Summary: As the world is seeing with the Cape Town water crisis, water is a finite resource and when faced with a lack of it, chaos ensues. Here are ways for you to protect your water supply, and minimize the chances of suddenly being without a clean source of drinking water.
Water is one of our most important resources. It only takes a few hours of your water being shut off to discover how much you need it for almost every aspect of your life. Water for cooking, for waste disposal, for cleaning and for drinking needs to be available at all times, which is why you always need a steady supply. Following are the most common ways people get water, and tips on how you can ensure that your water supply remains consistent.
- Get Hooked Up to the Municipal Supply
This is probably the easiest and hardest option simultaneously. Whether it’s a phone call or simply impossible depends entirely on where you live. Too far from the nearest infrastructure and you could spend thousands or more on building what you need to connect to the water supply. On the other hand, newer developments and land that have been recently developed can be connected to municipal water supplies much more easily. This often still costs a fair amount of money if it wasn’t done before you moved into your new property. Either way, you will need to contact your local municipality to discuss your options.
- Dig a Well
If connecting to the municipal water supply is simply impossible, then you will have to find your own water in the form of a well. This option is often far more cost-effective than building the infrastructure to connect to a municipality, and far less than you may think to set up. The key to digging a well that offers a clean, consistent, long-lasting water supply is in how you find that water. Contacting an experienced and technologically advanced water surveying company is your best bet. Armed with the latest in water-finding technology, a water surveyor can detect water supplies located under the earth’s surface. A water finder can even estimate how likely the water found underground will be a good well water supply.
- Always Have a Back-Up Plan
No matter your source of water, whether it is a well or a municipal supply, it is always important that you have a backup plan. Since most people who rely on alternative water sources live in fairly remote areas, they need to ensure that a system is in place in case something goes wrong with their usual supply of water. This can be a water trucking company who comes to your house, an elaborate filtration and rainfall collection system or, if you have a system in place, a backup well for emergencies. No matter the system you use now, always make sure that there is a plan in place for if it fails.
Contact American Water Surveyors before you call the water well drillers to ensure you know where water is on your land. Drillers charge by the foot, even for dry wells. Knowing the location, depth and yield of your water supply before the drillers arrives saves you time and money.
