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[september]

@Venezia    Yes, regarding your point that septic systems are not just for people in remote areas.  My last home was just outside city limits....same for my current home.  

In both cases, municipal water, and septic in place of sewer.  I'd much prefer to have my own septic system vs a well for water. 

[jlkz]

@Venezia 

The time limit is one DH uses.  Power washers use more than the dishwasher or the washing machine.

We have been in this house for almost 50 years and replaced the well pump once.  Not bad !

[Venezia]

@jlkz - I realize power washers can use more water, depending on their size and PSI.  It still depends on your well's pumping capacity.  A former boss had a drilled well that pumped 25 gallons a minute.  A veritable geyser.  She never had any problem with restricting her water use.  

Anyone who lives with well water and a septic system learns to do what they need to, to keep things running smoothly.

[gardenman]

Pressure washers vary greatly in water used. Mine uses 1.2 gallons per minute which is fairly minimal.

If you have a properly functioning well and pressure tank the pump won't run constantly. The pressure tank will have a pressure valve on it with two pressure settings. Mine is a 20/40 pressure switch. When the water pressure drops to 20 PSI the pump comes on filling the pressure tank with water until the water pressure is at 40 PSI then the pump shuts off. Many newer homes have a 40/60 pressure switch, but my house is old and the plumbing is older so less pressure is safer.

You can daisy-chain pressure tanks together if you want to preserve the life of a pump even longer. It's the starting and stopping that wears out pumps, so using two, three, four, or more pressure tanks linked together can let you use up to a hundred gallons of water or more before the pump has to start. It'll run longer at a time once it starts, but the extra tanks will help make the pump last longer as it needs less frequent starts. 

If the bladder in a pressure tank fails you'll know it because the pump will run instantly when you turn on the water and stop when you turn off the water. This wears out a pump in a hurry and should be avoided. I had the bladder on my pressure tank fail six years or so ago. I have an internal well in my basement and the pump is mounted atop the old pressure tank making replacing the tank inconvenient, so I left the old tank in place and just placed a new one alongside it and diverted the plumbing to it. I didn't have to bother the pump at all in that manner.