Getting City Water

John T · May 2, 2012

Okay after forty years of living on several farms and having ONLY well water, while this is NO NEWS to many and just taken for granted by city folk, I WENT AND PAID AND SIGNED UP FOR CITY WATER TODAY. $750 for membership and meter set etc and line pushed under road

NOT because Im having water problems, but when we get ready to sell out and the new owner requires a mortgage and with alllllll the health dept and zoning regs nowadays THERES NO WAY WE COULD SELL HAVING WELL WATER (Shallow well 18 ft deep NOT any deep driven safer well).....I never had it tested here, the old man who lived here was over 90 and in good health till he died of old age n we raised 3 kids and none us have any health problems so far I FIGURED IF IT WAS TESTED THE HEALTH DEPT WOULD HAVE BANNED IT AND THROWN US ALL IN JAIL

I wont miss all those years of galvanized tanks and air volume controls (before captive air bladder tanks) and priming and freezing and heat tapes and heat lights and ONLY having trouble when its 20 below zero outside grrrrrrrrrrrr lol

The well was hand dug 80 some years ago with soft sandstone hand laid (no mortar) walls 18 ft deep (was prob over 20 but silt n sand has added some Im sure) 6 ft diameter. About an hour after a hard rain if you looked down inside you saw water tricking in. When 3 kids were home and the hour long hair wash n showers of teen daughters we would run dry in August droughts but since the kids left we dont run out

We wont know how to act

John T A "simple" man

in-too-deep · May 2, 2012

I bet you'll miss the taste of your water. Any way you could leave it halfway hooked up?

John T · May 2, 2012

I plan to leave the well and pump operable but the utility gets awful nervous about backflow and contamination and plumbing configured so theres no way my water can get into their system.

Trouble is unless I use and exercise the old well and pump (like to barn or for car washing etc) now n then things will calcium and lime up and just stop working.

John T

Zachary Hoyt · May 2, 2012

Could you set up the well to run the barn and the city water for the house and have them separate so there would be no backflow potential?
Zach

ErnieD · May 2, 2012

Make really sure you have no leaks. The toilet can be a wild beast in water leaks. Agree with the meter install on the start number. A used re-calibrated meter was installed and I got hammered on the offset. It was useless trying to argue. We pay $2.54/thousand.

davediehl@hotmail.com · May 2, 2012

Setup the old pump to water the yard and garden. Washing the car or watering the dog should be enough.

bradk · May 2, 2012

I won"t drink city water because of the chlorine and flouride added.Many city water municipals are starting to pull these chemicals out particularly fluoride.

Filters are made to remove the chemicals from water.I"ll stick with my well water.
info

John T · May 2, 2012

I could do that and the way its currently plumbed would be pretty easy HOWEVER Im still gonna have the heat lights and heat tape to worry about grrrrrrrrrrr the pump is above ground in an old concrete milk house in a plywood box. I may do it that way but would be nice to get rid of freezing problems after 40 years

John T

John T · May 2, 2012

Yep I agree and like my well water, as posted Im doing this ONLY cause Id never be able to sell it with mortgages and allllllll the local health regs and the fact its a shallow surface well (we have old fashion septic systems out here also) Im sure it would NEVER PASS inspection. But hey I can still have and drink the well water all I please as ive done the past 3o some years NO PROBLEMS

John T

Spook · May 2, 2012

I paid the tap fee for my wife's new shop, but I don't have to tap in until the well fails. I opted not to tap in now, saves me some $$$ in water costs, the present well is 200 ft deep. By paying the tap in fee, I saved some money in the future. I paid $2500 for it, and it is now about $4500.

El Toro · May 2, 2012

I wouldn't be without the public water and sewage. Had it so far for 44 years. When my late parents bought a big rancher when they left the farm and it had their own own and septic system. They had the same thing on the farm. In the late 70's after my dad had died my mom and sister said their well water seem to be burning their skin after bathing. They had it tested and it contained benzene. All the homes in that area had benzene in their water.

Since they were only a few feet past the town limits I told my mom not to drill another well.
More than likely it would contain that. I told her we should go before the town board and see if public water could be made available. It wasn't until 1982 the water and sewage was available and she signed up for both. Some of the homes didn't sign on right away, but a lot of them had sewage problems and they all changed their minds. I have an Omni filter that would filter the whole house, but I only filter the water to the kitchen and to the ice makers. Here in Maryland if you're selling a home that has water and septic problems and don't tell the buyers the sale can be voided. You could sell it as is, but you won't get the best price. My nephew has that rancher now. He did have to replace the water line to the house when he found a wet spot on the lawn. Hal

buickanddeere · May 2, 2012

All things are a compromise. I don"t miss the taste and odor of chlorine in our drinking and shower water. Some folk claim chlorinated water contributes to health problems such as colon cancer. Then again Walkerton proved e-coli in the drinking water causes health problems too.

