Technical development of the property - procedure and possibilities?

Hello everyone,

My wife and I recently purchased an existing plot from a subdivision. The plot is 450 sqm and is located in the southern Rhine-Main area. We would, of course, like to build on the plot as soon as possible if possible, but we still need to technically develop the plot and include these costs in the financing.

The development will cost us significantly more than usual, so we are considering how to approach the matter best and most cost-effectively. Currently, the following lines with the following lengths would have to be laid.
- Fresh water: approx. 56 meters
- Wastewater/sewer: approx. 6 meters
- Electricity: approx. 25 meters
- Telecommunication: approx. 25 meters
- Gas approx. 25 meters --> but we would not have this done due to a heat pump as a heating system.

Of course, we spoke with the authorities before the purchase and had the costs roughly estimated. We calculate about €70,000 for a "normal" development via the public networks. The main cost driver will be the fresh water with approx. €40,000 - €50,000 because the length is 56 meters. The question we ask ourselves is how can we reduce the costs here?

Idea 1: Fresh water development at the neighboring plot. We have not yet spoken to the neighbors, but we know from the office that they connected to their neighbor about 3 years ago. The difficulty and costs of fresh water development should be known to them and therefore might also meet with approval.

Idea 2: Well + filtration system. This is also called a domestic well or small system for self-supply in specialist language. Has anyone of you already had experience with a domestic well? We are well aware that this involves duties resulting from the Drinking Water Ordinance. Unfortunately, there is little information on the internet about this topic. According to my research, the costs for a filtration system range from €8,000 to €15,000. In addition, there is the well drilling. I assume that I should be able to manage everything for about €20,000, and that is only half compared to connecting to the public water network. For the savings, I could send many water samples for testing.

I would be very grateful for further ideas or information.

Regards Jochen

Before I dive into suitable similar threads here, you should perhaps first illustrate what situation is being talked about here at all.

We have a domestic well with a filtration system. I will replace this in the medium term with a connection of about 1.5 km to the public water supply. The reason is that we have groundwater with high iron and manganese content, and the filtration technology (for small systems) is rubbish for this. Within 15 years, we have worn out three filtration systems with different methods. There was never any help from the authorities, and the system manufacturers also worked more by trial and error. We used systems with backwash using potassium permanganate (bad) or salt (better). The good news: the pure system costs are between 3-4 k€. I would only build a domestic well if I find out beforehand how good the groundwater is. The drilling (40 m into rock) cost around 6 k€ at that time, by the way.
Why is your water line so expensive? Are you being forced to have the city carry out the work? Excavating 56 m frost-free and laying the line should be much (!) cheaper with a freely chosen specialist company.
If you have to lay your line along the road: I made an agreement with the local energy provider (RWE) that I am allowed to lay my water line when they next lay power lines (which is planned within the next three years).

The question we ask ourselves is, how can we reduce the costs here?

The better you coordinate the service providers, the less often they have to open and close the street for you. There's a lot of potential in that. The rest simply costs what it costs. We managed with one street opening for fresh water, wastewater, electricity, and communication.

Hello everyone,

thank you very much for the contributions and for the information about the house well. Attached is another picture of the utility company responsible for electricity and gas in our area. Water and sewage are operated by the city itself.

We own the property 324/4. The development has already been removed, in case that question arises. The house on property 323/1 is also relatively "new". They supplied themselves with fresh water via the neighbor at house 323/3. This one, in turn, is directly connected at the top to the main road, which is no longer visible in the section. Property 323/3 is a corner plot at Hauptstraße/Am Heimgesberg.

If we carry out a regulated development as normally provided by the city, the entire street Am Heimgesberg would have to be torn up to lay fresh water (56 meters).

Electricity is already laid up to property 323/1, as can be seen in the pictures. Therefore, about 20-25 meters are missing and could be laid directly if the street is already opened.

The sewage, however, comes from below (property 324/3) and would have to be extended about 6 meters. The street Am Heimgesberg has a slight slope from south to north. It should not be more than 1-2%. Therefore, a pumping station or something similar should not be a problem. The wastewater will flow downhill anyway and the fresh water also coming from above.

When we inquired, the problem with the municipal utilities was already known, as the homeowners of property 323/1 apparently had problems during development. I do not know exactly what, but since the street Am Heimgesberg is an entrance and exit road of the municipality to the federal highway and no lines run there, it is probably not common. I suspect that the homeowners (property 323/1) were surprised a few years ago during construction and did not deal with the topic in detail beforehand.

Perhaps the city is also willing to let us carry out the development via a freely chosen civil engineering company due to the "unusual" conditions in the street.

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Why is your water pipe so expensive? Are you forced to have the city do the work?

According to city regulations = YES

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56m frost-free digging and laying the pipe should be significantly (!) cheaper with a freely chosen specialist company.

Are there any reference values for this? I once read about 1000€ per meter, but they were assuming rather 5-10 meters.

The better you coordinate the service providers, the less often they will open and close the street for you. There’s some skill in that. The rest just costs what it costs. We managed with one street opening for fresh water, sewage, electricity, and communication.

I am aware of that too, so now I want to draft a concrete plan before I talk to the municipal utilities.

Best regards

Are there any guidelines for this?

A quick Google search shows costs between 15 and 50 € per meter. But that is always for laying on private property. If the street has to be dug up, it is of course considerably more elaborate.