NF - How Much Water do you use?

[The Urban Fisherman]

I'm on FIRE with the topics tonight....

 

Short and sweet - my well has been struggling all summer. We finally ran out of water completely yesterday, and it didn't replenish itself much at all over a 24 hour time frame. So this morning I ordered a water truck to come in and fill our well.

 

I've been looking at having a 3000 gallon tank put into the ground. (forget what they're called) Basically they drop this giant tank under ground in your yard and fill it every couple of months with city water.

I'm trying to crunch some numbers to see if it makes sense to go this route. We'll keep the well of course, but mainly for watering the grass etc. (if there's water in it)

 

So roughly how much water does your family use on a monthly basis? If you could take the time to let me know it'd be a huge help. If not...thanks for nothin! haha Just kidding.

 

Thanks OFC.

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[misfish]

Dug well Ryan?

Had this happen aswell, Not a fun thing to happen.

A drilled well will be costly,but atleast you,ll have water.

[The Urban Fisherman]

Dug well Ryan?

Had this happen aswell, Not a fun thing to happen.

A drilled well will be costly,but atleast you,ll have water.

 

Hey dude!

 

I phoned every driller within a 2 hour drive of here and they all told me that the little area I live in can't have a drilled well. I guess the type of sand in the area doesn't work well, and then once you get to a certain dept it's all sulfur water... I was a plumbing apprentice in Sudbury for a little while after highschool and all we did were drilled wells with submersible pumps...that's the way to go for sure if you can get away with it!

 

Thanks for taking the time!

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[dagoat_1]

We live in the sheild and and 240ft down tons of iron/sulfur. Put in a remover and the water is better tasting than the city crap my freinds get a few km's away.

[dave524]

I always understood that if you put water in a well it just seeps away if the water table is low, go with a cistern for a backup.

Edited September 18, 2009 by dave524

[Daplumma]

I cant imagine dumping water down into the aquafer.I would think it would just dissapate into the ground water.How deep is your well?In the meantime how close is your nextdoor neighbor?You can hook up to his hoouse if you want to give yours a chance to catch up.

Joe

[JohnF]

I cant imagine dumping water down into the aquafer.I would think it would just dissapate into the ground water.How deep is your well?In the meantime how close is your nextdoor neighbor?You can hook up to his hoouse if you want to give yours a chance to catch up.

Joe

 

That might be a problem if they're all on dug wells for the same reason that Ryan can't drill. They probably draw from the same water table/aquifer/whatever. The solution is easy though. Stop flushing, bathing and drinking.

 

JF

[shane]

If I'm reading my water bill correctly, we used 12 cubic metres last month. That's for the two of us and we try to be conservative with our water use.

[LeXXington]

The type your looking for is called cistern well.

 

I think your other option is too try going deeper.

 

With 2 kids in my house + dog and a wife that insists not to use the dishwasher we go through about 400L per month.

 

If your getting a cistern I was told too get the biggest you can afford.

[hoosier]

I haul all of the water we use at my house. I have a wife and three kids(9,6 and 4). We go through about 4000 gallons a month. However we never water the lawn or wash the cars at home.

[Jonny]

In this age of airborne contaminants, I don't know if this is a good idea any more but your house sheds a lot of rainwater through its eavestroughing. Could that be diverted into your well or a cistern to "top up"?

 

Used to be that rainwater was the purest you could get.

Edited September 19, 2009 by Jocko

[Sinker]

Your wasting your time putting water in your well Ryan. It will be gone the next day.

 

You need a cistern for sure. I've never heard of an area where you can't drill a well though, that sounds fishy to me. Mine is 240ft deep, and has better quality than city water.

 

S.

[Jonny]

We live right beside lake Nipissing. My well was drilled about 50 feet from the shore and goes down 400 ft. (Still seems really weird to go that deep with a big lake sitting right beside!) The drilled well goes down through 130 feet of overburden before it hits bedrock (so there's 130 ft of 6" steel casing).

