Drinking well water
In the 1960s my parents bought a house built in the mid 1850s. It was a small house surrounded by twenty acres of grazing and crop land. In back of the house was a well. Nobody knows how long the well had been there, but my parents relied totally on the well for most of their water needs for the two decades they called this place home.
My stepdad added onto the original house, including a big attached garage that covered the well. In 1981, after both my mom and dad had died, I took over ownership of the house but was nervous about drinking the well water. So I boiled water for drinking or bought it at the grocery store until two years ago when I finally hooked up to the city’s water system.
I began drinking water right out of the tap. It still feels odd, and I usually pour my drinking water from the pitcher with the Pur filter in it. Tastes a lot better.
I made sure that the connection from the well to the faucet on the side of my house was maintained so I could water my lawn with well water. By then the twenty acres had dwindled to 0.43 acres, and middle or low-cost housing had filled the development. I was the only one getting water from my private well, and I was using it only for watering my lawn.
As soon as city water began flowing in my pipes, my water bill jumped through the ceiling. My friends were paying about $25 a month. I was paying $70. Why? Well, suddenly my water usage was being measured by the amount that was leaving my house to the sewer system. I’d been taking luxurious tub baths almost every day, not to mention soaking things and generally running a lot of water. It was measurable. And billable.
I went howling to city hall got my bill lowered because of the circumstances, but the change to city water has changed my life in other ways. I’ve learned to love a quick shower every morning. I use the dishwasher every four or five days and am careful about how often I start up the washing machine.
I can run water on my lawn any time I feel like it, as much as I want to. It’s free! I feel exceedingly rich turning on my sprinklers and not having anything to worry about as they shower my lawn for hours. Of course it takes some electricity to run the pump, but not that much.
Now I’m starting to get worried. What if my well runs dry? What if it becomes polluted and the government asks me to shut it down? How many other residents in Idaho have private wells they use for their irrigation needs? Should private wells be tested and regulated? What is the best use of this resource? I’d like to know what you think.
–submitted by Griffith Publishing
Tags: domestic wells, Idaho water supply, private wells, well water
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