I've never had a home with a dug well and septic..advantages/disadvantages??

[debden]

I was looking at a home with a 'dug well' and 'septic'.I've always lived inside the city limits so I'm not sure what to expect having a well and septic.
Are they costly to maintain?How often does a septic tank have to be emptied?Is there a chance the well will run dry?
I know nothing so any info at all would be great.
Thanks.
Debbie

 

[kellydizfan]

We have a well/septic. The well is just over 100 feet deep as they hit water really quick where we are. The septic we put stuff in once a month I think to help. You don't have to worry about having it cleaned for many many years unless they haven't taken care of it. You need to use the right type of toilet tissue also - scotts is the best for septic. The well will keep going also unless there are problems or we have a drought, etc. The advantage is no money due to the town/state for use of wall and septic and very little maintenance. I hope this helps.

 

[debden]

Wow,Yes that helps alot.Thanks Kellydizfan.That's good to know.Hopefully the home inspector we use will also inspect the well and septic tor maybe we'll have to hire someone that specializes in those specific areas to take a look.
Anyway I'm very relieved to here it's pretty low maintanence and costs!
Debbie

 

[java]

Well after dealing with a $10,000 well issue I am not a fan of wells. It seems water tables can shift and you can run into costly repairs. *and this was on a new well- Our pump burned out and the water was eating away at the wiring. So all the junk had to be replaced. You have to maintain it- with the tanks in the basement requiring stones ect. To me it is a pain in the neck. Plus you have to have your water tested every now and again to make sure you are not poisoning your family!
So not a fan of the well.

Septic no biggie- most toilet paper is now septic safe even charmin and we have not had big problems. So far we have had it pumped once(we have been here 8 years) I don't recall how much it was but it wasn't major. A bunch of us got together and got a "group" rate on it.

If we were to move we would try to avoid both but would probably suck it up and get a house with both again if we loved the location.
With a well you just need to be prepared for the time that something could go wrong. Because when your well breaks you have no water at all.
Good luck and happy house hunting.

 

[snels]

What kind of septic system does your new home have?

We have a holding tank, and have to get it pumped every couple of months. That runs around $100. for pumping.

 

[java]

What kind of septic system does your new home have?

We have a holding tank, and have to get it pumped every couple of months. That runs around $100. for pumping.

every couple of months? What are you guys eating in Wisconsin!!! For us it was about 5 years to get a pump. I am guessing that is some older kind of system? Because the newer ones really should be self sufficient. We don't have to put anything down there either.
Oh I see this as famous last words and a septic explosion is in my future!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

We have a well and septic, and never had a problem. I think we've (maybe) pumped the septic once in 10 years.

I would specifically ask the seller questions like, Has the well run dry? How many times in how many years? When did you last pump the septic? How often? How much did it cost?

On our last house, we had a separate drain area for the kitchen sink versus the actual septic. (maybe a dry well?) And in our town, it seems like wells are hit or miss--we've never, ever run out of water, but we know people who have--even close neighbors.

In a power outage, you lose water because you can't power the pump. However, it's more of a slow loss, there's some pressure built up. So, if we lose power, the first thing I do is fill several large containers with water, just in case.

I live rural, so I don't have the option of city stuff. Power outages happen a few times a year, but usually don't last too long. And we own a generator, so we could hook up the well pump to that if we had a long power outage.

I hope that helps you some.

 

[Tosie]

Becasue we know 2 people who've had to have their septic replaced ($20K) we have ours pumped every 2-3 years.

 

[snels]

Java,

There are quite a few types of septic systems. We used to have the traditional septic system that you are talking about. Our old system failed, and we had to have a perk test on the soil. The perk test failed, and we were faced with the only option...a holding tank. The holding tank does exactly what it sounds like.
Every couple of months the holding tank gets full and we have to hire someone to pump the material and bring it to a treatment facility.

Debden: find out what type of septic system the occupants have, and how old it is. It can be very expensive if you have to replace the system. It helps to know the kind of soil in the neighborhood, and the type of systems the neighbors have.

Good Luck...

