Residential Well Drilling

Most of Florida, including our area, is sitting on a water table. I have considered a hand pump for when everything hits the fan. I talked to Mom about this and she said she was considering the same thing. There is a problem. We are members of a homeowners association. No yard decorations are allowed. We would need a hand pump that does not look like a yard decoration or a way to conceal it like behind the bushes up against the house. We have an outdoor water softening system. One idea I have is put the well pump next to the water softener to blend in, make it look it belongs there.

There are members who have a well and can probably give me valuable information. I also need ideas on how to deal with the HOA problem.

Jeanette Isabelle

I would talk to the neighbors with wells first, and while asking them about their wells, look at their installation AND ask about their experience with the HOA.

Some HOA boards are, ummmh, really strict and impossible to work with, others, like my present HOA board, are very reasonable and willing to consider unusual requests. You need to know which type you are dealing with before you go forward.

I would not consider a pump a "decoration," but who knows how your Board thinks. Also, I think you are right about putting more or less out of sight near or among other utility equipment. Putting in the middle of the front lawn would probably cause some problems with the Board. . .and maybe the neighbors. . .

Perhaps suggest to the HOA that a community, or community accessible, hand pump would be a really nice emergency prep for the entire group represented by the HOA, especially if you are dealing with a condo or similar dense housing situation.

If you can have a well for irrigation have one installed with an electric pump and make sure that it is plumbed so that it is easy to remove the connection to the electric pump and install the hand pump or it might be possible to plumb it in with valves that would allow you to choose which pump to use.

On my shallow well it takes me about 15 minutes to disconnect the electric pump and install the hand pump. Haven't had to use it since I re-plumbed the connections when replacing the electric pump. But I have it if I need it.

Assuming you get a well and any water is better than no water; treated water is better than tainted for drinking. Is the water from a shallow well in Florida potable? My well in WA takes water from a fairly shallow 42 feet but it's essentially river water and is potable without treatment. I'm thinking that ground water from a residential area may not be safe as is.

Neighbors are not on wells. The neighborhood is on the municipal water supply.

Jeanette Isabelle

Here is information on the water if Florida. According to this, it should be the same water I drank from the Fountain of Youth when we visited St. Augustine, Florida.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floridan_aquifer

I don't know how deep it is.

Jeanette Isabelle

It would probably be a good idea to have the water tested before you are in a situation where you must use it. I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't part of the well drilling procedure.

Yup, the guys who drilled my well pumped it for a while to check how much the level dropped, how fast it recovered and they sent a sample to the county health dep't.

A few thoughts:

The cost of drilling a well, even a shallow one, is substantial. It's much, much cheaper to stockpile municipal water for emergency use.

Ask about permits! In many municipalities, you can't just plunk in a new water well where you please. They may be restricted or banned for a number of reasons, everything from stability of the land area to water rights in dry areas.

Wells can't just sit: they need maintenance. A well that is static -- not pumped regularly -- can become non-potable due to bacterial growth.

When we moved from well to city water I rerouted the well pipe around to the garage. The pipe goes up the wall just enough to clear the slab then goes through the wall. I have the hand pump set above a laundry sink that has its drain go out the same wall into a 20 foot French drain. Its not exactly up to code but unless your in my garage and see the pump and follow the line you never know its there. If your in northern Fl. Where freezing is a problem I would go under the slab far enough to get past the wall and bring it up through the slab. I ended up re plumbing mine later because my wife was not comfortable pumping it at the original height. I had to cut down the legs of the laundry sink and lower it to lower the pump.

WOW!!! When I see posts like this it really makes me appreciate living "in the country" so to speak. Other than abiding by local laws, county health department rules and regulations, and other more common sense things (some examples of what I mean here, I can't simply build a dam on the large creek/small river that runs behind my house or install an outhouse in my back yard or the garden across said creek/river) we can pretty much do as we please. I couldn't imagine having to deal with the headaches of an HOA. The downside of this is, the neighbors could put in a pig farm or junk yard if they wanted, assuming they did not violate any health codes in doing so.

All that said, a few things I am thinking of with regards to the OP.

- Will the HOA even allow you to drill the well in the first place? It sounds as if they are pretty strict.

- How do they define "yard decorations" and will they consider the pump as such? [I'm assuming they would, or you're assuming they would, otherwise you would not have posed the question]

- How difficult is the HOA to deal with on such matters?

- What are your intentions for the well? To share with neighbors and the community? It will be difficult to impossible to keep it a secret, all the well drilling equipment I have seen is fairly large, your immediate neighbors, and probably your entire street will know. If you have to get permission from the HOA chances are the entire community will know.

- Is the HOA of the mindset to be prepared for emergencies? If so, it would be much easier to convince them to allow you to do the well if your intentions are indeed to share with the community.

Hope this works out for you JI

Other things to consider....

Some 'codes' do not allow a 'dual source' or (for lack of a better term) output. For example septic.... if you go city sewer line, some places REQUIRE the septic tank to be crushed and rendered un-usable. Haven't had to deal with that personally.

Depending on the depth, you will reach different aquifers. I know of 'older' Florida homes and during a drought, the ENTIRE area 'ran dry'. All of the homes drew from the same aquifer and the water level got so low- none of the wells 'had water'. Massive number of wells 'dried up'. Some residents had deeper wells drilled to reach a deeper aquifer and ensure a better supply.

if your HOA has a problem with "yard decorations", they certainly are NOT going to allow well drilling. These people sound like they will be in your face about everything.

The types of survival techniques that are discussed here require "independent living" i.e. there is nobody else telling you what to do on a daily basis.

This might be a very good time to sell your home and buy a piece of property that meets your real needs.

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY - If the HOA denies your request for a well, what are these people going to be like in a real Crisis? Honestly, they will be a nightmare of epic proportions. Selling a home is a real hassle ... but getting the right property now could be a life saver later on.