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What you need to know when buying a home with a water well!

By
Home Inspector with Northeast Water Wells Inc NH Lic# 59,60 and MA 762

6 Things you should know about your water well before purchasing your home in Massachusetts and new Hampshire....  

1. Location is key ...  Sometimes if your lucky and you don't know your well location it can be found with a metal detector, sometimes its location is on file with the town. However if its not..  Excavation is the only way to determine the well location and it usually entails following the water and electrical lines from the house to the well, not something a new home owner wants to deal with especially if they have no water to begin with. Please note that buried wells can have a direct impact on your health and are more prone to bacteria and Nitrate issues. Its essential to you the location of your well head at all times and keep the area accessible for servicing.

2. Access to the well head. Is their a small forest , fence or pool in the way of getting to the well. Serviceability is essential when determining how costly a repair is going to be. Putting rock walls around the well head is a very bad idea as well as it makes it difficult for a pump technician to get the pump puller on the well head, and when purchasing your home consider weather its a good idea to by a home where the well and primary water supply is in the basement, has an addition built over it or deck. Yes we have seen this all too frequently. An inaccessible or hard to access well head can increase cost of repairs substantially or virtue the system unserviceable.

3. Know your wells Production....your new home is only as good as its water supply. If their is an inadequate water supply that rain shower isn't going to do you any good in fact you may not even be able to shampoo at all. Having a comprehensive flow analysis is instrumental when purchasing a home. The flow should also be taken into consideration when planning expansions or irrigation. Remediation of a inadequate supply costs $$$$. The average home needs a minimum of 5GPM to run efficiently not including irrigation.

4. Know how deep you’re well is, where the pump is set and how old the pump is. Why you may ask deep wells with pumps that are set deep are more expensive and cost more to service if the pump is older than 7 years this factor should be taken into accordance when purchasing the home as replacement will be just around the corner and usually when it’s least convenient. The average system lifespan under today’s standards is around 10-15 years however this can be drastically reduced if the home is in an area where power supply is unstable or poor water quality is an issue.

5. Know your water Quality. No only is it just plain common sense to know what your ingesting if their is an issue remediation is never in cheap. Filters can range from $100 to upwards of $10,000 dollars depending on the contaminants do you want to take that risk. Spending the couple hundred dollars extra on a comprehensive test that includes radon and VOC's or Volatile Organic Compounds could save you in the long run.

6. Speaking of Filtration....is their filtration know how it works how to service it and how often to replace filters. Call a well or filter specialist to find out how expensive the replacement filters are or how costly it is to have the system serviced or re-bedded as this should be factored into the homes maintenance expense.

 These are just a few issues that need to be considered when thinking of purchasing a home in MA or NH with a Water Well. For further information Contact our office at 1-800-562-9355.

 

Article written by Ashley Connolly Operations Manager

Comments (2)

Li Read
Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring) - Salt Spring Island, BC
Caring expertise...knowledge for you!

Excellent information...I also live in an area where water is delivered primarily via wells.

Jul 23, 2012 02:56 AM
Ashley Connolly
Northeast Water Wells Inc - Jaffrey, NH

So many people dont understand the basic fundamentals of well ownership trying to clear up and educate common misconceptions

Jul 23, 2012 02:58 AM