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We're looking into rural Wake for our next (and hopefully last!) move, and most of the houses we see are on well water or 'community water' with septic systems. The septic system is not a problem... the well, on the other hand, is a different issue.
I'm unfamiliar with they types of wells typically found in Wake County (southern Wake in particular) and was looking for a bit of info. Are they usually dug wells, or bored/jetted/other wells? How deep are they in this area (typically - i know the water table isn't very deep, but varies)
Also, I see houses that are on 'community water'... whattheheck is that? Multiple people sharing one well? If so, who takes care of it?
I live in Wake County just north of Raleigh. One-half of our community (50 homes) is on a community well, a single large-bore well dug on an undeveloped lot from which water is piped to surrounding home. The rest of the homes (including ours) have individual wells. These are 4-inch lined wells 300-500 feet deep. An electric pump is hung near the bottom and water is pumped up a 1-inch PVC pipe to a storage/pressure tank under the house. The wells produce 1-2 gallons a minute. While we don't pay $40/month for city water, we do have to replace the pump ($1,000) about every 10-15 years. Also, long-term production could be an issue as development grows and if annual rainfall falls....
We're on a well too. We've had no problems to speak of and we feel the water is better than city.
You can check with the city or county to find out specifics on wells in specific areas. A while back during a drought we checked to see how good the aquifer is in our particular part of Raleigh (north) and we learned the supply is excellent.
Do you do any regular testing of the water supply?
how close to the house are they, usually?
thanks a ton!
Our well had to be tested in order to get the certificate of occupancy from the county. If everything comes back OK, you're good to go. There's no other testing that's required, but you can send samples to the state lab to have tests run as often as you want. I'm sure it's not free though.
Our well is approx. 60-75 feet from our house. I don't know what the code reads, but I don't know if I've ever seen a well closer that about 30 feet to a house. I know wells have to be a certain distance from septic drain fields; at least 100 feet sticks out in my mind, but it's been a long time since I've studied that stuff. Someone out there correct me if I'm wrong.
We were fortunate that the previous owners connected the supply line to Durham's main. Of course, now we must pay for water, I don't feel that it's our most expensive utility. The cool thing about us being connected to city is that we have the best of both worlds now. The well is still connected, and we had the previous owners connect the well to our irrigation hoses (and eventually, when we install sprinklers, that will be connected to the well too). Great pressure too. Although, I must admit, I've never lived anywhere that needed a pump or a well, so I really don't know what to look for if it begins to fail.
We do use the city for our drinking and laundry... the well for irrigation (I'm looking into connecting the cold water lines to the laundry to the well to save even more money). So far, we have not had a problem with the pump or the well.
Of course, if we were drinking the water from the well, I would get the water tested first just to be safe. Even though the water is good on our property. I actually question more the main water than the well. In either case, for drinking, we're thinking about hooking up a filtering system, anyway. We have one connected to the fridge, but that's it.
Our well is pretty close to the house. It's in a separate bricked up structure. Nice looking, but only about 20 feet from the house. We're on 3/4 acre too. I don't know if that matters, however.
A filter is important with well water. We have a whole-house filter to remove sediment, sand and clay. Otherwise the grit would tear up the washing machine pump, clog our ice maker, stain our sinks, etc. We use a 30-micron cartridge system - anything smaller will clog too fast. We use the "string" type filters that look like a tube of yarn. They need to be changed about every three months.
One advantage to well water is that you're not drinking 'recycled' water. City water supplies come from lakes and rivers, and that water comes from upstream sewer treatment plants.
The folks in Wilmington get there water from the Cape Fear river, and by the time the water reaches them, it has already been 'recycled' 23 times.
During the last bad drought, Mayor Meeker suggested that since the Raleigh sewer treatment plants output cleaner water than what's already in the stream, we should simply reuse that water for the Raleigh water supply. While it makes sense, I've got to say that I cannot get past the 'yuck' factor.
A little sediment in well water doesn't sound too bad now does it?
A filter is important with well water. We have a whole-house filter to remove sediment, sand and clay. Otherwise the grit would tear up the washing machine pump, clog our ice maker, stain our sinks, etc. We use a 30-micron cartridge system - anything smaller will clog too fast. We use the "string" type filters that look like a tube of yarn. They need to be changed about every three months.
Good to know. Do you know if this can ALSO be connected into the main coming from the city? Don't know if that would be an issue, but I'd hate to find out later, after the fact, that the city forgot to filter out a good portion of the population's 'used' lunches one day. Eh.
And even though I only use our well now for the exterior hoses, I guess I had better check to see if a filter is at all connected in the first place.
BTW, a few questions:
1. Can anyone with experience with well pumps list some of the maintenance tips required to keep the system in top form?
2. Also, what to look out for when a pump starts to fail?
3. And, lastly, during some of our freezing cold days, are there any precautions one should take to prevent any issues there?
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