 

Are there any drilled wells in your area that hit bedrock or is the overburden too thick?

 

Most of the wells where I live go down 300+ feet and all of them penetrate the bedrock.

 

Cost for a completely installed well, pump (down 300 ft), electrical circuits, etc. ---- $12,000. Not cheap, but we have excellent water.

Edited September 19, 2009 by Jocko

[Dutch]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

 

You may want to get (or make) a couple of rain barrels. You can use those to water the lawn and save the water in the well.

 

It has been really dry lately, probably why you are having issues now. This summer was wet, so probably you didn't have issues then.

 

Hopefully everything goes well for you.

Edited September 19, 2009 by Dutch

[Chris]

I disagree with the comments that your water will seep out into the aquafer. We had a few dry summers on our farm when our dug well went dry. It was common for folks in the area to have water shipped in by tank truck during these dry spells. They would empty their truck on the grass beside the well and the next day the well would be full and the level only went down with normal water use. I believe they told us that they never would dump water directly into a well. I'm no expert on the subject and I'm not trying to start a flame war or anything....I'm just relating my experiences.

[Musky or Specks]

Irragation is a big issue with the aquifier in your area ryan. Because you are on a sand plain the aquifer is very close to the surface. take a look around sometime while driving around, all those farms take water from local creeks and rivers. The aquifers in a dry spell have problems replenishing the creeks. Im sure its the same with the wells.

[canadadude]

In Niagara right now this is day 21 with no rain so I'm not surprised the well ran dry, the creeks are all drying up around here right now aswell. My buddy had a water cistern and filled about once a month with a family of 4. They used a water cooler with bottled water aswell for drinking .

[Woodsman]

Ryan have you invesigated using a sandpoint? These are a common way of drawing water in sandy areas near lakes. It is what we used in Ipperwash for years.

How deep is your well?

 

Rick

Edited September 19, 2009 by Woodsman

[The Urban Fisherman]

Hey guys, I was away for the Facts of Fishing Kids Day at Ontario place....awesome turn out! met a couple of OFC'ers to! Thanks for taking the time to post!

 

 

We live in the sheild and and 240ft down tons of iron/sulfur. Put in a remover and the water is better tasting than the city crap my freinds get a few km's away.

 

I'll do more exploring, but I did call a half dozen drillers and they all told me I was wasting my time. I'd never get enough water to satisfy my needs. ( I want 5 to 10 GPM ) And as far as I understood the sulphur water at 100+ feet in my area doesn't just have an off smell and taste, but is pretty much poison. Our dug well has the sulfury smell from time to time as it is....

 

I always understood that if you put water in a well it just seeps away if the water table is low, go with a cistern for a backup.

 

Thanks dude! A cistern was what I was talking about. There's a guy about 100 feet away from my driveway who makes and sells them up to 3000 gallons....

 

I cant imagine dumping water down into the aquafer.I would think it would just dissapate into the ground water.How deep is your well?In the meantime how close is your nextdoor neighbor?You can hook up to his hoouse if you want to give yours a chance to catch up.

Joe

 

Hey Joe - Our well is really shallow...only 16 feet and we've consistently run out of water all summer, but never did it stay dry for 24 hours until now... usually only for a couple of hours then it's good to go... My neighbors are my in-law's but they're house is still being finished and doesn't have water yet so I'm poop out of luck there! lol Most of the water we had put into the well has seeped into the ground, but seems to be finding it's way back in as we use it.

 

That might be a problem if they're all on dug wells for the same reason that Ryan can't drill. They probably draw from the same water table/aquifer/whatever. The solution is easy though. Stop flushing, bathing and drinking.

 

JF

 

Yeah John, I told Ginny she couldn't shower, and if she want's to pee she has to go hide behind the dog house in the back yard.... The couch was a quite comfy last night!

