A friend and I are building 2 houses near each other, and plan on sharing a well. No one I know of locally has done this, but we have tentative approval. Apparently shared wells are common elsewhere…
My question is, how do you plumb such a beast? I was thinking a pressure tank and controls in the house nearest the well, then T off to the other house, maybe a booster pump and bladder tank there as well, but perhaps there is a more advanced system that doesn’t have 1 party paying all the pumping electric bills etc.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life – you just might!
Replies
There are several in my area, serving from two to twenty plus residences.
The typical setup has a deep well supplying a holding tank with a float switch to operate the submersible pump and then a centrifical pump and pressure tank supplying the users. (if the tank is uphill, each resident may have their own pressure tank and pump). A pump supply should be able to design the specifics for you, including check-valves, filtration systems, purification, sizing of lines and pumps, valving etc.
What I usually see is the residents, rather than worrying about month-to-month utility costs, just contribute to a common fund which is used to pay the power bill (separately metered) and the inevitable maintenance costs that arise over time.
To avoid disputes, it should be spelled out in advance how the system will be monitored and maintained and who writes the checks. One person should be the designated "water master," though (since there is just two of you), both parties should be familiar with how the system works, where lines are buried, etc.
I would think that trying to operate both residences off a single pump could, over time, create some problems.
My neighbor and I are on the same well. The electricty costs were spelled out in the contract for the home...so many Kw x current price for said Kw. any maintenance is split between us. With the quality of deep well pumps you can plan on replacing it every 6 years..thats from our pump guy. Its not the pump or motor that gives out...its the spline between them that fails. Talk about planned failures. The last one we had failed 1 month after the warranty expired. More pressure tanks and big pressure tanks take the load of starting and stopping off the splines so go big.
what brand of pump are you using
think the last one was a Jacuzzi but the one before that was a different brand. Now , I have another well and that pump has been there for a long time. Basically I'm saying that pump mfg. plan on having the pumps fail so they can sell you a new one. The water heater in my 1952 house is original...they dont make em like they used to.
I know several people on small community water systems (shared wells) that wish they had their own. If you have a high-yield well it may not be a problem, but in the summer when people start watering the landscape and drying out a shared 1/2-GPM well, the sparks start flying.
If the two homes are not far from each other and not very different in elevation then a single pump, tank, and controls can work fine. Make sure the tank is at least twice as big as you would choose for one home.
The financial and social issues can be more complicated.
"The financial and social issues can be more complicated."
That's why I would stress that, no matter what kind of system you install, develop a good boilerplate agreement for it's use and maintenance.
Your neighbor may move.
So your shared well arrangement should be written to protect you from the worst nightmare of a neighbor you can imagine.
If my dear departed Dad were alive to tell the tale, I'd turn him loose to describe the "Neighbor from Hell" we had for awhile when I was growing up.
My father, a most gentle, accommodating man, was once so enraged by our neighbor that he went after him with his trusty old 1903 Springfield 30-06....to be saved from the gas chamber at the fateful last moment by my mother, who finally interrupted his rage (as he beat down the neighbors door with the rifle butt) by pleading to his responsibility as a Father of four sons.
(If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that night!).
Edited 1/12/2006 8:26 pm by Notchman
Thanks for that story as I love old stories , well all actually.
I was wonderin,...
In the case the houses are close enough , each owner runs a leg of the 220 needed to run the pump thus sharing the cost of the well pump. Each party runs their own electric for their own tank pump thus one has water when the other onbe doesnt in malfunction and can borrow water. from the other . No phone calls saying you owe me this much.
The tank and well are a shared expense with a small assosiation fee paid by both in a savings account on a monthly basis. Then if the well pump failed a pump guy could be called and paid . Seems over my lifetime my partnerships have always left me doing those tasks because of the business Im in and the tools I house. Yes, thats been a festered point with me for a long time because charges are hard to mount to a partner unless he or she is of fair nature and even then a 300 dollar bill can pizz off even the meek if they think they are standing on priciple. The relationship is normally worth much more but for that same reason partnerships fail.
On a long distance I loved the shared temp pole expense but still one owes the other unless its put into an account previously to write checks .
I think I would still opt for my own well unless this well was a hum dinger I might not get drilling again. I wouldnt do it for a 2 gpm well . 8 or above ,.... Id partner.
