Which is cheaper to run - well or city water

[bczoom]

Anyone that has both try to figure it out?

If you pay 8 cents/100 gallons using city water or electric at 8 cents per KW to pump it out of the well, which comes out cheaper?

About 98% of the time, I use the city water. If Mrs. Zoom is doing a lot of laundry or I'm doing something outside that requires a lot (let's say over 500 gallons of expected usage), we switch to well water for the day.

Thoughts/ideas?

 

[buckle97]

I don't have an opinion/answer for the $ question, but I'm curious as to how you have your plumbing set up to switch between the two. Since you apparently do it on little notice, I assume it must be a good setup.

 

[bczoom]

Here's my setup. It takes about 10 seconds to switch it.

In the first picture:

The valve with the blue handle is the city water (currently open) To it's left is a backflow preventer which keeps the water company happy. There's actually another valve to the left of that backflow preventer which I close as well.

The green valve in the lower right side of the pic is the well water (currently closed)

The white push valve right behind the water conditioner is the bypass for the water conditioner.

In the 2nd picture, on the wall is a switch. Turn it on or off for power to the well pump.

The 3rd pic is a side angle. You can also see the another white push valve for the other water conditioner tank.

 

[DaveNay]

If we use this pump as an example....

Ignoring purchase costs, well drilling costs, municipal hookup fees, etc..

1 H.P. = 745.7 watts

The pump is rated at 823 gallons per hour....but that is probably with only 10-15 ft of head, so I'd guess 600 gallons per hour.

1 hour of pumping = ~ .75 KwH for 600 gallons

.75KwH * .08/KwH = .06

.06/600 = $0.0001 per gallon

.08/100 = $0.0008 per gallon

Well water is roughly 1/8 the cost of municipal water.

However, municipal water doesn't wear out at 3am on a Sunday before Christmas. Emergency pump purchase and installation can eat into that savings significantly.

 

[bczoom]

I like your algorithm Dave but can we take it another step?

If we're removing cost of purchase and other costs, I probably should drop the monthly service charge on the city water. By doing so, it's now really .05/100 gallons.

What are the electrical start-up requirements for the pump? By cycling on and off, is it using more electricity than running constantly?

 

[DaveNay]

I like your algorithm Dave but can we take it another step?

If we're removing cost of purchase and other costs, I probably should drop the monthly service charge on the city water. By doing so, it's now really .05/100 gallons.

What are the electrical start-up requirements for the pump? By cycling on and off, is it using more electricity than running constantly?

Is it possible to obtain city water without the monthly service charge? I doubt it is, so you can't exclude that from the cost of the water, although it will be a smaller percentage the more water you use.

Yes, the motor will use more current at start up (electric motors have peak current draw at 0 RPM, that's why the lights dim when the table saw binds up), but I honestly think it has minimal effect on the total picture. Where it WILL have an effect (starting and stopping frequently) is how quickly the pump wears out. This is easily fixed by installing an appropriate accumulator tank.

 

[bczoom]

If well water is that much cheaper, I may just have to fix the broken water line between the pump and the house and go back to using well water.

It's not going to be fun finding the leak and digging but I guess I should do it anyway...

 

[DaveNay]

It's not going to be fun finding the leak and digging but I guess I should do it anyway...

I know it's quirky hocus pocus, but for $25 you can get someone to use dowsing rods and pick a starting point to dig. It's been known to work before, and worst case is you are out $25 and have to start digging someplace anyway. Best case is they get it right the first time, and you save 20 hrs backhoe work.

 

[bczoom]

Thanks Dave. I may give it a try.

The water does reach ground level so I have a decent ballpark of where the leak is. The bugger is that the electric, phone, cable trench is pretty close so I'll have to be doing some hand digging.

 

[buckle97]

Thanks for the description and especially the photos Brian .

 

[Junkman]

you might want to check with the municipal water supply about discontinuing service. Many times, they won't discontinue service unless you physically break the line between the main and the house. A friend had a similar situation where he built a new home, and the town said that he couldn't opt out of using the town water. They changed there minds when he informed them that the town water supply on his street used asbestos pipe. Seems that they didn't want the rest of the people to know what was installed back in the 1950's. Growing up in town has its benefits...

 

[kensfarm]

I've seen news articles that have forced "well water homeowners" to go on city water.

My local town just got hit w/ a 3 million dollar lawsuit from a group of homeowners that had sewage backup in their basements.. they won.. now the water/sewer rates are going way up to not only cover the costs of the lawsuit.. but also for the repairs of the sewer system.

Glad I have well water & live outside the town limits.

 

[bczoom]

Around here, there's no requirement for well water users to switch to city water.

Closer to town it may be a requirement for new homes that also have sewer available. Not sure if it's a requirement right now because our sewer plant is at max capacity.

I just checked our water company website. Heck, I can cancel my service right on their web page.

 

[buckle97]

I just checked our water company website.

Now that is a funny statement for me to read. My water company doesn't even have an office; let alone a website. We mail our payment to a P.O. Box or pay it at one of the local banks. The repair man keeps all the company-owned equipment and tools at his house.

 

[skinderflirt]

I don't have an opinion/answer for the $ question, but I'm curious as to how you have your plumbing set up to switch between the two. Since you apparently do it on little notice, I assume it must be a good setup.

I had a set up for over 25 years here where I could change back and forth between 2 wells or city water.
I could also switch 2 tralier spaces back and forth between city and well water as well as our house.
It was all pretty simple to set up and use .
I done it all with shut off valves.

 

[Big Dog]

Around here, there's no requirement for well water users to switch to city water.

Closer to town it may be a requirement for new homes that also have sewer available. Not sure if it's a requirement right now because our sewer plant is at max capacity.

I just checked our water company website. Heck, I can cancel my service right on their web page.

The township I live in put in a water system (no sewer) 2 years ago due to the necessity of one small community that had dried up. They ran the line along a primary highway and branched it to acquire large tracts of service members, businesses and rest homes.

If you lived in the service area, a one time offer hook-up fee of $1500 was offered. BTW ....... hook-up was required whether you accepted service or not! New service hook-up is now up to $2700. There is still a lawsuit on the books against the township from a group of individuals that just wanted to continue using their well water and refuse hook-up.

I live just outside (half mile) the service area. If they bring it out this far (not likely), it will cost me $4K (hook-up, ditch work, 400' pipe, etc...) to get it to the house so I can pay $35 a month. Wish I could drive buy with my fuller brush kit and you have to buy a brush from me!

 

[bczoom]

If you lived in the service area, a one time offer hook-up fee of $1500 was offered. BTW ....... hook-up was required whether you accepted service or not! New service hook-up is now up to $2700. There is still a lawsuit on the books against the township from a group of individuals that just wanted to continue using their well water and refuse hook-up.

That's just not right that you have to pay a hookup. Even worse is having to pay even if you don't hookup. I hope the group wins that lawsuit.

Our water company didn't charge a hook-up. I think it was about $500 for the digging, plumbing, valves, pipe...