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Comment by dalke | Hacker News Reader

I don't think it would be worthwhile to make your own hydraulic drill if there are rental alternatives.

More specifically, around 1981 my Dad rented a drilling rig to supply the irrigation pump for our yard in Miami.

See, the city was phasing out septic systems, and had installed sewers to our neighborhood. They charged for sewer based on water consumed. By drilling a well he could avoid paying sewage fees for irrigation water.

I think he hit water at 8 feet, and put the well down to 12. This was Miami.

It also drilled through some limestone.

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>if there are rental alternatives.

That's good advice for almost all tools. The average weekend warrior may never have been to their local tool rental shop, but it's worth checking out! You can rent just about anything, for very reasonable prices, and it tends to be pretty high quality/industrial stuff. For all the tools you only use one a year, it probably makes more financial sense to rent than buy.

But you can often buy cheaper than renting with the caveat of getting a cheaper brand. For most DIY I find the cheaper ones good enough, as long as you get some online wisdom first to avoid the occasional turds being sold. Example: chainsaw, drill, jet wash, pruning equipment etc.

> But you can often buy cheaper than renting with the caveat of getting a cheaper brand.

that heavily depends on the kind of tool and what the likelihood of you using this thing more than twice a year is. A chainsaw, drill, jetwash - very reasonable. Anything more specialiced, you're usually better off renting - especially as one could often use the instructions provided by the experts.

Sure, but when I rent I get a better quality tool, and I don't have to store it until next time.

Yeah, well, Florida. You don't need much to hit water table in FL. High heels will sometimes do.

Yes. Isn't that the point of the web site?

When the water table is shallow, but deeper than your Louboutins - which is much of Florida - you can drill a well yourself, at low cost.

After all, the technique only works for down to about 20 feet (there's another page on how to extend that to 30 feet), and 7 of the 26 listed success stories are from Florida.

In most of the world you can drill down 20 feet and find water. It might or might not be safe to drink. It might or might not be a lot of water, but even in deserts you commonly can find it that shallow.

Many places allow for dual meters: one water meter that is used for irrigation and another for water that ultimately goes for waste treatment. In places with abundant water, e.g. places where this drilling technique would work, the water is typically practically free and the “water bill” is mostly a sewer bill.

Where I live, they base the sewage fees off water usage during the winter. Since few people water their yards then, it mostly takes irrigation out of the equation.

Bonus: it spurs you to think about conservation. When your 3-month wastewater averaging period starts, you know that any water you save will cut costs for the whole year.

Same here and I've thought about this, but the cost savings of doing less winter laundry for example are in the end miniscule. We pay way more for water than for sewer.

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