal.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

The well inspection I had for the property I ended up not buying gave flow rates and stuff like that. The depth to water was based on when they drilled it, which was in state records (only for some wells). No promises about the pump or what the current water level was. That was one of the risks, although not why we ended up not buying.


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## Zimalia22 (Jun 15, 2021)

FYI, well drillers do not typically set pumps. There are pump outfits that do that.
We did it because we had/have our own machine so could do it ourselves. 

It's always a good idea to have a well inspected when you buy a place. It's also a good idea to have a copy of the well log. That shows you what the driller went thru in the different layers before he hit water. It will show you the static level in the well as well. All this is something every land owner should know.


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## ladygodiva1228 (Sep 5, 2012)

I would never give up my well for city water. If your town ever goes into a drought they can and will restrict water usage. I have seen it happen in Rhode Island years ago and in California you hear about it.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Personally, I would do the well and municipal water on _separate systems._..if permitted.
That way in case of power outage you _have_ water as the municipality is paid to furnish water...
Rates vary depending upon area.
When we lived on LI, with lawn sprinklers and a home of 3 doing all those usual things a family does...our water bill _*for 3 months *_was about $60....
Now where I live, we have a well and only costs us electric to power the motor...
Those on municipal water pay _*$100 per month*_ is what I've been told by friends who have it.
That is _no livestock_ animals, but more a suburban feel of average sized 1/4 - 1/3 acre homesite....
Here homes tied into that municipality system are not permitted a well in operation for the back-flush and contamination chance, period.
Seems it is very locale specific to what is allowed and what is not...

You may be fretting and over-thinking this and get to that new home and this all for naught...  
Be informed, but not look for ulcer issues and cross them when and only_ if_ they arrive..
🐴.... _jmo..._


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I would stick with the well water.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

It's a funny question to consider when you've lived as many years as I have with no option for "city water" 😉 Making sure the well is good is one of the first considerations when looking at a house to buy. Not much to add, except I too couldn't imagine giving up a water source. Or thinking well water tastes bad. But we've always had artesian wells.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Well this is interesting. I just talked to the water district and the first lady I talked to said yes I'd have to decommission the well except for irrigation. Then I asked her, what about watering horses? And she said she wasn't sure so she'd transfer me to someone else. He told me that the water district doesn't actually care if I keep my well or not -- I just have to install two things to prevent backflow from the well into the public water. Although he also told me how much it would cost to get the water turned on -- about $14k. And that doesn't include laying lines to the house.

He did say that I should call the public health district to make sure they didn't have any objections, but he didn't think they would.

I'll talk to them, but @horselovinguy looks like you were right again -- maybe it's not anything to worry about in the first place. In my defense, the neighbors did tell me that's how it was. But I guess they were wrong.


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

You guys have some wild prices.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

The other thing this guy told me, that I thought was interesting, is that the county has very uneven rain distribution, due to the rain shadow. I mean, I kind of knew that, but I didn't know it was so significant. They have a well in the SW part of the county where it rains over 60 inches a year, but where we'll live it only rains about 30 inches. This is within one narrow county! They are planning on expanding their infrastructure to harvest more water from that area and be able to move it to the drier parts of the county (I had asked him about resource depletion, since Kitsap is one of three counties in Washington state that doesn't get any water runoff from mountains, and it's also experiencing rapid population growth).

If I don't have to decommission the well I won't, but I'm making a mental note that the aquifer where I live is going to be recharged a lot more slowly than the aquifer that's the source of the city (really, county) water. So, it may be at some point that my well goes dry and then I have to dig deeper or switch to county water. Good to be aware.


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## BethR (Feb 17, 2021)

AC, I’d personally keep the well. The aquifer that serves the city and county will be serving a great deal more people.
We have a very high water table here; our well is only forty feet deep. I believe that Michigan has more private wells than any other state.
We do have to soften our water, due to high lime content, but we have a bypass faucet at the kitchen sink for drinking water and watering plants and of course the outdoor faucets are bypassed.
For those like me who can’t afford a whole house generator but have a portable one, I highly recommend a Gentran box. An electrician installs it and a cord runs through the basement into the garage, where we run our generator (doors open of course!) and plugs into your generator when the power goes out. It can power five things: in our house, we use it for the sump pump, well pump, furnace, refrigerator and television. It also powers anything on the same circuits. It’s attached to the breaker box and you just flip the breaker switch to what you want to power.
It’s been a lifesaver for us.


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