 

If I'm reading my water bill correctly, we used 12 cubic metres last month. That's for the two of us and we try to be conservative with our water use.

 

wow 3170 gallons...that's more than I'd hoped to hear! haha that's about $100 worth of water from what I was told.... we've got a 3 year old and a 5 month old...and we're not very conservative

 

The type your looking for is called cistern well.

 

I think your other option is too try going deeper.

 

With 2 kids in my house + dog and a wife that insists not to use the dishwasher we go through about 400L per month.

 

If your getting a cistern I was told too get the biggest you can afford.

 

4000L per month right? I was quoted about 6 grand to put in a 30 foot well, and 3 grand for a 3000 cistern.... but I have to go around and talk to my neighbors about their wells...

 

I haul all of the water we use at my house. I have a wife and three kids(9,6 and 4). We go through about 4000 gallons a month. However we never water the lawn or wash the cars at home.

 

Thanks Hoosier.... That seems to be the average for a family...more than I'd hoped....

 

In this age of airborne contaminants, I don't know if this is a good idea any more but your house sheds a lot of rainwater through its eavestroughing. Could that be diverted into your well or a cistern to "top up"?

 

Used to be that rainwater was the purest you could get.

 

We do use our rainwater, but only for watering plants / grass etc. We have a painted galvanized steel roof so I don't really trust the water that comes off of it...

 

Your wasting your time putting water in your well Ryan. It will be gone the next day.

 

You need a cistern for sure. I've never heard of an area where you can't drill a well though, that sounds fishy to me. Mine is 240ft deep, and has better quality than city water.

 

S.

 

I'd prefer a drilled well... as I said before, every driller I phoned basically turned me away once they found out where I lived....and I mean if I lived 1km away they were good to go, but none of them have had good experiences with water in my little pod of houses. The ones who said they'd try, wouldn't guarantee me water. They said they'd try if I wanted them to, but if they couldn't get good water I'd be left high and dry with a bill to boot!

 

We live right beside lake Nipissing. My well was drilled about 50 feet from the shore and goes down 400 ft. (Still seems really weird to go that deep with a big lake sitting right beside!) The drilled well goes down through 130 feet of overburden before it hits bedrock (so there's 130 ft of 6" steel casing).

 

Are there any drilled wells in your area that hit bedrock or is the overburden too thick?

 

Most of the wells where I live go down 300+ feet and all of them penetrate the bedrock.

 

Cost for a completely installed well, pump (down 300 ft), electrical circuits, etc. ---- $12,000. Not cheap, but we have excellent water.

 

There isn't a single drilled well within a KM of my house from what I've been told from all the drillers I phoned. They all checked their records and said I can't have a drilled well. A combination of sand type/clay/sulfur/iron....

[The Urban Fisherman]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

 

You may want to get (or make) a couple of rain barrels. You can use those to water the lawn and save the water in the well.

 

It has been really dry lately, probably why you are having issues now. This summer was wet, so probably you didn't have issues then.

 

Hopefully everything goes well for you.

 

Thanks! we use barrels for watering plants, and really haven't watered the lawn once since we've owned the house...been lucky that way....our grass has always been pretty green.

 

I disagree with the comments that your water will seep out into the aquafer. We had a few dry summers on our farm when our dug well went dry. It was common for folks in the area to have water shipped in by tank truck during these dry spells. They would empty their truck on the grass beside the well and the next day the well would be full and the level only went down with normal water use. I believe they told us that they never would dump water directly into a well. I'm no expert on the subject and I'm not trying to start a flame war or anything....I'm just relating my experiences.

 

yeah you're right....we dumped 1500 gallons in...a lot did seep out of the well, but it's been finding it's way back in as we use the water....

 

Irragation is a big issue with the aquifier in your area ryan. Because you are on a sand plain the aquifer is very close to the surface. take a look around sometime while driving around, all those farms take water from local creeks and rivers. The aquifers in a dry spell have problems replenishing the creeks. Im sure its the same with the wells.

