You have to really consider the condition of the water table in your area.

The cost of water on a month to month basis will be dependent on how deep you have to go for that water, and what the water quality is... if there's a lot of dissolved minerals in the ground-water, that means a little more maintenance on the pump side.

To give you an idea of the electricity costs, our pump consumes about 1,500 pesos of electricity every month. BUT: that supplies a canteen, several apartments and my printing press. Best I can figure is that a five person-household would consume about 500 pesos or less, by that estimation. Our pump is on a separate meter because we split our apartment building meter into separate meters. Saves the hassle of having to compute the electricity charge for the tenants by hand.

The real killer is the amount of dissolved minerals in the ground-water. You'll want to invest in a water-softening system, at the very least, to minimize flake build-up and hard water spots on your sinks and faucets.

Also, as more and more people tap into the groundwater in your area, the water table may recede, forcing you to add a few more pipes... which means your pump has to work harder to pull water out of the ground.

As for potability... who actually drinks NAWASA water? I used to live in the Sampaloc area, and the water quality was dreadful... there was the Hepatitis outbreak in UST, there were wrigglers in my tap water at one time... and then there are all those broken lines that crop up from time to time... at the very least, you have to boil it to be sure... everyone I know in the city actually buys water from purifier stations... even those who live relatively close to Balara.