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Comment by dbrgn | Hacker News Reader

I wondered how getting a permit in Switzerland would work.

According to some sources I found:

- You need to request a permit from your city and your canton's water and sewage department

- To get a permit, you need a "proof of utility", so you can't just dig a well for fun, it needs to bring some benefit.

- You need a written technical planning document as well, including an analysis on the energy- and cost-efficiency of your project

- If you want to drill down to the groundwater (for drinking water quality), you need additional analyses being done, to prove that the project conforms to standards and causes no harm.

It sure sounds fun to have your own well, but I think I'll stick to collecting rain water.

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Where I work as a Realtor, it's generally possible to drill a well for domestic use. It will typically run about $20K and as we have a high water table, they generally hit water around 60 feet and will take the well down to around 250 feet if they want to "future proof" it. Deepest well in our area that I've heard of is around 900 feet and that was considered really rare / extreme.

Where homeowners become conflicted is that well gives them the rights to domestic use and to water a basic yard, but nothing beyond that. You are quickly in to "water rights" which can become complex and limiting. More and more we are seeing water masters (a state role) take away rights from landowners who are not fully using their water rights. For example, if the land was previously farmed but has now gone fallow and the water right has not been used, the state will revoke it - and there's a 0.0% chance of ever getting it back. This sometimes leads to cases where people (farmers) overuse their water to ensure they are demonstrating usage, but then of course that can lead to fines for overuse. No question water is going to be a defining issue in the American west for the foreseeable future.

You're digging your own well to out society to begin with. It is a scratch in the pain for such a project to have proper paperwork in order.

I'm joking ofcourse, but not 100%

Reminds me of this, what boomers needed vs what I need: https://ifunny.co/picture/an-258534577-82-258535541-258535-1...

I'm quite sympathetic to the overall trend. But nearly half those listed things are effectively optional things to protect himself or make his life easier - eg you do not need an LLC, but you surely do want one. Another near half are to protect others from himself as he is putting himself out there as a business, as he is employing workers or subjecting customers to his work. There could certainly be more small-business-friendly ways to handle these things [0], but earlier periods weren't solving them and at least now there is an attempt. So this particular critique doesn't ring true for me.

The proper comparison is looking at what it takes to do it for yourself or a friend. Of that list, that's probably just permit/inspection, which is hard to talk about generally because it's going to vary per locale. Although you really do want the backhoe.

[0] just spitballing an example, worker injury insurance could be provided more by the state from the general fund.

Just do it. Live a little.

Digging a well after dark also adds to the experience.

Oh well...

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