Hauled Water for Wells, Cisterns and Tanks: The Complete Guide

Hauled water means a truck fills a storage tank at your home and a pump pushes that water through the house, in place of a well or a water main. Homes on rock, in high desert and hill country, on dry or unsafe wells and past the end of the water line run this way, some for a season and some for decades. A working setup has five parts: a tank, a fill port the truck can reach, a pump with a pressure tank, treatment if you drink the water, and a delivery schedule that matches how fast you use it.

This guide goes through all five, with the arithmetic for how much a household uses and what that costs per month at typical per-load prices. If you only need the tank size, skip to the usage section and the cistern size calculator.

Who relies on hauled water and why

People end up on hauled water for a handful of reasons, and the right setup differs for each.

Some wells fail or never produced enough in the first place: a dry well, a well that recovers at a gallon a minute, or a pump on its last legs. Some owners haul water for a few months while a new well is drilled, and others decide hauling beats the risk of another dry hole. If the well still works but is marginal and you also want a pool, read can filling a pool run a well dry first.

Other wells work but aren't safe to drink because of nitrates, arsenic, bacteria, sulfur or salt. The well can still handle irrigation and toilets while a potable cistern supplies the kitchen and bathrooms.

Some lots have no main to connect to. They sit past the end of the water line, where a connection fee or a new well costs more than makes sense for the property, which is common with cabins, ranches and off-grid builds. Our guide to hauled water for off-grid homes covers the solar-pump and rain-catchment side.

Seasonal homes are another group. A cabin used on weekends may only need one or two fills a season.

Rainwater catchment homes use a truck to bridge dry spells, when tanks sized for average rainfall run low in late summer.

How a hauled water system is set up

The parts below follow the order the water passes through them.

The tank. Polyethylene is the common choice for 1,500 to 10,000 gallons. It's relatively cheap, light enough to place without a crane, and comes in opaque colors that block the sunlight algae needs. If anyone will drink from it, buy a tank certified to NSF/ANSI 61 for potable water. Concrete is the usual choice for large buried cisterns, and fiberglass sits between the two. Above-ground tanks are cheaper and easier to inspect. Buried tanks stay cool and are protected from freezing below the frost line, but they cost more, are harder to clean, and must be a model rated for burial. Size for at least two weeks of your real use plus a reserve, and go larger if the truck has a long drive to reach you.

The fill port. A capped 2 to 4-inch inlet or a lidded hatch the driver can open and put a hose into. Ideally it sits within 300 feet of a spot where a loaded water truck can park on firm, paved ground, because our haulers keep to paved roads and driveways and run the hose from there. The first 300 feet of hose are included, a longer run adds a hose charge, shown in your quote before you book. A screened overflow and a screened vent keep insects and rodents out.

The pump and pressure tank. A submersible pump inside the tank or a jet pump beside it feeds a bladder-type pressure tank, set up the same way as on a well. Pressure switches are commonly set at 30/50 or 40/60 psi, with the pressure tank's air charge about 2 psi below the cut-in pressure (28 or 38 psi), checked with the tank empty. Add a low-level float switch or low-water cutoff so the pump can't run dry when the tank empties, because running dry can ruin a pump quickly.

Treatment. At minimum, fit a sediment filter after the pump, because every fill stirs up the tank floor. For drinking water, many households add UV disinfection or a chlorination feed. The CDC and many health departments publish step-by-step routines for disinfecting a household cistern with unscented bleach, and many owners have the tank cleaned and disinfected before the first potable fill.

A level gauge. A sight tube, a float gauge or a plain dipstick will do. You'll check it weekly, and the whole schedule depends on knowing roughly when you'll get down to one third.

Potable vs non-potable loads

It's the first question any hauler asks, and the answer changes who can deliver and what it costs.

Potable water comes from a public supply or another approved source and travels in a tank kept for potable water. Many states and counties license or permit potable water haulers and inspect their tanks, and the rules differ from place to place. A potable load can cost more than a standard delivery, and the quote should say "potable" in writing.

Non-potable water covers everything else: construction water, dust control, stock water, irrigation, and anything carried in a tank that also does pool fills. It's fine for livestock, grading and the garden, but it isn't for the kitchen tap. If a non-potable load goes into a household cistern "just this once," the tank and lines need cleaning and disinfecting before anyone drinks from them again. Our guide to non-potable water covers what it can be used for and where it can go.

Pool water deliveries are not drinking water unless the quote specifically says potable. If the cistern supplies the house, say so when you ask for a price, and we send a hauler set up for potable water.

How much a household uses per month

Two reference figures help. The EPA's WaterSense program puts the average American family at more than 300 gallons a day at home, with roughly 70 percent used indoors, and the USGS estimates 80 to 100 gallons per person per day for indoor use. Households on hauled water tend to use less, because every gallon has a visible price. The table uses 50 gallons per person per day as a conserving example.

