|
| Author |
Message |
Chortlam
Member
|
# Posted: 19 Apr 2017 10:32pm
Reply
Hello,
My wife and I will be building a new cottage on a lake, and need to determine out best option for sourcing water. This is quite probably discussed elsewhere here, however in that I know absolutely nothing about the subject, I'm probably not searching for the right terms. Hence, if someone can point me to any articles or posts that do discuss this already, please let me know.
Our initial assumption was that we would pump water from the lake (as many of the other property owners on the lake do currently). The cottage will be about 19.5m (~65') from the top of the beach; the lake is quite shallow in front of the property; there is, in fact, something of a sandbar in front of our property. This is relevant as the cottage is in rural Quebec, and we wish to make the property four-season. Hence, whatever pipe we run to the lake will need to run out far enough into to be at a point that is beneath the winter freeze depth. In other words, the hose will probably need to be very long.
Someone has more recently mentioned that we might want to consider a sandpoint/driven well. According to our neighbour, whose property is roughly the same distance from the water line, he routinely gets a few inches of water in his 4' crawlspace basement in the Spring. This, I assume, means that the water table is not very deep.
What we're trying to find is some kind of pro/con list comparing these two options. My uneducated guess is that the sandpoint would be probably considerably less expensive (no heated pipe heading way out into the lake). What I don't know is the disadvantage of the sandpoint well. The articles that I have found talk about the easy contamination due to shallowness, but if we're comparing against drawing lake water, then that argument is no longer relevant: we would probably be looking at a UV purification system (or comparable solution) either way.
Any thoughts or tips would be most welcome!
Cheers.
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 19 Apr 2017 10:55pm - Edited by: bldginsp
Reply
I think you've pretty much covered it already. Shallow wells can get surface water, lake water is potentially contaminated etc. Wow- heated pipes running out into the lake- I shudder to think what the electric bill is.
Another alternative would be to get a well driller in there and punch a deeper hole. The big advantage is that they can plug the annular space around the casing near the surface, which will prevent surface water getting in. Done correctly you would not need an ultraviolet purifier.
Another advantage to a drilled well is that you can connect your water pipe from it well below the frost level, so frozen pipes are not an issue until you get to the point that the pipe comes up out of the ground. I don't know if this is possible with a sand point type well.
We used to have a cabin on a lake in northern Idaho which my grandfather built in the 1930s. We pulled water from the lake and had no problems with it. But that's when there were only a few cabins, now the place looks like a California suburb, with hundreds of houses in the area, all on septics. So now the water has a lot of algae in it from all the septic systems. I'd look carefully at how many cabins are in your area and what effect they've had on the water.
|
|
NorthRick
Member
|
# Posted: 20 Apr 2017 12:56am
Reply
Go with the well. Even if it is shallow you will still benefit from some filtration from the sand vs drawing from the lake directly.
Get it tested and you might not need to treat it to make it drinkable.
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 20 Apr 2017 08:57am
Reply
Trouble with shallow wells is they are clean today and dirty tomorrow because of surface water infiltration. A deep well with good water is reliably good.
|
|
Just
Member
|
# Posted: 20 Apr 2017 09:08am
Reply
I have seven sand point wells . You need the proper soil conditions for a sand point well,hence the name sand point . first ask around and find out if any of the neighboring propertys have them. If so your well should be at least 100 ft. from any septic system. ( I have one that is only 50 feet and it tests fine but the farther the better) .So do you have space?? Do these things first ... the rest is easy, less than 500$ for a frost proof system.Get back to us after you answer the first two questions. .
|
|
Chortlam
Member
|
# Posted: 20 Apr 2017 09:59am
Reply
Some great thoughts here - thanks to all!
We had never really considered an artesian well as we were scared off by some of the (unofficial/hearsay) cost estimates (e.g., $15k).
While the number of cottages on the lake has increased over the years, the lake is relatively small and geography will prevent too much more growth (one side of the lake is entirely mountainous).
As part of the build, we will be installing septic (as required by municipal, and I believe provincial law as well).
We might be able to get 100'/30m from the septic field (and our neightbour's); it might be a stretch, but I think it could squeeze in. It just occurred to me, however, that the septic field will be uphill of any potential sandpoint well. Is that a concern?
A couple of other points that I might mention:
- We are about 120m/400' from a highway, which is also uphill of our property.
- There is a runoff ditch coming from the highway to the lake that runs through out neighbour's property (within 5m/15' of our property line).
I'm wondering if this runoff might contaminate any well due to the winter road salt and other detritus that probably comes off a highway?
From my neighbours, and the guy that did the soil tests for the septic field, I'm lead to believe that the ground in the area is mostly sand and clay.
Thanks again for the tips!
|
|
bldginsp
Member
|
# Posted: 20 Apr 2017 12:47pm
Reply
An artesian well is where the water underground is under pressure and comes up by itself. A regular drilled and cased well will require a submersible pump and generally cost about $50/ft depth, plus extraneous costs. If you have a high water table you might only need a 100 ft well, but you never know until you drill and you have to be prepared to go deeper if necessary. Yes it's costly but it's the best solution.
I would definitely prefer to have the well uphill of the septic drainfield. Water often travels horizontally underground, but in all probability it is headed toward the lake.
No idea about the drainage ditch. Might be a good idea to get the county/province health inspector out to the lot to scope it and tell you if they will prohibit any of your plans. You will probably be required to keep the septic a certain distance from the lake, and the well 100' from the septic, so if the lot isn't very large you could have a problem.
For septic the soil must perc- and a sandy clay or clayey sand might perc slowly. Have you had a perc test done?
|
|
Just
Member
|
# Posted: 20 Apr 2017 01:18pm
Reply
up hill or down it does not matter .you can install a sand point yourself for 50 $ put one in and see how much water you get,, if it is enough pump it for a few hours and have it tested..With wells there is no conjecture involved its ether good or bad,you don't know till you dig..so 50$ or 15000$ your turn.. good luck!!
|
|
|
|
