Homestead mailing list

[clhw AT infoave.net (clhw)]

Our well, a shallow (60 feet or so), bored well (about 3' across) is about
450 feet uphill from the house. It's a slight incline but enough to aid
with the pressure. We have had very little, if any water, from that well
for nearly a year. We pump water into a barrel on the back of a truck, from
another well on the farm, which is about 1/2 mile up the road, and then
charge it, via a pressure pump, into the reserve tank, and thereby into the
plumbing system for the house. This is a nuisance, needing attention
several times a day, especially if I do laundry.

A laundromat trip, 8 miles round trip, is probably in the near future on a
regular basis. I just hate the expense and the smells from all the dryer
sheets and perfumed detergent people use.

Our septic tank and field are behind the house whatever the health
department allowed. It is a little downhill from the house.

I'd like a new well but it would be expensive, and we currently have a
wedding in the family and a child in college. It would be wonderful to take
a long, hot shower. As it is, I shower more like the Japanese: wet down,
water offf, soap up, water on for rinse. With no central heat, that's cold
in the winter, even with a quartz heater running in the bathroom.

As I've told my husband, nearly my first coherent thought in the morning is
what the water pressure is, how full the transfer barrel is, what I need to
do with water during the day. I am dealing with the shortage constantly
throughout the day, and tend to make a late night trip up the drive to
pressure up the system. We try to flush toilets only when needed and with
water hauled in 5-gallon buckets from 3 55-gallon barrels which catch
rainwater from the house roof.

The roof is asphalt shingles, so we don't use the water from it for
drinking or garden. Livestock ponds on our road and nearby are mostly dried
up. All the wet weather catchment ponds are dry. The springs are a trickle
and the two creeks which are boundaries for our property are down to a bare
minimum. We have one well, probably dug in the 1800s, which is fed by an
underground river. For about a year now, we haven't been able to see water
from the top and it takes a while for a stone to splash. This well is about
1/2 mile from the house and has no pump or bucket set up on it. The house
(maybe a one-room schoolhouse) that well served is long gone. Even the
foundation stones were used for a chimney on a house which is also gone.
The military maps show 6 houses on our property. Only two of them actually
exist.

I need to go pump up the well right now. I've gotten a little chicken about
doing it after dark since our neighbor reported seeing a large puma run
across our property between our house and the well house. Often, I drive
the car that short distance. Also, we've had about 4 feral hogs, weighing
up to 300 pounds, shot on our property this year, and I am scared of them.

We had a little rain this past week, but are about 20.5 inches deficit for
2007, added to about 60 inches deficit built up over the last 6 years. Rain
is expected tomorrow and for the next 2 or 3 days. We just hope it is more
than the drizzle we've gotten the last two or three times we had
precipitation!

Bev asked:
>That brings up a question for me, as one who is considering a new well.
>Lynda's is 1000 feet from the house, so she must have a super pump.  I
>am thinking of putting the new well possibly 125 yards away, elevation
>change of perhaps -5 feet to the house.  If we ever did build our dream
>house in the back pasture, the new well would be about 150 yards from it
>and maybe 10 ft downhill from it.  Deep wells around here are around 400
>ft deep.  What kind of pump/pressure tank would that require?
>How far is your well/spring/cistern from your home?
>