Indoors, toilets are the biggest single use, at nearly 30 percent by the EPA's estimate, and the EPA reckons the average family wastes about 180 gallons a week through household leaks. On a hauled system that's close to 800 gallons a month you paid a truck to bring, so fix leaks first and replace any old toilet that uses 3.5 gallons or more per flush. Current models use 1.6 gallons or less.

Outdoor use is what breaks budgets. A lawn can take more water than the house, and a pool is 15,000 to 30,000 gallons on its own, so many hauled-water homes keep irrigation on a separate non-potable tank or do without.

Cost per load and per month

Water is priced per load or trip rather than per gallon, because the cost is the drive to the water source, the fill, the drive to you and the unload. A tanker typically carries 6,000 to 8,000 gallons, and the price of a load depends on the area, with potable water sometimes costing more. The big consequence is that a partial load often costs about the same as a full one.

That makes tank size the biggest lever on your monthly bill. Take the conserving family of four using 6,000 gallons a month.

• With a tank that takes a whole 6,000-gallon load, that's about one delivery a month.
• With a 2,500-gallon tank, the same 6,000 gallons arrives as about three partial deliveries, and if each is priced close to a full load, the month costs about three times as much.

So install the largest tank you can site and afford, and buy whole loads. A bigger tank also gives you slack when haulers are booked up in spring or a storm closes the road. Our bulk water delivery page covers tanks, farms and job sites, and your quote gives the exact delivered price for your address and water type.

Scheduling: on-demand vs standing deliveries

On demand means you watch the gauge and ask for a delivery when the tank gets down to about one third. That buffer matters, because spring openings and summer weekends book up first and a truck may not be free the day you call. We usually reply with a price within 1 to 2 business hours, then confirm the date and book our hauler for you.

Standing deliveries run on a fixed interval, every three weeks for example, with the same hauler where possible and the price confirmed in writing before the first one. Many full-time hauled-water households switch to one once they know their usage. If distance, access or water type changes, we re-quote. Changes are free up to 24 hours before a delivery. Inside 24 hours a cancellation costs 20 percent of the quoted price, but moving to a new date within 30 days is free.

On delivery day, keep the gate open and the route clear. If the truck arrives and can't deliver because the site isn't as described (a locked gate, nowhere legal to park, a hose run much longer than you said), a dry-run fee of 50 percent of one load applies. An accurate description of the site when you ask for a price avoids it.

Winter and access problems

Cold weather is hard on hauled systems. A frozen fill port can't take water, so above-ground ports get heat tape and an insulated box, and the hose run is kept short. Tanks buried below the frost line don't freeze, but above-ground poly tanks in hard-freeze climates need insulation or a heater, and the supply line to the house needs to be buried below the frost line or heat-traced. Go into winter with the tank full and a reserve in hand, because the road is the next problem.

A loaded water truck is heavy. Many northern states and counties post seasonal weight limits on rural roads during the spring thaw, and a soft gravel drive or an unplowed turnaround can stop a delivery that was booked in good faith. Tell us about grade, gravel, gates and turnarounds when you ask for a price, keep the drive plowed, and if the truck has to stay at the road, plan the hose run from there. The cistern water delivery page lists what to have ready before each truck.

Frequently asked questions

How much does hauled water cost per month?

For a conserving family using about 6,000 gallons a month, it's roughly one tanker load a month, with potable water sometimes costing more. Smaller tanks that need several partial loads for the same gallons cost more, because each trip is priced close to a full load.

How big a cistern do I need for hauled water?

Size it for at least two weeks of real use plus a reserve, and ideally big enough to take a whole 6,000 to 8,000-gallon load if you can site it. A family of four conserving at 200 gallons a day uses about 2,800 gallons in two weeks. If you reorder at one third, that takes a tank of about 4,200 gallons, so 5,000 gallons is a comfortable size.

Is hauled water safe to drink?

It can be, when it's delivered as potable water by a hauler set up for it, into a tank rated and disinfected for potable use, and treated at the house with a filter and UV or chlorination. A standard bulk or pool load is not drinking water.

How long does a 2,500-gallon tank last?

A full tank lasts about 8 days for a family using 300 gallons a day, about 12 days at 200 gallons a day, and about 25 days for a conserving couple at 100. That's the tank size divided by daily use, so book the next delivery a few days before you reach it and keep a reserve.

Can the same truck fill my pool and my cistern?

For the pool, yes. For a cistern you drink from, it has to be a truck set up for potable water, and a tank that also does pool fills usually isn't. Tell us what each tank is for and we'll send the right truck, or two trucks.

Tell us the tank size, the ZIP and whether anyone drinks the water, and a person will send one delivered price with the number of loads and the date spelled out.