Water is so important when living out in the country. City dwellers take water for granted as they are usually hooked up to a municipal system. Turn on the valve…water. Turn on the shower…water. Turn on the sprinklers…water. Municipal water is with usually treated with additives to improve the water quality.
Out here in the rural areas we depend on well water. No additives, fresh and free!!! Well, not really free. You must pump the water from underground, into a holding tank and then deliver it to where it goes. The costs include finding water, digging a well, installing a well pump, holding tanks, and finally a pump to deliver the water to its destination.
It is important to determine the amount of water available underground before buying that perfect piece of property with the great view. I am going to talk about supplying water on 5 acres or less for the purposes of this site. Ask neighbors, ask the local well guy, take a look around…is there plenty of foliage? That’s a good indicator. https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/gw_ruralhomeowner/
Residential water…
Well water is the freshest and best for drinking,and home use, such as bathing, laundry, etc. Of course you can run well water through purifiers, water softeners to your liking. There will be specks of minerals but that can be addressed with filters. More about that later. Mother nature is probably the best filter as the water in the aquifer is usually pure spring water sitting in a water table not exposed to the elements. By the way, the municipal water districts get their water from the same place.
In general your holding tanks have to hold your average household use of water, usually determined by square footage of the home or by the amount of spigots installed. ALSO, there is a certain amount of water needed for fire protection of your property. This is determined by what is called “fireload”. The amount of water calculated to extinguish a fire in your home determined by you local fire authorities or building department.
In simple terms, picture a large cylindrical tank…lets say 4 thousand gallons. There will be a fill pipe coming from the well. On the tank, halfway down there is a pipe that allows water for your use. That is “your water”. Near the bottom of the tank there is a larger pipe dedicated to fire protection. This requires a standard fire connection fitting to accommodate the fire departments hoses and pump. This insures that there will be enough water to extinguish a fire, if necessary. We have two four-thousand tanks here. Eight thousand gallons altogether, 4 thousand gallons for home use and 4 thousand gallons for fire protection. The tanks are situated side-by-side connected by a large pipe near the bottom of the tanks. The tanks will have an equal water level. https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/sdcfa/documents/prevention/water-tank-standards.pdf
Livestock water needs…
Animals need lots and lots of water. For the health of the animals the water must be good quality and plentiful. https://extension.psu.edu/how-much-drinking-water-does-your-horse-need
This must be calculated into determining the amount of water storage on your property. As an added precaution it is wise to have smaller holding tanks near the animals in the event of a power outage. Usually a 150-200 gallon tank or a couple of plastic 55-gallon drums with spigots, just in case.Oh ya, always keep them filled and periodically replenished.
Irrigation…
So lets say you want to plant and grow grapes, tend to the vineyard, harvest, crush the grapes, age the juice, bottle the wine and become the next famous wine maker in the valley. You will need water…and lots of it. Like animals, you cannot afford to run out, so more holding tanks. Of course this is determined by whether you are growing a small garden or 3 acres of grape wines. Orchards, apple, peach, nuts all take plenty of water. So this all has to be calculated into how much water you have coming from the ground.
We learn from our mistakes!!! When we bought our raw land, we were excited to build our home and start out journey of rural living. Before making an offer on this 5 acre piece of dirt we consulted a local well guy. We had electricity on the property and two wells. The first well was “adjacent to the power supply” so we tested that one first. After 5 hours of work, placing pipes underground and pumping on a very foggy night we got water. Randy had an old sports bottle in his truck, took a taste then said…”buy this property”. We did. So now comes planning, architect, building department (more about that later). So what can I do during this dead time? I bought a small tractor and scraped weeds. OK, that took a week. So I had a water pipe, a spigot and clean dirt. This would be a great time to install water pipe around the perimeter of the property.
Mistake #1…
I trenched all around the property 2 feet inside the fence line. I using 1 1/2″ pvc pipe and installed 3/4″ riser pipes periodically for spigots. Also installed 3/4″ laterals with shut-off valves periodically.I should have put in a minimum of 2″ pipe around the property and a minimum of 1″ pipe as risers and laterals. More is better!!! Big pipe, big water!!! One thing I did do right is put in-line isolation shutoff valves. These come in handy when doing repairs or connecting additional outlets.