Transporting water to property viable?

My deep well died last fall, I watered 20-25 head of cattle with a 270 tote from the ditch.

Took right around 1 tote of water per day.

Was a long month until the well diggers got through their backlog of well digging and got me a new one.

I got a 5hp ag pump, 2 pieces of 25 foot 2 inch hose, a strainer, and could pull the water from the ditch in less time than it took to set up the hoses and all. I have a bridge over the ditch, so could drive over and just flop the hose down.

I set up a quick disconnect onto the tote fitting reduced down to a garden hose, and could park on a bit of a hill by my barn, could gravity feed to a $15 float in a tank.

So it all was pretty simple and worked well, had it convienient. That is really the reason it took so long for the well diggers to get to me, others had much worse conditions, so they left me going for a bit....

Even so with it set up nice, it was a pain in the rear by the end. A person learns to appreciate what electricity and our mechanical stuff does for us!

Paul

I would haul the water. It'd be way cheaper than drilling a proper well. Save your money till you have enough to drill.
Neighbors down the road haul a 20k litre tank about 5km a couple times per day when they're starting their greenhouse transplants.

For a time I had to haul water from my house to the animals/garden about 1/4 away. Time consuming yes, but not the end of the world. Depending on the area and what not; I ended up getting a cheap sand point, a couple pieces of pipe and a gas powered pump for that location of mine. Easy peasy.

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~ Mike @ Solsikke farms ~

We have to haul water. Our place in Northern Arizona is all water haul. Most of Northern Arizona outside of any town or city is water haul. I just bought a used 250 gallon tank that is made for pickups from a guy for $70. We buy water from the town water company for a Penney a gallon or I can have it hauled at $60/2000 gallons. we have a 1500 gallon tank. Once I get our house started I'll add another 500 gallon tank.
A well where we are start at about $100,000. 5000 ft deep is the estimated depth.

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"Contempt prior to investigation can leave a man in forever ignorance"
My paraphrase from a Herbert Spencer quote.

To give you an approximate figure, in the summer I use about 75 gallons to water my greenhouse which is 17 X 48. That's watering once a day...if it is really hot and you need to water a second time, double that.

Are you uphill or downhill from your parents

Water is pretty much mandatory for living critters... I'd solve the water equation before doing anything else. Hauling sounds like a solution, but unless you haul a lot of it and stockpile it, 'stuff' happens and you'll find yourself high and dry without a way to get more...

I'd drill a well or build a pond... if nothing else pipe it in... until I could get a pond built....

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I would put the greenhouse as first priority, making it big enough to store water in for the Winter, and have less animals/fowl. Then, I would put in a big "water feature," not an actual pond, which may be an issue. Here, you can have a water feature, but put in a pond and now it is regulated and instantly has setbacks w/use restricted. That may not be an issue where you are, but may be wise for future considerations. Moving water also deters mosquitoes... A water feature can be like a pond with moving water (simple little pump, can be solar, for any type of feature you like). Then, this water feature can serve for storage and water collection both.

Why I would reduce the number of animals/fowl has to do with learning just how much water I would need, not risking the loss of livestock due to a potential water shortage.

We put water as our first priority this time, when we searched for another property. Not only did we want sufficient production, but the quality is even more important to us. So far, 8gpm, clear, and waiting for specific water tests prior to close.

Wow, topofmountain! I used to live in AZ, knew there were water issues in different areas, but OMGoodness, $100,000???!!!

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Christie Acres
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I need 1500 gallons on the farm tmr. I have six 275 gal totes on the flat bed. In a moment of stupidity, I rigged up some 3/4' PVC piping and thought I could fill all six at once. But of course the flow isn't even so one tank gets most of the water and some get none. Given a few more parts and valves, I could get this to work, but hardware stores frown on you shopping when they are closed. So it is back to using a hose and 40 minutes to fill each tote. I was ready for bed 2 hours ago.

When I was a kid we went thru quite a dry spell and the well went dry. My folks got a 500 gallon oval galvanized tank, like a stock tank but with a hatch in a closed top. My dad had a flatbed trailer and worked in town. I think he was able to fill it while at work.

This supplied all our water: animals, garden and the house.

Stuff was made good back then. I have the tank still.

Do your folks live on the farm? Electric water pump?

I'd get two trailers and 4 or more of those totes. Put one on each trailer with float valves installed so no one needs to stand around while filling.
The valves at the bottom of the totes are large so quick gravity drain.
Have the unload spot as high as you can.
Rig up some same size hoses with quick disconnects and it won't be much of a hassle at all.


Goodluck

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Push, Pull or get Out of the Way

Like many "practical" plans, the thought is better than the reality. When I first moved to the country, I thought I could manage with a push mower. That got old REALLY fast.