Mike (WA) · May 2, 2012

You'll miss the extra money in your pocket, that's for sure- I never had city water and sewer until I opened my office in town. $67 a month combined, each and every month. Bet I don't spend that in a year, on my well at home.

Hotflashjr · May 2, 2012

Feel lucky you can join. A few months after I bought my first dump, I mean house, the Town forced sewer and water down our throats. Betterment tax was $15,000 for both right off the top whether you hooked up or not. Since the money for the sewage plant was borrowed you only had 1 year to hook up to waive the $1,500 fee and you could get a 1% interest to help pay the betterment tax over 5 years. If you didn't hook up in 1 year the betterment tax was due in full the next fiscal year as part of your R/E tax. The town ran the pipe onto your property then you had to do the rest. Cost another $5,000 to run water and sewer pipes then another $2,000 to pump the old tank, drill holes in the bottom, and fill with stone per local code which was still cheaper than removing the tank. All told it was about $25,000.

Earl-IL · May 2, 2012

Here in central Illinois my city water rate is good for my wife & I. I just got the bill. My water was $25.33 My sewer rate is terrible it was $50.05. Plus I have $9000 invested bringing water & sewer to my house which is a residential area.

John T · May 2, 2012

Its $12.01 here for the minumum and since we dont have kids at home and are gone 3 to 5 months according to similar neighbors useage that may get me by. HOWEVER at 13 cents per KWH that pump dont run for free and no worries with heat lights and tape and all that unless I still use it for the barn (but no more livestock) and car wash etc. I will have the best of both worlds if I keep the well operable, I can drink it and wash cars (NO livestock here anymore) but with that goes the winter heat lights grrrrrrrrr

Like I said but many seemed to have overlooked IM DOING IT SO I WILL BE ABLE TO SELL THE PLACE when I get old (NOT just to change to city water) and thats coming grrrrrrrr

later Mike

John T

Tramway Guy · May 2, 2012

When we got city water along our road, we kept the outdoor faucets on the well system. They have to be kept isolated from the municipal water, even a check valve will not suffice.
We got rid of the water softener also, since the city water is nice and soft. Also, not much scale buildup potential in the water heater.

John T · May 2, 2012

The utility is scheduled for a price increase in 60 days, so by getting it now it cost $750 but if I wait 60 days it would be like $1500 yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Had I got it in 1994 it would have been $2500 unless I waited 10 yrs so I waited 18.

ONLY reason is so I can sell the place NOT just to change for the heck of it. I can still use the well for drinking and car wash etc

Thanks, John T

FarmerZeb · May 2, 2012

I can understand the city water to make the place marketable. We just ate a 22% water bill increase (now around $15/thousand gallons) so I am looking at going back on the well for everything but drinking water.

-Paul

MarkB_MI · May 2, 2012

750 to tap in is cheap. We just had our pump replaced: 2600 bucks.

Anonymous-0 · May 2, 2012

John, keep quiet, that you still have a well. Around here, they make you fill them in, after connecting to public water. SHHHH!

jm. · May 2, 2012

The big deal here is IF you keep the well as most rural folks want to they mandate a cross flow device that sets you back almost a grand and just stay on your butt. we basacily put the farm ( Barn & shops) on the well and the house on public..No free ride well or public you gona pay. Well cost 6 grand up front and lighting hits the pump ever 10 years or pump fails average it out unlees your public supply is really high usually not a bad deal

Bob Bancroft · May 2, 2012

We built our first house on a corner of the homestead farm right over a previous home site. the dug well was filled to the surface! We cleaned it and that's all we used there the 14 years we were there. As you say, the only time it didn't suffice was at the hands of a teenage girl! When we went to sell we tested multiple times, but ended up installing an expensive water purification system.
We moved a mile to another new house at our farm. Been here almost 20 years now. We have three dug wells (one supplies the house) and a drilled well. There were four that I know of, but one was filled in.
I'm so glad that selling a house is something I'll never have to think about again.

Justin Post · May 2, 2012

I wanted to get town water at my shop in town just to wash my trucks and my hands. All i wanted was a frost free hyd. outside and i was told.Illinois state law- No water service can be put in to any place that doesnt have a septic system. I said really are you craping me. so its back to the 100 gallon water wagon and haul it 2 blocks form my house.

Paul from MI · May 2, 2012

When I was growing up in Ohio we had a 12 foot deep hand dug well. We atered 2000 chickens all the time with only that well, only on very rare occasions did we haul water from town. About 25 years ago the city ran water lines past the place and Dad hooked on. Probably was good thing cause we'd have had problems selling the house and buildings later if he hadn't. The old well is still there with a hand pump on it, ready to go if needed. We also had a two compartment cistern and cleaning it was NOT my favorite job!

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