Joys of Country Living

Ray

True Grumbler
Joined
Jun 7, 2006
Posts
78
Loc
Perry, Ga.
Oh the joys of living in the country and having your own well.For the last 10 years or so my well has averaged going out about every 6 months or so. I have refused to hook up to new county water until now though because I could always pull it and fix it myself. Well in Feb I fell off of a ladder while working on it and was 9 weeks on crutches 6 weeks in therapy, could only work 1/2 days for the 9 weeks(i am a one man shop) some 20K dollars lighter in the pocket and what happens my well goes out again Friday morning. It is about 180 feet deep but I only had to pull the first 20 feet to fix it this time that Fri after work. Got up Sat. morning and no water again, this time the pump locked up. Well I guess this is the final straw so I am spending the 5k that it will take to hook up to county water instead of th3 6k for a new well!!!!! OH THE FUN OF HAVING A WELL!!!!!
 
I feel for ya, Ray.

We’ve been lucky with our well. For over thirty years ours has pumped out clear, sweet water with nary a hiccough – except for when we had to replace a clamp (and replace our plumber) because it was sucking in air. We don’t have the option of town water.

… but, our leaching field, that’s a whole ‘nother matter. It’s gonna need to be replaced, and they’re talking big bucks to do it.
 
When we first moved into our house the well was only a 2 inch one, 150' deep with the pump in the cellar. The pump went out one weekend while we were on a camping trip. I wasn't too thrilled to get home and find I couldn't take a shower because there was no water. We managed to get the part needed to fix it but it died again a few months later so we had a new well drilled. Because we live on a glacial moraine, (think rocks), it took a week for them to drill it.

Less than a year later, we had a freak lightning strike that grounded out into the well pump at the bottom of the well. Our plumber was really good about coming out right away and pulling it to put in a new pump even though more storms were coming. They worked really fast since 150' of pipe sticking in the air is not exactly what you want to have next to you when it's starting to thunder. :eek:
 
My neice & her husband are in the process of selling their house (which has a well) They live in Southern NJ and are the only home in their area w/ a well. Their realtor wanted to know how often they had to fill the well? :eek:
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Yea I know about the no showers, I have been bathing in the sink here at the shop for the last week and will be for at least another week. So far no complaints from customers(who am I kidding what customers, it's dead thios week)
 
Ray, I feel for you too

Our water is so acidic (pH 5.5) that it ate the 1-1/2" schedule 40 galvanized pipe in two and the pump, motor, pipe and all fell to the bottom of the well. Our well guy had never had to fish a string of pipe out of a well so I had to show him how they do it in oilwells. By the time we fished the 180 ft of twisted pipe out, the motor was questionable and the bottom 4 stages of the pump were squashed. Lucky for us, homeowners insurance paid for a complete replacement, pipe, pump and motor. The only thing that wasn't covered was the single piece that failed.... a 1-1/2 to 1-1/4 inch bushing. 2 weeks later our next door neighbor was doing the same thing, same depth, same reason.

We inject 2ml soda ash solution per gallon into the water as it comes into the house so that the copper pipes are no longer being eaten from the inside out (green rings in the tubs & toilets).

But we wouldn't give up the living to move into town. The deer, moose, elk, turkey, bear, lynx, and who knows what we haven't seen in the yard make it worthwhile; not to mention the quiet and no annoying yard lights at night. We have put metal detectors in the driveway to let us know when a vehicle comes near.
 
Well folks, where I live I have no running water except for a hose that comes down the bank from the home up above! No facilities at all except for one electric outlet. 200 S.F., one room with a 14' picture window facing south 10 feet from the healing waters of Eagle Lake. I could jump out my window into the water.

After a divorce I moved back into what was my bachelor pad 30 years ago...only this time I insulated, put in new windows, added a small galley with a microwave and two small refrigerators, and added a propane furnace to supplement the huge hearth.

This fall I'm pulling the hearth out and putting in a glass front wood burner...much more efficient. I've been cutting and splitting a lot of hickory and hard wood maple for the upcoming winter.

In reality, I do have facilities available at the other house and my brother's across the street. I prefer to live in the upper boat house and bathe with my biodegradable soap in the lake. Like the larger home on the property, my "sleeping quarters" is all field stone and built by my grandfather with my father and uncles assisting. The main house has copper flashing and natural slate shingles with cathedral ceiling beams that are almost 250 years old framing the large stain glass above the fireplace. They were over 150 years old when he salvaged them and started building back in the late 1920's.

I've spent the last few years shedding my self of all the clutter accumulated in my life and am trying to live more simply...enjoying the seasons, nature, swimming, sailing, canoing and of course, framing. I just picked up a sailboard and after not doing this balancing act for over twenty years...I'm re-learning how to stay standing. It was easier then, but I'll get the hang of it again and be able to withstand those southwesterly gusts.

I did give in to putting in a surround sound TV system and when my kids visit we have a blast watching movies and popping popcorn in my Stir Crazy. Midnight swims are a must too.

My tomato plants are giving me fresh cherry tomatoes right off the vine daily now!

Life is good.


Dave Makielski
 
I miss our well water. It wasn't water so much as it was that runny stuff they put in water to make it a liquid. :D
 
Have any of you looked into ARCSA - Association for Rainwater Catchment Systems of America - or the international organization of ARCS?

They are into catching rainwater in a variety of water holding systems - rainbarrels, cisterns, ponds, etc. so that this water can be used to supplement and reduce the need for city or well water uses.
 
How about just using the buckets and pots and pans that catch the rain from the roof leaks?

Just kidding...couldn't resist.

I have a friend who only waters her house plants with rainwater. She has the best looking houseplants I've ever seen.

Dave Makielski
 
Terry, we looked into it 4 years ago before we poured the back patio... city wanted $20,000 permit for the 3,000 gallon cistern.

and we had to provide an ecological impact survey each year for the first 12 years of it's use.
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I'd rather use all the city water I want spank you very much.
 
Baer, leave it to the government to make things as hard as possible!

What's with Oregon nowadays? When I lived there in the 70's, Oregon was all over sustainablility and ecology. We were out there building active and passive combined solar homes with rainwater collection for a variety of uses. One place in Eugene had an attached pond greenhouse that raised some kind of carp they sold to the asian restaurants.

Up here, rainwater collection is like this new found idea. Go figure!

One local businessman in the area put in two 3500 gallon cisterns on his property more than 10 years ago - no problem! He has a large garden area and uses the water for that. All gravity fed, although he could put in a pump if he needed.

Lots of my neighbors use rainbarrels and ponds to augment water usage for their yards. The city of Seattle sells and delivers rainbarrels to their customers. The urban horticulture people are designing pond water connections around Seattle neighborhoods to handle runnoff. Downtown Seattle is incorporating runoff into gardens with ponds.

What I think is so cool is that some governments are thinking about ways to use rainwater collection to improve communities. India has some small projects started where villages have a collection system that diverts monsoon water into cisterns. The villages use the water during the dry months and during drought. Ironically, the next district over isn't part of the project yet, and the government is bringing water in by truck.

And it is nothing new. Petra used channels carved into the stone to catch and carry rainwater to cisterns as the city water supply.
 
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