Tim
Tim;
I have a confession to make; I've been working on a book (novel), off and on for about 20 years....finally got it finished last Fall and to an agent, and recently got an advance....don't know if I've found the lottery yet, but it's chock full of good stories.
Mostly a tale of times in the Great Depression...(lot's of CCC research, one of my passions of that era), and WWII. Based loosely on the adventures of my Dad and his running partner....Dad went on to be a flyboy in the Navy....his buddy, a real woodsman, rifleman and hardass, got 4-F'd and spent the war supplying venison to logging camps.
If this effort pans out, you'll get a signed copy.
Frank
WOW, thanks !
Tim
OTRe: "I've been working on a book (novel)" ...Do you have a title, publisher and a publication date?I would be interested in having a go at reading what you write. And no, this isn't a request for a free copy. I would fully expecting to pay and purchase it through the normal channels.
"In the case the houses are close enough , each owner runs a leg of the 220 needed to run the pump thus sharing the cost of the well pump. Each party runs their own electric for their own tank pump thus one has water when the other onbe doesnt in malfunction and can borrow water. from the other ."Stick with DW and paint and stay away from anything more electrical than a flash light <G>.
LOL.
I knew you would be along . hehehe Or Forlorn.
Tim
Edited 1/13/2006 6:26 am by Mooney
There's also a requirement for testing "public water systems". Don't know the current law, or the requirements in your area, but if a single water source serves more than one home, usually there's a requirement for annual testing of water quality. Check with the health dept on that one.
There are a few "private" water systems around here with a few "customers" sharing a well. The well is on someone's property and each "customer" is charged based on their meter readings. I think a couple of them add a small surcharge to the bill to keep a cushion for repair and maintenance.
Whatever you come up with, put it in writing. Houses get sold and the new neighbors may be difficult to get along with.
I built a spec in a subdivision with shared wells, their were 4 people to each well. The way it was done each house had it's owen pressure tank and they were wired to a single control box in a pump house. The well was a high yield with a 30 gpm pump. I have never heard any complaints on it so I guess it works out for them. Bye the way the deed had writers in it for the well and their was a $30 per month water bill.
As others have pointed out, you need a good agreement. That may include a legal easement for the owner of the property where the well is not located to access the well in perpetuity (so that both parties have to agree to revoke the agreement).
I was once involved in a situation where a mother and her son owned homes on adjoining properties. Well on the son's property, informal agreement for mother to access the well. Son defaulted on a VA loan. VA took his property and cut off the mother's access to the well. Elderly mother with only SS income couldn't afford a new well. We finally found a source of funding, but the poor woman was without water for more than a month.
And that agreement should be file at the courthouse with the deeds. So that it shows up on title seaches.
Absolutely. Very good point!
Consider installing vacuum breaks in both main supply lines. Small pumping systems are notorious for loosing pressure by way of loosing power or mechanical failure.
Water lines, as long as they remain pressurized, are pretty much self-protecting. Leaks or intrusions flowing out and away from the known good supply. If pressure is lost the situation can reverse.
Small leaks in the underground supply lines, toilet tanks and a garden hose left in a kiddie pool or puddle can draw water of questionable quality into the system. Groundwater from surface runoff, small underground sewage leaks, and other potential sources of contamination can infect the system or, more rarely, the well itself.
Don't confuse vacuum breaks with a check valve. If a check valve fails you may not know about it even as it is incapable of protecting the system. A vacuum break, if it deteriorate, will drip water, providing a warning, but still provide its protective function.
Wow. 21 replies. Y'all are great.
Even though we are great friends, we'll be certain to draw up an agreement - a google search netted many boilerplate forms. Maybe w/ a "HOA fee" type of setup to keep a little pot for a rainy day (or dry well)
We'll certainly not share unless we have ample water - usually not a problem in these parts. I am intrigued by the multiple controls/relay option - If my pump installer has any experience with these. My guess is he'll look at me like I have two heads.
What I'd really like to do is have a pump house with a large tank and each of us have a booster pump and pressure tank of our own - but at some point we could drill another well for the same money...
Our property is by a railroad - maybe we could build one of those cool wooden water tank towers?Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
" build one of those cool wooden watertank towers..."
Make sure you make it kid proof.....a real attraction for eighth graders with full bladders. :-)