On Feb 25, 9:49*pm, wrote:
I share a well with my neighbor. *For both of us, the well and pump
were supplied by the developer who old us the land on which we built
last year. *Both houses use the well and pump, but only one house
supplies the electricity--and that's our house! *We agreed that we
would pay for the electricity along with the rest of our electricity,
but our neighbor should pay us half the cost of the electricity
required to run the pump. *Problem is, I don't know how to charge for
that. *I don't even know how much electricity the pump uses. *It's on
a circuit connected to our house's electrical service--there's no
separate meter. *What would be a fair amount to charge?

In case it helps, both families have two adults and two children with
typical water usage--no hot tubs, swimming pools, etc.

Here's another thing I'm wondering about... *Ours was the first house
built, and ours was the first plumbing connected to the pump, so I'm
wondering if we paid for some initial set-up that our neighbors didn't
have to pay for. *For example, besides the electricity each month,
wouldn't there be a cost to initially run the circuit out to the
pump? *What other initial costs might there be that should be shared
with the neighbor?

Finally, when our house was built, we installed a pressure tank. *The
purpose of the pressure tank is to improve the overall pressure of the
plumbing in the house and to provide a sort of pressure reserve so
that the pump doesn't have to turn on so frequently. *I'm not sure the
cost of this tank and it's related controls, but I know it was over
$1,000. *I also know that our neighbor did *NOT* install one of
these. *My question is this... *Is our neighbor benefiting from our
pressure tank? *Besides lessening wear and tire on the pump, is it
also improving the pressure for our neighbor's house, too? *(The tank
is located in our house's mechanical room.) *Is this something that
our neighbor should be compensating us for?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

- Johnnie

From someone who has been there and done that. I bought a house on a
community well. The well was on the neighbors land - originally ran 4
houses but only mine and the neighbors when I bought.

First and most important (others also said it) - get an agreement in
writing and best preapared by a lawyer.

Points to be covered:

Who is responsible for the maintenance? If it is 'call a plumber'
then just who? The plumber won't come to a call he can't bill for.
If it will be one of you, that person needs to be compensated for the
time. In my case, I wound up as that person - unpaid - because I was
the only one who knew how.

How are costs of maintenance to be shared? Monthly charge (best)? As
needed? - works for minor stuff but a major cost (busted pump) can be
beyond what just writing a check will cover at a moments notice.

How much water is to be used? Very important. In my case I was
frugal with the water but the neighbor was running four sprinklers
24/7 on her pasture.

I finally got fed up with the system and drilled my own well to get
off the 'somethign wrong witht he pump calls' and trying to get a
reasonable split on costs. Still do have the connection to the
community well though (that is deeded).

Bottom line to repeat: Get a legal agreement drawn up.

neighbor getting benefit of your pressure tank. Yes he is
unless there is a one-way valve cutting him off from the tank. The
pressure switch would have to located on his side of the valve though.

Harry K