CY: Text inserted after my initials.

On 6/27/2014 5:16 PM, DannyD. wrote:
Do you have experience or ideas for trucking potable water to a residence?
CY: Never done it, but willing to think some about it.


We haven't had rain in a year or so, and some of my neighbor's wells are running
dry. They asked me to figure out an efficient way to get water to them because
the bulk water delivery companies are really lousy on service & costs.

CY: How close is the nearest neighbor with municipal water? Or the
nearest muni hyddrant?

The San Jose Water Company sells water out of the fire hydrants at $2.70 per
CCF (i.e., $2.71 per 748 gallons) after we rent a "portable meter", either a
1-inch portable meter (output is a male 3/4-inch garden hose thread) at
$29.48/month, or a 3-inch portable meter (output is a male 2-1/2 inch firehose
thread) at $176.98 a month.

CY: In the NYS areas, hydrant water is often rather
muddy brown, the house taps are on top of the mains,
and hydrant on the side. So, please note that you
may need to flush the hydrant to get the rust out.
Or use a hydrant someone else used the other day.


The returnable deposit for the portable meter is $400 for the 1-inch meter,
and $1,550 for the 3-inch meter, which includes the hydrant wrench & hoses
(although they suggest hoses from Royal Brass at http://rbisj.com).

CY: With the 3/4, it may take several hours to fill a tank. Not sure.


It turns out that most, if not all, of the bulk water delivery companies
use this method to obtain their water, so, what you're paying for is the
trucking.
CY: And the manpower.


Hertz Equipment Rental in San Jose rents a flatbed, which requires only a
normal class C drivers license, for $245/day, which will hold about 8,000
pounds (about 1,000 gallons of water in a plastic tank). The first 50 miles
are free, and then it's 25 cents a mile thereafter.

CY: That could add up in a hurry.


They don't recommend the 2,000 gallon 'water truck' which requires a Class A
(commercial) drivers license, and costs $459/day, plus 30 cents a mile, because
there is no telling what water was in there prior, so you can't drink from it.

A quick estimate for the costs & logistics for a day's rental might be something like:
a) $5 for each 1,000 gallons of water from SJWC
b) $50 for 1 day rental of the 2-1/2 inch output 3" portable meter
c) $250 for 1 day flatbed truck rental from Hertz
d) $500 for 1 brand new 1,000 gallon water tank from Tractor Supply Company (or equivalent)
e) $100 sales tax on the new water tank & other incidentals

Any other helpful suggestions for me to provide to the neighbors for trucking
in potable water during the drought?


CY: I knew some folks who used a tap at the local
highway department, and 5 gal cooler jugs. No one
liked to haul jugs, so I'd do a couple of thiers
when I visited.

CY: My one experience hauling water, is that it's
thankless, and you get crap if you miss a day or
let em run out. I used to run jugs of drinking
water to some ingrates, years ago. I ran average
of 3 or 4 gal a day for drinking and cooking,
they had bad well water for laundry and bathing.
Someone mentioned me to the park super, we're not
allowed to truck water out. I mentioned that to the
ingrates, who told me not to bother, they had several
people offer to haul water. I stopped, and about two
days later, they were calling and giving me crap
cause they ran out of coffee. What about all the
people who offered to bring water? Well, they put
empty jugs on their car seats, but no one brought
them back full. I was the only one who actually did.
And so I got a 12 quart motor oil box that concealed
two gal jugs of water, and I carried that in and out
of my trailer a couple times a day. No one figured
that one out. I set up a system with the "man" of the
house, put the empties on a bottom shelf of cabinet.
I also arrange the system with the wife, and all three
teen daughters. I'd come in, look, no empties. They
gave me crap, and they were all out of water again.
I checked some of the fullies on top shelf, they were
all empty, and no one knew to put the empties on
bottom shelf. Idiots.

You might want to consider that you're going to be the
only one hauling, and the neighbors may be as ingrate as
these idiots I helped.

..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..