Have your own well within city limits?

[Gd999]

I’m in Indianapolis. Is it possible to have a small well installed on your property? Something with even a hand pump? Would be nice to have a backup water source if SHTF. I know they make kits you can buy but I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Any advice?

 

[smokingman]

You can have a well.

My family faced the same issues in Columbus(Indiana). We had both a private well and city water. The well was by code in Columbus only allowed to be connected to an outside hose spigot. Sewer bills were based on city water use and they do not want to lose that revenue. If you hooked up well water to the whole house they had no way to meter you for sewage disposal.

Here is what I found on the actual rules in Marion county.

Private Well Program

marionhealth.org

 

[Gd999]

You can have a well.

My family faced the same issues in Columbus(Indiana). We had both a private well and city water. The well was by code in Columbus only allowed to be connected to an outside hose spigot. Sewer bills were based on city water use and they do not want to lose that revenue. If you hooked up well water to the whole house they had no way to meter you for sewage disposal.

Here is what I found on the actual rules in Marion county.

Private Well Program

marionhealth.org

So I can most likely find a company that will come and install a simple well with just an outdoor hose spigot? Hate to have to run power to it, I wonder if the old hand pump style you used to see would work?

Get this done and then I just need some simple solar for misc power. Just enough to get by.

 

[smokingman]

So I can most likely find a company that will come and install a simple well with just an outdoor hose spigot? Hate to have to run power to it, I wonder if the old hand pump style you used to see would work?

Get this done and then I just need some simple solar for misc power. Just enough to get by.

Helvie & Sons (765) 674-1372 5418 Lincoln Blvd, Marion, IN 46953

One of the few in Marion County. DWS(can put in a private well) per Indiana DNR.

https://www.in.gov/dnr/water/files/wa-Indiana_contractors.pdf

I would talk with them about the type of setup you would like. Not all hand pumps are made for deep wells. Quite a bit will be determined by how deep they end up going. You will not know to much until they are done.



The Other Marion county DWS. Yes, there are only 2.
The Rig Doctors - Fred McAninch (317) 839-7534 1412 S CR 1050E, Indianapolis, IN 46231

 

[bobjones223]

Due to all the regulations on wells and the cost you may be better off just putting in a cistern?

Tye it into your gutters and call it done....they have been used for thousands of years and are still used today.

I have a buddy who has a hunting cabin in Brown county that still uses a cistern for all the water needs.

 

[GIJEW]

Due to all the regulations on wells and the cost you may be better off just putting in a cistern?

Tye it into your gutters and call it done....they have been used for thousands of years and are still used today.

I have a buddy who has a hunting cabin in Brown county that still uses a cistern for all the water needs.

I imagine that with our annual precipitation, you could just use a couple plastic barrels.

 

[JettaKnight]

You can have a well.

My family faced the same issues in Columbus(Indiana). We had both a private well and city water. The well was by code in Columbus only allowed to be connected to an outside hose spigot. Sewer bills were based on city water use and they do not want to lose that revenue. If you hooked up well water to the whole house they had no way to meter you for sewage disposal.

Here is what I found on the actual rules in Marion county.

Private Well Program

marionhealth.org

Or to make sure it didn't back feed, right? Or deal with it when selling.

I'd be pissed if I bought a house and was stuck using well water - but I'm Fort Wayne where the city water is top notch.


Oh, and if the water goes out, the electricity probably will too, so a genny is must have.
And if your neighbors see you have a well in SHTF scenario...

 

[KokomoDave]

You can drill your own. There are many YouTube vids. A simple pressure washer can be used. Yes, the old pump type well spigots still work well.

 

[Gd999]

I got a qoute from a place than can install a hand pump like the old school ones. As long as it doesn’t need to go deeper than 85ft, the cost is $6200.

 

[Hawkeye]

When I lived near Indy (lawrence, actually) one of my neighbors had a well even though we were on Lawrence water and sewer. He used it for his sprinkler system.

 

[woowoo2]

You can drill your own.

Legally?

 

[eldirector]

I'd be pissed if I bought a house and was stuck using well water - but I'm Fort Wayne where the city water is top notch.


Oh, and if the water goes out, the electricity probably will too, so a genny is must have.
And if your neighbors see you have a well in SHTF scenario...

What's wrong with well water? Our well is tons better than Indy city water. Granted, we have a softener. No chlorine, no fish poo, no human poo...

Still trying to talk my wife into a "decorative" hand pump. For now, a genset works.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

You can have a well.

My family faced the same issues in Columbus(Indiana). We had both a private well and city water. The well was by code in Columbus only allowed to be connected to an outside hose spigot. Sewer bills were based on city water use and they do not want to lose that revenue. If you hooked up well water to the whole house they had no way to meter you for sewage disposal.

Here is what I found on the actual rules in Marion county.

Private Well Program

marionhealth.org

I was always on well and septic up until this past summer when they ran sanitary sewers and made everyone tie in to it. We still have well water though, as they didn't run city water lines. They don't seem to have any problem billing me for my sewage disposal. I am guessing the grinder pump they put in probably has some kind of metering function.

I love my well water and hope to never have to get city water.

 

[Gd999]

Legally?

Yea lol. There is a ton of forms. So legally I’m sure you got go the expensive route and pay a well company. 6200 was the qoute I got.

 

[Gd999]

When I lived near Indy (lawrence, actually) one of my neighbors had a well even though we were on Lawrence water and sewer. He used it for his sprinkler system.

I have a sprinkler which would be awesome to hook it up to the well. That would mean I’d need an electric pump for it, and that it would need to have a water line ran across the yard to the main intake for the sprinkler. I wonder if I can have two lines coming out of the well. One electric and feeding the sprinkler, and the other a hand pump for when shtf. Saving big money on the water bill for a few years would be nice to offset the costs.

 

[Magyars]

Where I'm located the water table is very close to the surface.
Driving a well point by hand with attached pipes IS doable.

 

[KokomoDave]

There are some forms if you want to do it for potable water. Mine is for my "garden"!

 

[Gd999]

You could use one of these Custom made to order multi fuel Rocket Stoves to boil your water. Constructed of welded 1/4 carbon steel guaranteed to last a lifetime and only $450.

Great for Hunting, Camping or I personally use mine for canning in the fall to reduce the mess in the kitchen.

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Damn, that thing is sharp looking. Very nice.

 

[JettaKnight]

What's wrong with well water? Our well is tons better than Indy city water. Granted, we have a softener. No chlorine, no fish poo, no human poo...

Still trying to talk my wife into a "decorative" hand pump. For now, a genset works.

'round here it's quite hard and minerally. Terrible for making beer.

 

[04FXSTS]

Our well is a "bored" well 24" dia and 24 ft deep put in last March and our water is fine and plenty of it. We got a driller that has done quite a few wells in our area and he told us before he started just about how deep it would be and how deep to hit water. He was very close on both accounts with our area being known for a good water table.
Talk to someone with experience in your area and they may be able to give a fair estimate of finding water. But it is pretty much impossible to be sure untill you have a very expensive hole in the ground. I went to school with a guy that bought property in the country and IIRC sunk 5 wells and never got a good reliable water supply. His next door neighbor had natural springs on his property and more water than he could use. No tapping into the neighbors water because they hated each other. Some friends just had a 250 ft hole put in the ground and got a trickle of salt water. Jim.