City Water and Well Water Renovation Idea

[Mr.T]

Quick one. I am in the middle of a complete down-to-the-studs renovation of a home I bought. I am completing a 95% re-pipe of the plumbing with Uponor PEX. I am fortunate to have both nice clean well water and city water. I am not hooked to the city sewer, I have a traditional septic tank. My intent right now was the following (I'm basically doing this to save a few bucks long term with water use and to keep the well from getting stagnant):

City Water:

• All Showers/Tubs
• All Sinks
• Dishwasher
• Washing Machine
• Refrigerator Ice Maker/Water
• Hot/Cold spigot in garage

Well Water (Softened)

• Toilets
• Furnace Humidifier
• Possible eventual feed to a detached garage

Well Water (Un-Softened)

• (3) Exterior Spigots

The city/well systems will be completely independent from each other. Costs of added materials are relatively small and I have no issue with the extra time it will take for me to do the work. The 5% of the system I am not re-piping is the existing copper feed from the well tank to the the existing softener system.

Is there any good reason not to do it this way?

Thank you in advance for any advice/opinions.

 

[James Henry]

Where is your well in relation to your supply line running from the city main?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mr.T]

Inside:
The well line comes in on the East wall of the absolute NorthEast corner of the basement. The city water line comes in on the East wall as well but it is about 6 feet away from the entry point of the well line.

Outside:
The well line heads due east and the city water heads East for a few feet and then arcs and heads due north and eventually West to tie in to the city main about 900 feet away.

The systems are 100% isolated from each other inside the home.

Is this the info you were looking for?

 

[James Henry]

My thoughts are, that you would have to run a separate water line throughout the house just for the toilets and I don't think toilets use a lot of water anyway. If you wanted to have a separate line for hose bibs and irrigation that sounds a little more practical. If you do decide to use both well and city water I would definitely install a bypass line on the system in case one of the systems goes down.

 

[James Henry]

I forgot to mention, you need to consult with your building inspector to to get permission to tie you your well into your city. I don't know your locations rules.

 

[Reach4]

City might object to bypass valves.

An alternative is to use

and a potable water hose commonly used with RVs. Then you can have your emergency connection without the plumbed-in connection.

 

[Mr.T]

Thank you. To be clear, I have access to everything inside the basement of the house. Per code, I do not believe you can install a bypass between the two systems.

What I did though, is that I ran the 3/4" line fed from the well that comes off the water softener directly parallel to the city water line that is feeding the rest of the house. So if there is ever a real problem, I can easily cut and tee in and abandon the other system. Obviously the ease/ flexibility of having a true bypass would be ideal, but I am 99% certain that is not legal.

 

[Mr.T]

City might object to bypass valves.

An alternative is to use

and a potable water hose commonly used with RVs. Then you can have your emergency connection without the plumbed-in connection.

This is a interesting idea as well!

 

[Mr.T]

Really the crux of my question was if I was generally missing anything by just doing what I am doin. Sounds like my plan overall makes sense. It should save me a few $$ over the lifetime I'll have the home and it will always give me an emergency back up one way or the other if something significant were to ever happen. Really appreciate the quick feedback. If others see any issues or have other ideas please chime in!

 

[Jeff H Young]

sounds good to me mr tee how does the math figure ? how much do you save like per hundred or thousand gallons or over a months time? or is it strickedly for the security of having 2 sources of water even if it wasn't a savings?

 

[Mr.T]

To be honest, I have not actually worked out the math, but I have a large property, so depending on what I am doing outside the savings should quickly cover the extra costs in materials I spent. The backup water source is mainly just a bonus. If I ever have to go off the grid I can quickly switch over to the well for the entire house too!

 

[Jeff H Young]

I was thinking the power to pump from well could be a major cost too . probebly cheaper than buying water . No Idea just curious I wouldnt expect to buy a generator and gasoline to beat the cost of electricity. but with water it probebly pencils out a little better

 

[Mr.T]

It's a good point. Plus the cost of electricity and salt for the softener system. All things to keep in mind. Hmmm..

 

[Jeff H Young]

still some comfort in knowing you have a reliable well . some city water isnt very good just ask Flint

 

[GReynolds929]

In my area if you connect to municipal water supply, the well is decommissioned. The city goes as far as cementing it. In rural areas some water districts allow a well for irrigation only. You'll want to check with your provider on what they allow before moving forward so you're not surprised in the middle of it.

 

[Jeff H Young]

G Reynolds, very good point, Dont know much other than what he said a major renovation of home may require him to connect to city water and or sewer I think if there is an addition they do that. If you own water rights to a well you may have right to use it for irrigation. Having house connected to both systems I dont think would fly even with a back flow device.. But he stated he was not going to hook it up but was going to have it plumbed ready to hook up.
The restrictions could widly vary.

 

[Valveman]

Cites with a little common sense, if that is possible these days, will allow the use of a double check or RPZ type back flow valve at the city meter. This prevents the possibility of the usually perfectly clean well water from getting into their city supply line. It is always good to have a backup supply for water, even if it is to open the valve on the RPZ and let the city water contaminate your house's clean water system. Lol! Or at least that is the way I see it. My well water is better than the city water, and I control it. So I don' t have to worry about waking up dead like the people in Flint.

Since you can pump your own clean well water for pennies on the dollar compared to buying city water, I would only turn on the city water if I absolutely had to and the house plumbing would all be the same.