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SouthParkMark
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2012 04:05pm
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Hi All -
New member to the site, but a long time reader. Never had much to post about previously, but have a opportunity now that I'd like some of the collective wisdom on from the board members.
The property next to us just went up for sale, about it's only attribute is an existing (permitted) well - other than that it's a square piece of dirt. The well per Colorado's permit is only 73ft, but produces 15gpm as of 2003 when it was drilled and tested. Not sure what the cost is to drill in Colorado, versus the cost to trench (there is technically a road between us - graded at one time, over run with grass now) back to our place where someday we'd want a cabin (trees and a hill for protection from the south winds).
Cost of the new place is $13K for 5 acres, about double the price of similar pieces without a well.
Appreciate the feedback in advance.
- SPM
And for all those curious folks out there property is in Colorado near Hartsel (area known as southpark) at roughly 8500 feet elevation. High mountain vegetation, pines, aspens, firs, and brush although the brush and aspens took the drought hard this year and I expect to lose a lot of it.
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2012 07:34pm
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Taste the water before you buy . some well water is offensive .
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SouthParkMark
Member
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:21pm
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Thanks Just! Any easy way to pull it out if there's not a pump already installed (definitely no electric in the area)? Also makes me think should we do any other tests on the water - before drinking it?  It is free range cattle land (Colorado is a fence out state).
- SPM
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:24pm
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I had a well sunk in 06, at the time, the casing was real expensive because of the price of steel. It has come way down. My well is 178 feet deep, I have no pump in it, its just a steel cased deep hole and cost was $8000. Its permitted. But before I drink from it, I need to send a water sample into the state health dept, they will measure it for anything toxic.
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2012 09:05pm
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try a string and a test tube. boil it if you wish, to be safe , boiling will not affect the taste much . chances are in a well that deep the water will be safe to drink but may "not taste good".Just saying , know what your getting ..
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GomerPile
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2012 10:07pm - Edited by: GomerPile
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I just installed a 205 ft well for about 6K including pump test and water quality test.
Even though there is a fairly shallow well nearby that does not mean your well will be shallow or have the same static level. Two wells within 500ft of mine are 100ft deeper and have static levels at 100 ft compared to my level of 10 ft....no idea how that works...it just is.
You should determine the static water level because it greatly affects how much power will be required to get water delivered. If you are doing the off grid thing a high static level is very desirable. You might find that the value of easy to pump water worth the price.
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SouthParkMark
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 02:29am
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Thanks everyone. Sounds like I should at least get an idea on the water quality first (currently the well cap is paddlelocked). If (big IF based on Gomer's comments) a well on my place being at roughly equal or slightly deeper could run 5-7K assuming 100-150FT of drilling and pipe, may be cheaper to have one closer to where I want the cabin (no trenching back) and will save me from more taxes on the second property.
Of course it's always tempting to just have that extra land as a buffer too --- plenty of thinking to do!
Appreciate all the comments.
- SPM
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wakeslayer
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 09:06am
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Regarding the power required.
I had a 230-240' well drilled at our property. I do not really know where the water level is, but assume it is way down. My pump brings the water up, and also pushed it up a hill somewhere between 400 and 500 feet to a holding tank for my gravity feed. I use my EU3000i on a 120V 30A circuit to run the pump.
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Martian
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 10:38am
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SPM, Chances are, whatever the water is like on the neighboring property, that's what your water is going to be like. That's assuming you hit water on your place at all.
You might ask the neighbors around you about their wells. See if you can determine a pattern of depth, quantity, quality, and how many dry holes they drilled. There should be a geological map of your area that will tell show you the water table. You may decide that having a "bird in hand" is a pretty good thing.
Tom
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SouthParkMark
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 11:38am
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Like the idea of an uphill holding tank, may work out with our topography.
Looking at the website that maps well permits and construction, only a few others around and the vary greatly, from 300 ft with 2 gpm to 100 ft with 5gpm. May have the think about the bird in the hand. Tough part that we were not expecting for a big expense anytime soon. May let the property bake awhile on the market and hopefully nobody gets it too fast.
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TomChum
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 11:48am
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If it's downhill to the cabin site.........maybe you can you use (small) solar to pump it up to a large subsurface tank that with luck, won't freeze. Then gravity flow down the the cabin site.
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wakeslayer
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 12:30pm
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Or lowball them. Offer them like $8000 and see what they say. Cannot hurt.
That is less than my well system cost.
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PA_Bound
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 05:01pm
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If you need water, I would recommend a serious consideration of this property. There always seems to be uncertainty regarding wells. Will I hit water? How deep will I have to go? What will the recovery rate be? What will the water quality be? How much will it cost? And I am living proof that neighboring properties do not always get similar results (my well is about 150' deeper than my neighbors, and gets about 1/10 of their recovery). There is something to be said about "a bird in the hand", as mentioned above.
If you worried about water quality and such, make any offer dependant on the acceptable results of a water test. That way you're covered. These can be a little involved on old, unused wells. But if there is a pump in the well you can collect the sampe yourself if the owner removes the lock (or, just pay to have it done).
One note here- typically tests on an new or unused well involve "shocking" the well and removing/recovering some of the water over a few days first, before collecting the sample to be tested.
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SouthParkMark
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2012 06:39pm
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PA - Sounds like sound advice. I may be in yours and wakeslayer's camp and try to low ball them to have a known working well and tested again before buying (drought has been very bad up there).
I had never given the neighbor property much consideration looking it over before - it was there land and I didn't want to impose by walking all over it. I may try to make a trip up in two weekends (first free weekend - those of you with kid's activities know weekends are normally not your own time!) and walk the property and give some consideration to the location of the well and distance to our property, etc.
- SPM
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