Coming to the BI on a house hunt (Hilo, Kailua: insurance, crime)

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by terracore

"A significant portion of the island does not have public water available and instead uses rainwater caught on their roofs. This is of course a whole different conversation on it's own but it could be a factor that helps you quickly eliminate some big areas if you don't want to be your water department."


There are ~48 million people in the USA not on public water. Wells are more common on the mainland but there are a lot of advantages to catchment systems. The maintenance isn't that bad, expensive, or time consuming, and you can always pay somebody else to do it- which is essentially what everybody on municipal water systems do anyways.

I have had wells, catchment and city water. I must say I prefer catchment. Cost once your system in place can be virtually nill (well, except for filters) if you don't have to haul water or pay for delivery. I rarely have to haul water but when I do, I sort of enjoy it as it's another opportunity to strike up a conversation at the spigot and get to know your neighbors better.
Can't get that with a well or on city water.

[hotzcatz]

I dunno, Grassyknoll, I think I'm on the other side of the fence. County water isn't that expensive. It's really nice having water available without worry about filters or if there's enough or if the pressure tank and pump are working properly, etc. But it might be nice to have a well if one was close enough to the ocean that it wouldn't be so deep that it was expensive. Still, even with a well, one would still want to have filters and would want to check the water quality occasionally.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

I dunno, Grassyknoll, I think I'm on the other side of the fence. County water isn't that expensive. It's really nice having water available without worry about filters or if there's enough or if the pressure tank and pump are working properly, etc. But it might be nice to have a well if one was close enough to the ocean that it wouldn't be so deep that it was expensive. Still, even with a well, one would still want to have filters and would want to check the water quality occasionally.

My county water bill in California could reach $200 per month, I'm guessing Hawai'i County is much less
As far as Wells go. You still have the issue of pumps and pressure tanks but also the added frustration of reduced flows and pump/lining failures. Think about it this way, Hawai'i County is having a nightmare with its' wells, but I don't hear about any problems with it's reserviors. IMHO, surface stored water (reservoir or catchment) seems to have lower cost and maintenance than do wells.

[hotzcatz]

I think our water bill runs somewhere around $20 to $30 a month. It's so low they only send a bill every other month. Even watering the garden, it's still very inexpensive. It's good tasting water, too, so I'm really happy we have County water instead of catchment. I could still do some catchment if I wanted for the garden, I guess, but we don't even water the garden that much since we usually get rain right about the time we need it.

[terracore]

When I had municipal water bills in other states the WATER portion wasn't that expensive, the sewer portion was most of the bill. Hawaii county water bills are probably just that- water.

I would take a $20-$30 water bill over catchment any day simply for the convenience. But I tested our (filtered, UV sterilized) catchment water and it was more pure than East county water, even more pure than bottled water. And WAY more pure than Kona water (I collected a sample at the airport drinking fountain). Properly harvested, stored, and treated, catchment water is some of the purest water you can get. Rain water is essentially water distilled by nature by the evaporation process. Where does well water come from? Going back far enough, it's origin is exactly the same- rain water, except it has had prolonged contact with the ground. Sometimes that supplies a filtering effect (does distilled water need to be filtered?), sometimes contact with the ground only adds feces and/or other contaminants. That's where your county water comes from.

[steiconi]

not all groundwater is equal. here in Minnesota it picks up a lot of minerals while underground, making it so hard that it leaves a brown crust wherever water hits. Wash the car, you get spots. Wash your hair, it gets dry and stiff.

I'd like my catchment back, please...

[hotzcatz]

There's supposed to be a few minerals in water, aren't there? Someone was telling me that if folks only drank reverse osmosis water (which is supposed to not have anything in it at all) then they sometimes had problems with bone density? Dunno if it's true or not, but that was something someone told me once.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

There's supposed to be a few minerals in water, aren't there?

There aren’t enough minerals in natural water to make a material deiiference in your life.

If you need, for instance, calcium, there isn’t enough in water. You’ll need other sources.

[67Cam]

Water without any minerals (i.e. distilled or sterile) does not taste good. Sterile water isn't common but distilled can be bought at just about any grocery. It's usually used for medical equipment (i.e. CPAP machines) or in cars (batteries, radiator). You want some minerals in your water... mainly for taste. I have hard water and use a water softener, but at a low setting.

[terracore]

When I researched the distilled water / mineral / health question I got conflicting answers, therefore I don't really have an opinion. But east Hawaii county water tastes REALLY good (Kona water has to be chewed before swallowing) so we fetch country water in 3 gallon water cooler jugs for drinking, but use regular filtered and sterilized catchment water for the fridge ice machine, cooking, and every other use. If we run out of county water, we drink catchment water until we resupply.


I don't know if the flavor difference is because of minerals or pH. Rain water has a pH of between 5.0-5.5. Ground water is around 7.0.