 

yeah dude... u know where I live...we're surrounded my farmers fields for miles and miles... I know a couple of guys who actually have permits to pump water strait out of local resident trout streams to water their tobacco! lol government issued permits....

 

In Niagara right now this is day 21 with no rain so I'm not surprised the well ran dry, the creeks are all drying up around here right now aswell. My buddy had a water cistern and filled about once a month with a family of 4. They used a water cooler with bottled water aswell for drinking .

 

Nice to hear.. I know a lot of you guys aren't down with city water "chlorine etc..." but I'm a city boy at heart. and at least it's tested on a regular basis. My wife's cousin has recently gotten VERY SICK, from a dug well that was contaminated somehow by surface water...her kidney's are all screwed up among a few other things... we use bottled water already anyways for drinking water... I'd love to go the cistern route..as long as it isn't to expensive...

 

Ryan have you invesigated using a sandpoint? These are a common way of drawing water in sandy areas near lakes. It is what we used in Ipperwash for years.

How deep is your well?

 

Rick

 

Sandpoints are also useless here as far as I've been told. Apparently we have some sort of super fine sand that clogs it very fast, and on top of that even if it did work you'd be lucky to get 1 or 2 gallons per minute of water because of the low water content in my area...

[BUSTER]

It was nice to meet you at the facts of fishing for kids, i was shooting the crap with you and jp behind daves truck about barffin you face off! lol ha ha

good luck with the well.

cheers

[Jonny]

Sandpoints are also useless here as far as I've been told. Apparently we have some sort of super fine sand that clogs it very fast, and on top of that even if it did work you'd be lucky to get 1 or 2 gallons per minute of water because of the low water content in my area...

 

Pointing out the obvious, but a gallon or two a minute is 60 to 120 gallons in an hour. That's a lot of water.

 

Do you use a front-load washer, by the way? They use a ridiculously small amount of water compared to a top-load and, with all the wash for a young family, that's a consideration. Every little bit helps when you're up against it.

 

I can feel for your problem. After our well was drilled to 440 feet (all the pipe they had), the water flow was small. We spent an anxious night wondering whether we had spent $10,000+ for a dry well. They next day they "hydro-fracked" the well and the flow was good and we breathed a sigh of relief.

 

You can't run a modern household without a good supply of water.

 

Please keep us posted on how it turns out, Ryan.

[The Urban Fisherman]

Pointing out the obvious, but a gallon or two a minute is 60 to 120 gallons in an hour. That's a lot of water.

 

Do you use a front-load washer, by the way? They use a ridiculously small amount of water compared to a top-load and, with all the wash for a young family, that's a consideration. Every little bit helps when you're up against it.

 

Please keep us posted on how it turns out, Ryan.

 

thanks jocko!

 

yeah We don't plan on using 120 gallons of water per hour non stop, but it's good to be able water your lawn, wash dishes, do laundry and shower all in the same day from time to time....

 

the front load washer is in the works...believe me. My wife has been on my case about a new washer-dryer set for months... you should have seen her reaction when I came home with a shiny new ridding lawn mower this summer!

 

It's just not in the budget right now! to bad though... our 5 month old boy pukes on everything we own at an amazing rate... all our clothes, blankets you name it!

 

Thanks for the posts dude!

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[capt bruce]

I work in the water biz . In the CITY (Toronto)The average household of 4 people uses on the average 70 gallons per person, so you will need about 300 gallons per day. 3000 gallons wouldn't last too long even if you conserve..

Edited September 21, 2009 by capt bruce

[Woodsman]

yeah We don't plan on using 120 gallons of water per hour non stop, but it's good to be able water your lawn, wash dishes, do laundry and shower all in the same day from time to time....

Cheers,

Ryan

The trick in a low flow water supply in a household is installing the largest pressure tank you can.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Woodsman