Homeowners: What is well and septic like? - Page 2

RickM · RickM's Garage

Rick,

Sounds like you have a Manual Transfer Switch which will handle a few of the critical circuits in your home.

As a spare-time side line I bought and sold generators.......the year leading up to Y2K

....(I no longer do it though). One of the benefits was I ended up with a beautiful Onan 15KW, Natural gas unit.

In any case, a well pump will usually eat up a smaller generator with start-up current demand. A simple spreadsheet will help size a generator for your needs.

Note: If anyone ever has questions regarding this subject feel free to PM or Email me.

MotoSook · 03-19-2004, 10:20 AM

Dude! My dad's house is on well/septic. The septic system has been relatively hassle free, but the well pump went out once. Not much to replace considering the money you dump into you CARS!

And that one pump has lasted for over 10 years.

If you happen to be drawing form too silty of a reservoir, it sucks! My parents could never soften their water enough for our taste.

If you are out in the sticks anyway...build a water tower out of some 50 gallon, lined drums for power outage use. It doesn't have to be tree-top high to build enough head for those emergency uses. Or get a few of the bladder reservoir tanks, and charge it up and place where every...recycle it now and the or run them in series with the normal usage one. When the pump goes, you'll have enough pressure to last a while.

RickM · RickM's Garage

Souk, Does your dad have 55 gal drums in the trees around his house?

This sounds pretty primitive and relatively difficult/expensive to engineer/plumb.

MotoSook · 03-19-2004, 10:47 AM

No Rick, but he is not really out in the sticks.

Plumping wouldn't be that hard...but then I work with pipe, valves regulators and such every day

Yes, it's primative, but if I were on a farm, I might have a generator handy. If I didn't, I would store a couple of drums in a pole building (common on farms) and run HDPE (or even PVC) pipe to and from the drums with valving to change sources that the house draws from.

The big water towers you see in every town is pretty primative too no?

RickM · RickM's Garage

Heh heh, true...and on top of many city buildings, I'd suppose.

chuckw951 · 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RickM
And if the area is prone to power outages consider a back-up generator.

This is key. I have a well/septic system. During the hurricane last year we were without power for 7 days. Luckily we borrowed a generator after the 2nd day and I've since bought inexpensive generator from home depot just in case. The Home depot down the street from me couldn't keep generators in stock for months after the hurricane.

City water isn't an option, so we are stuck with the well. Water is OK but you need to keep on top of the salt and chemicals (if your water is acidic) and filters. Be sure to get a big enough air tank to maintain good pressure. Water quality also depends on where you live and how deep you go into the ground.

john70t · 03-20-2004, 03:21 AM

Also, it might be worthwhile checking the areas statistics: average rainfall, direction of underground watertable flow and what is upstream, etc.. from gov or internet sources and get a neighbors sample fully tested.
If the township decides to/can mandate sewers in the future that could be a cost as well.
The well water here develops a black ink-like mold in the filters every month and the softened water doesn't clean body/clothes very well. Still, with bottled water for drinking and cooking it's not too bad.