I'm considering buying a 40 acre property in north-central Kentucky.
The land currently has no public water supply. It does, however, have
electricity. I plan to build a small cabin or house on the property.
My question: what is the best method for supplying water to the
property and what is the cost? And what are the methods used to move
the water about once it is supplied? (How is the water used to supply
the shower, sink, toilets, etc.)

Howdy johnhite-ga,

The best method for supplying water to your property is through a well.  The
State of Kentucky has a "Well Drillers Program" as covered on their website.
http://www.water.ky.gov/gw/gwtech/gwdrill/default.htm

"The Technical Services Section of the Groundwater Branch coordinates the Well
Drillers Certification Program for water well and monitoring well drillers in
accordance with 401 KAR 6:320."

Well drillers in Kentucky have to be certified by the state and the above site
has a map that shows the drillers that service the various ares of the state.
http://www.water.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/32BB9209-695F-4088-807B-6A4EF423A6B4/0/GWBdrillers_map.pdf

They also show the drillers in a directory listing.
http://www.water.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8ADEF35F-0EFF-435F-83E9-703366B41129/0/GWB2006_Drillers_Directory.pdf

As an example, the map shows Boone Drilling in Jefferson County, and their
directory entry provides their information.

Boone Drilling Co.
2000 Production Drive
Louisville, KY 40299
Jefferson County
(502) 499-1500
Certified Driller - Gregory J. Boone, Cert. No. 0299-0365-00

The University of Kentucky - Kentucky Geological Survey website has a very
good page on water wells that will give you lots of information on the topic.

"Frequently Asked Questions About Groundwater and Water Wells in Kentucky"
http://www.uky.edu/KGS/water/general/wfaq.htm

There are links to map resources, etc. on the above website as well, and you
should spend some time reading it in detail to bring yourself up to speed.

The Kentucky Division of Water website has a page with links to helpful
information.

"Helpful Publications for Water Wells"
http://www.water.ky.gov/gw/gwtech/gwwellproblems/GWB-tech_assist_well_publ.htm

One of the links included in the above page leads to a great guide by the
State of Ohio, titled "Technical Guidance for Well Construction and Ground
Water Protection"
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/ddagw/Documents/WellConsGuid2000.pdf

The Kentucky Division of Water has a "Groundwater" page that has more.
http://www.water.ky.gov/gw/

All of the above is intended to bring you up to speed on the process.  In
reality, you will want to call several certified well drillers from the
above referenced list, and start getting quotes.

They will be handling any permits needed, and depending on the area, etc.
they will quote you a cost of around $10.00 a foot.  Some places might put
the quote in the form of $12.00 a foot for the first 20 feet and then $10.00
a foot for the rest of the well, because some use a different casing at the
top of the well.

The drilling company will drill the well, put in the casing to line the shaft,
then place a pump inside the casing to draw the water to the surface.  If
needed they might install a pressure tank in place.  Electricity will have
to be run to the well for the pump.

As pointed out in some of the referenced documents above, don't settle for
a shallow well of 50 feet, but rather make sure the drillers get to a proper
depth of at least 100 feet or so.  Yours might have to go deeper.

Ask the drillers questions, ask what type of pumps they use, what their rate
of success and typical well depths are for the area in question.  Make sure
you can supply the general geography of your property to them.  Don't buy
into "diviners" or such.

My well, in Colorado, is 120 feet deep, runs around 12 gallons per minute
(GPM), and cost around $1400 to put in place.  I had budgeted $3000 for it.

Once the well is in place, it is hooked into your house's water system, and
works just like any other water system.  You turn on the tap and water flows!

You will also need somewhere for all the wastewater to go, so you check out
the Kentucky Division of Water article titled "Septic Systems and Onsite
Disposal Issues."
http://www.water.ky.gov/gw/gwtech/septicissues/

If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.


Search strategy:

Google search on: Kentucky well drillers
://www.google.com/search?q=kentucky+well+drillers

Personal experience of owning a rural Colorado home.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Not joking - hire a water diviner.

Curious that no "diviner" has yet to get through the "One Million Dollar
Paranormal Challenge."
http://www.randi.org/research/index.html

Well, Denco, a water diviner is not likely to be a ghost spotter
... or maybe they are

I know of two cases where a diviner was brought in to determine where
to drill, one was a factory my father built some time ago, and the
other was earlier this year when a friend of mine decided to set up
his own water supply.

"Ghost spotting" does not have anything to do with my point.

"The JREF Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge 'FAQ'"
http://www.randi.org/research/faq.html

"The Challenge started in 1964 when James Randi put up $1,000 of his own money
to the first person who could provide objective proof of the paranormal [...].
Since then, the prize money has grown to the current $1,000,000, and the rules
regarding the Challenge have gotten more and more official and legal.
...
The following things are paranormal by definition: 

Dowsing ..."

Guess what?  My well was put into place after the driller and I had looked at
the hydrological maps for the area.  He hit a weak flow pocket at around 50
feet, which we both knew would probably be the case, and then hit an aquifer
at 120 feet, which again, we knew would probably be the case.

Perhaps we are both diviners and just don't know it.  However, if I knew that
I was a diviner, I would be contacting James Randi today, as I could use the
million bucks.  I also reckon there are some people out there that would be
more than willing to sell a bridge to your father and friend as well.