 

[Regina]

Our last house had well/septic. We lived there 21 years, there were 5 of us and we never had the septic pumped. DH was neurotic about using septic treatments every couple of months and it did the trick. The houses on either side of us always had problems, but not us. As others recommended, we only use Scotts.

As far as the well, we had hard water so we needed a softener. Despite that, we still had problems with scale build up.

We used a simple whole house water filter. When we sold the house their inspector made an issue about the pressure. I had the well guy come out and it was due to DH using a charcoal filter instead of a paper one. Once that got changed out, the water flowed like Niagara. (In retrospect, I could have killed DH for the years and years we dealt with low pressure.)

We needed two well repairs over the years. As I recall, it ran between $500 - $1000, so it's not cheap.

The worst part is when we lost power. Wells run on pumps, pumps run on electricity so no power, no flushing.

 

[CheshireVal]

We just bought a house in August with a septic tank. We were a little nervous about it, but we asked the sellers to have it pumped before closing, and so that eases my mind just a little.

So far we haven't had any issues, though we've only been in the house 6 months! We do dump a box of Rid-X in it once a month, though, just in case.

I will say that our water bill has gone WAY down since we don't have to pay for sewer now, though. It's saving us a good $20 a month!

 

[KirstenB]

We built this house 10 yrs ago. 1 1/2 yrs ago, our 400 ft well had some type of underground shift in the earth and collapsed. We had to pay $7000 cash to have a new well dug. You do save a lot of money not paying monthly water/sewer bills, but I'd suggest having a good emergency fund just in case. The well company said ours was just a fluke case, that this rarely happens, if that helps ease your mind.

We've had our septic pumped once since we lived here. I think you're supposed to have a regular well pumped every 5-10 yrs. It only cost $150.

 

[crz4mm2]

We've lived in our house 10 years. Had to have the septic pumped 4 years ago. I dont' know if the people before us had ever had it pumped out (they lived here 5 years). The guy that pumped ours said we should have it done every 4-5 years....

Our well is deep and the people that dug it said we should "never" run out of water. I hope they are right!

 

[JR6ooo4]

Have you ever tasted well water?

I have yet to taste (unfiltered) well water without saying BLEGHGGHH, ug well water!!

But my DS has a whole house filter and it tastes OK. The outside faucets for the hose are not filtered so you can water a lawn or garden without clogging up the filter.

WDW (I think) has well water and when you shower and try to rinse it never realy feels like the soap is coming off. Until they got the new soaps a few months ago. So maybe it is just an issue of getting special soaps.

Mikeeee

 

[Disney Ella]

My parents have lived in their house for 40 years and in that time they've had to dig one new spring and two new wells, which gets expensive. If anything in the land around you changes, it can affect your water supply. In my parents' case, it was when the farmer above them sold his field and two new houses were built. They had the springs when I lived there and every time my mother did laundry, she had to go out and measure the spring and make sure there would be enough water. If not, she had to go to the laundromat.

A few years ago, the township installed water lines and my parents were glad to be able to tap into them.

As long as you get the septic system pumped out regularly, I don't think that should be a problem.

 

[Nancyg56]

Becasue we know 2 people who've had to have their septic replaced ($20K) we have ours pumped every 2-3 years.

We do the same thing. It is a cheap insurance IMO.

We also had issues with our leach fields and needed to have them replaced, but the zoning laws had changed so we had to put in "beehive" things. That was about $5000, IIFC.
We also have a well and have been lucky. Most of our neighbors have needed to dig a new one but it seems ours was redug just after a shift in the water tables. We bought it months after the new well was put in.

 

[Northstar]

I've lived most of my life with septic systems, almost as long with a well (my childhood home had city water coming in but it went out into a septic system).

It's important to know exactly what your waste (septic) system is... there have been a lot of changes over the last 40 odd years, with more modern systems being more "green," more sustainable, and more expensive. Our present system (built 1978) is a traditional tank and drainfield. The problem is, even if you get your tank pumped regularly (every few years, depending on how much water your family uses), sooner or later the drainfield gets silted up and you need to have a new field dug. And because we are on a lake and there are restrictions about how close to it you can have a drainfield, AND we have a well and you can't put your drainfield too close to the well scared1: ), we don't have a good place to site the new drainfield. So we will be going to a better but more expensive system, requiring more maintenance, when the drainfield goes.

