Dripping Springs - Well water almost gone? (Austin: appliances, how much)

[MKCRNIC]

My husband and I are coming to Austin next weekend for our second house hunting trip, this time we're going to spend a lot time searching the SW area (Dripping Springs). We have heard rumors that the well water is almost gone due to the falling water table. Is this true? I have to believe that a solution has to be available as so many others would be affected and in serious treat. Can you comment on how difficult it would be to take care of a well water system?

Also, what about septic sewers? Any thoughts here? How difficult are they to maintain? Are the rumors true that sometimes septics back up and you end up with yucky backflow in your sinks and tubs?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Steel Man]

Hello MKCRNIC,

I am not from Austin area, but this web site, should give you some info on their plans for future water supply.

Enjoy your trip to Austin!

http://www.lcra.org/water/vision_hays.html

[deeptrance]

My accountants (two women, separate families and properties) both live in the Dripping Springs area. Both of them use rainwater exclusively --- no wells, no springs, no piped-in water. It's a realistic alternative, although in times like this when we've had a lot of heat and little rain, you have to conserve like crazy. But the cool thing about rainwater collecting is that you get results from even the smallest thunderstorms. Those storms might only seep a half inch into the ground, but they amount to significant water when gathered from rooftops and stored in a large tank.

One of my accountants takes 5-gallon containers to a nearby vending machine where she gets filtered drinking water at a cost of about 20 cents a gallon. Other than their drinking needs, the rest comes from the rain collection.

One more thing that's helpful is to have a "grey water" system, where your waste water from sinks, laundry and showers is all recycled as irrigation water for every part of your yard other than edibles. You have to be careful in this case not to use caustic substances to clean your kitchen sink or inorganic detergents for the laundry, but those are good habits to get into anyway. Heck, people live in MUCH drier places than here and somehow get by. We're just spoiled by that magic faucet that reliably pumps out gigantic amounts of water that we mostly waste. No offense meant, it's just a question of what we're accustomed to vs. what's possible using alternative technologies and conservation.

[jdichard]

I live in the Dripping Springs area. I have a well, and have had no trouble with water. Not all properties in this area have wells. Some have city water. I have a septic and have lived in my home for 21 years. I've never had a problem with mine. I've only had it pumped out once, and that was because someone put a Q-tip in the toilet and caused a clog. Moderator cut: no advertising please

Jenny

[ocmom]

Deeptrance,

Do you have any idea how much it would cost to build a water collection system or create a grey water system like you described? I've heard of them but wondered how much it would cost to add/convert.

Another question for anyone who might know. We've been looking at Dripping Springs and noticed that alot of homes are all electric but we prefer to use natural gas for heating and cooking. Is it just not available to some areas or is that a builder thing? If it's available, any idea how much to have lines run/installed (not including the obvious replacement of appliances and heating unit)?

Thanks MKCRNIC for asking the well water and septic questions! I was wondering about that myself. I have always lived in the city and this stuff is all new to me.

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by ocmom

Do you have any idea how much it would cost to build a water collection system or create a grey water system like you described? I've heard of them but wondered how much it would cost to add/convert.

I know they're both expensive up front, especially if done with all the proper permits. The rainwater system apparently pays for itself after a couple years, from what I'm told. As for grey water systems, I'm pretty ignorant because I've only done that on my own, unofficially and without permits. It's cheap if you do it yourself, but don't get caught!!! And be sure you know what pipes to send out to the yard or you'll be in for a rude surprise

[ocmom]

Thanks Deeptrance! I was looking at a custom homebuilder site this morning and they had a link to an organization that has information about water collection systems - talk about perfect timing! The information was extremely helpful. I don't know if the link will be deleted but just in case, the site's title is "Richard's Rainwater" and it's at rainwater.org. There was alot of how-to information as well as tax incentive information and costs.

http://www.rainwater.org/

[gigi927]

OCmom,

On the natural gas front, you need to see if there is a stub for the gas line built into the home at the dryer and cooktop locations. You also need to check to see that there is adequate venting to the outside from the cooktop (some electric cooktops do not vent to the outside; those that have downdraft venting normally do).

If you have a stub and venting, it's no problem to get the gas appliances in. If you don't, then sometimes you have to cut into the concrete slab to plumb the gas line from the nearest location into the site of the appliance. You also have to arrange for venting to the outside. I can't quote you how much it costs, but it's not a day long project by any means. cutting concrete and then repouring can get pricey because concrete is very expensive right now. (BTW, my husband and I flip houses for a living, so that's where I'm getting my knowledge from).

It's definitely worth trying to get as a builder option up front if you are buying new construction. Hope this helps!

[ocmom]

Thanks Gigi,

I wasn't sure if it was just that the builders choose not to run gas lines to the homes or if it's that the homeowners or builders are choosing to use electric appliances & heaters. The salesman at KB Homes told us that none of their homes use gas, it's all electric. We thought maybe it just wasn't available in certain areas - kind of like the city water thing where some areas have it available and others have to use wells or water collection systems. Is there a difference between propane and natural gas? Some of the homes I've seen list propane and others just say gas and I wasn't sure what if any is the difference.

[gigi927]

My guess is it's just KB Homes...I know at least in AZ, they tend to not offer as many features as other builders. All the new construction builders we talked to in Austin offered gas when we were looking...but, we didn't spend a ton of time in the SW area, so maybe I am completely wrong on this!

Larry (musicman) can probably correct me on this and if it's the same in Austin, but here in AZ, if a home says it's "propane" you have a propane tank that is filled periodically (kind of like filling up your car); whereas with natural gas the lines are plumbed underground and the supply does not run out.