water well decision

The driller said that the well would cost approx $6,000 in my area. If electrical power was to go out I would still have to bring the water to the surface with an emergency generator.

My question is this:
Instead of a new well, I was thinking of installing a 70 gallon tank which could be plumbed in series with the existing community water supply. If the community water supply should shut down or if there was a power interruption, I would still have 70 gallons of water available for household use (assuming that the tank was at a higher elevation that the house so that gavity would feed the house.
What wrong with this idea...?

Thank you,
Ken

1. Doesn't the water feed from a water tower somewhere, & will continue to run even if the power goes off? Most have genset backups to keep the pumps running, at least limited. Be sure there really is a problem, before trying to prepare for it.

2. Most water districts do not allow you to have a well once they come through, before setting up to dig a well, be sure you are allowed to do so.

--->Paul

I use a 12v RV pump($50) with a 12v lawn&garden battery($16) with a trickle charger($12). This will supply 3gpm for several days on one battery charge. The pump has it's own pressure switch and is fully automatic in a "T" configuration.

You will need a cistern storage tank to draw from. For 2 people without (washing machine or showers) takes about 50gal perday if you have low flow toilets. You'll pay about $40 more for a 200gal tank than a 100gal tank. Agri-supply.com has great tank prices. I bought a new 1600gal PE tank for $500 delivered from plastictank.com this summer, a smoking good deal.

We don't supply aux power to any of our community wells nor pipelines but we don't loose power that often, twice a year average. There's enough of us that do have generators incase the Utility stays off longer than 24hrs so we could fire up a well if we had too.

I think lossing power will be a common occurance for the next 10yrs for most of the country.

T_Bone

If you use a storage tank you wouldn't have much pressure.
Guess you could add an RV type water pump to the system.
And how you gonna keep the water fresh in a tank.

When I was on city water unless something physically
happened to the supply line then we had water.

Pooh Bear

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I live close to saint louis. After the big storm here last week folks are still without electric. So if you drill a well you could be out of water unless you get a generator. I have spent over 20 years in the Army and water is the key to everything. So if you have city/county supplied water i'd stick with that. Just get a good supply of water, I'd say 3 gallons per day per person in the house.

Best wishes n God Bless

John T

How many days has the water been off in either of your life times??
Water is one of the last utilities you lose during a storm. And while you may need to boil it for use it is one of the first to come back on. A storm usually does not damage the pipe line because it is in the ground but rather the pumping station. Since this is a community water supply it is top priority after the storm.

Now on the other hand how long do you think 70 gallons is going to last. Yes it will last a while for drinking but you need to flush the toilet and I am sorry after a week or so with no electricity or A/C I need a bath.

Most usually keep old milk jugs filled with water and fill bath tubs when a storm is coming.
If you are in a major disaster where the water is off a week or more the national guard will be trucking in water any way.

If you have to have the tank you do not need to mount it above the house. Put a faucet on the bottom of the tank and draw it straight from the tank after a storm instead of trying to force it in the house plumbing. Make sure you have a check valve so your tank of water does not back feed into the street pipes when the pressure goes out.