So you need to know:

Exactly where (with maps of the lot, showing how deep as well as where on the lot) is the well, the tanks, the pipes, the drainfield? Get a complete map of the system.

How old is every component of the system?

What is the current building code in your area for septic systems... it may have changed since yours was built, and that means any replacement system will need to meet current code.

What kinds of maintenance have the current owners been doing (I personally wouldn't buy if nobody's opened the tank up to check it within the last year or two, usually when it's pumped out by the honeydippers!)

(Well) How deep is the well? How deep are the neighbors' wells? Ever run out of water? Neighbors ever run out of water?

Also, for the well water, I'd ask to see recent water quality tests, looking for bacteria AND checking the level of any undesirable minerals common in the area. (In our area, that would be uranium.) Usually in our area, part of the house inspection before sale includes running a sample of tap water and getting a screening... but it would be nice to have some info before that point.

 

[Meriweather]

My experience....
we have lived here for over 20 years.
We have well and septic. We had our house built.
We have a septic tank and drain field. We have pumped once. We do dump stuff in every month.....do not put egg shells down the garbage disposal. We do not use special toilet paper. All is well.
The well has been wonderful.......no problems except when the power goes off We were lucky and hit water at 17', took the well down to 35'. Natural aquafer, so the water is wonderful!! I go everywhere else and can't stand the taste of that water
We have had no water or sewer bills every month....goint to be hard to go back to that when we sell this house.

 

[TaraPA]

Have you ever tasted well water?

I have yet to taste (unfiltered) well water without saying BLEGHGGHH, ug well water!!


Mikeeee

Too funny, I was just about to post that the biggest advantage is the TASTE of well water! You say blech, I say YUM! To each their own! If your well water has a taste or odor of any kind then there is something wrong with it. I was told this by a home inspector, and the excavator that installed our well. Well water should be just that - plain water - no chemicals, no taste, no odor. As for the shower/soap issue - if you have hard water you will notice a difference in how your soap/shampoo lathers (or doesn't). We installed a water softener system last year (about $2000 for the basic but they can run up to $10K).

I have had well water & septic for 34 years, city water/septic for 2. In the 3 homes with well/septic we never once had an issue with either, but it can happen, and it's expensive to fix or replace major things. We pumped once every 5-7 years, it's about $150 to pump in this area. It depends on how large your tank is, and how many people are using the septic system. We have new construction now, with both well & septic. I wouldn't go back to city water/septic for anything, but that's my opinion. It's what you're used to. I agree - the biggest disadvantage is that when there's no power, there's no water or toilets!

 

[mickeyboat]

It is really going to depend on where you live, what kind of septic design you have, how old the system is, where the cover is, where the leach field is etc. etc. etc.

Your water may taste good, it may not. You may need a softener, you may not. You may need to pump the septic tank all the time, you may not.

Wells are tricky - and depend on lots of factors relative to the land. There are two types of wells - dug and artesian. I don't know much about the differences, but you should check into it.

Ask a lot of questions. Check to see if there are disclosure laws regarding the well and septic in your state/town/community. When we bought our house, it seems like there was a questionairre which addressed these issues. If there is not full disclosure on this statement, the former homeowners could be liable if there are problems in the future.

Also, most septic plans need to be approved by some state agency these days. See if there is an approved design on file somewhere that you can view - and maybe have reviewed by a professional if there are concerns.

Most people I know with septic cannot have a garbage disposal - it fills it up too quickly with solids.

When I was a teenager, I had the luxury of a downstairs bedroom with an attached half bath. It was great until the septic backed up into my toilet, and all over the bathroom floor. Never saw of smelled anything so rank. A septic pump solved the problem. Of course it happened on a holiday weekend!

Good luck. Don't be afraid of a well/septic - but do your homework.

Denae