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

[TaraPA]

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.

ROFL at first I read this to say "we do not use toilet paper".....

 

[kellyg403]

My parents have always owned homes with both septic and wells until recently. They did do maintence like getting the septic tank pumped every couple years etc. I personally owned a home with a septic and it was a bad experience. So, in the end ask as MANY questions as you can think of. In NC the health department can give you information re: any problems already fixed, when it was installed, etc. This can help you if available in your area. I do know though, that with a septic you have to remember that it was placed with a certain criteria..3 bedroom house etc. So, normally that septic would work fine with a household of about 5 people. Once you get to 6-8 people then the septic is overworked and problems result. Look at the size of your family and the size of the septic tank, cleaning it out frequently will help. We had our septic tank cleaned out every 12 months and still because of the age of the system eventually had a problem that cost thousands to repair.

As for the well, over the years my parents did have problems with the certain things. I remember clearly several summers being rationed with water because the last thing you want is the well going dry!

Yes, you save yourself the money in sewer/water costs monthly but it doesn't mean that you won't have to have large amounts available when/if either the well/septic fails. So, be prepared for that.

Kelly

 

[CapeCodTenor]

For those who have had septic systems for years, what is your take on Rid-X. Does it work? How often do you use it? My wife has used a septic system her entire life and she's never used anything like that to help maintain the system.

 

[TaraPA]

For those who have had septic systems for years, what is your take on Rid-X. Does it work? How often do you use it? My wife has used a septic system her entire life and she's never used anything like that to help maintain the system.

In 34 years with private septic we have never once put Rid X or anything into it, and never once had a septic problem. We've been lucky.

To the OP who had the back-up - that IS the foulest stench ever. Worse than vomit, old rotting chicken or anything else. When we remodeled a bath about 5 years ago the contractor did something that caused a small raw sewage leak. His co-worked ran from the basement, threw up in our back yard & never returned. I don't know how that contractor kept his lunch down while he cleaned it up. It was awful for WEEKS. Thankfully we had private septic so at least the "back-up" was only ours - I can't imagine being on public sewer & having the town's "back-up" on my basement floor....

 

[CapeCodTenor]

In 34 years with private septic we have never once put Rid X or anything into it, and never once had a septic problem. We've been lucky.
To the OP who had the back-up - that IS the foulest stench ever. Worse than vomit, old rotting chicken or anything else. When we remodeled a bath about 5 years ago the contractor did something that caused a small raw sewage leak. His co-worked ran from the basement, threw up in our back yard & never returned. I don't know how that contractor kept his lunch down while he cleaned it up. It was awful for WEEKS. Thankfully we had private septic so at least the "back-up" was only ours - I can't imagine being on public sewer & having the town's "back-up" on my basement floor....

Thanks for the reply. My wife said that her parents never put anything in their spetic to help it along and they've never had a problem. I know that when they had their house build, the contractor put in a septic tank that was rated for a 4 bedroom house, which was more than what was needed. The septic tank at our house is rated for a 3 bedroom, we only have a 2 bedroom, and we've never had a problem. However, we are planning on an adding a second floor later this year, and I think we'll be ok with our current tank as long as we have it pumped every other year. I just want to avoid the back up and all the mess that goes along with it.

 

[DJR]

If you truly have a "dug" well I would be very careful. They are extremely prone to contamination and are outlawed here in CT. A dug well is what you think about in old stories... a big round hole in the ground with a little roof over it. There is no way to protect them from surface contamination. A drilled well however is sealed into the bedrock and is much safer. You still need to have your water tested annually, because you never know if it's still safe if you don't test it.

Septic tank additives are more a marketing gimmick than anything else. All they do is add bacteria and enzymes to the tank, and most domestic sewage has plenty of that already. Just be careful with your water usage and have your tank pumped every 2-3 years and you should be OK. Just be aware that repairs can cost 20K+ if you live in an area with shallow groundwater or bedrock.

 

[kellyg403]

For those who have had septic systems for years, what is your take on Rid-X. Does it work? How often do you use it? My wife has used a septic system her entire life and she's never used anything like that to help maintain the system.

We were told that for older septics, Rid-X was bad for them. Our septic was 30 years old. Not sure what the newer septic tank recommendations are though.

Also, OP remember somethings that some people will flush are not good...personal hygeine items etc. When we were going through our inspection and the guy was opening the septic tank we all had to stand back for about 5 minutes. There evidently was a teenage son in the house who took safe sex seriously...like really seriously. I was the only female in the group and I couldn't stop laughing for 10 whole minutes. There must have been 500 of those things floating right on top...obviously he was left alone alot and had alot of girlfriends or he just like to wear them. I swear to you at closing I could barely look at the people's faces. I wondered if the septic guy ever mentioned it to them.

Kelly

 

[CapeCodTenor]

We were told that for older septics, Rid-X was bad for them. Our septic was 30 years old. Not sure what the newer septic tank recommendations are though.

Thanks for letting me know this. Our septic system is over 30 years old so it'll most likely be bad for it. I'll not use anything.

Also, OP remember somethings that some people will flush are not good...personal hygeine items etc. When we were going through our inspection and the guy was opening the septic tank we all had to stand back for about 5 minutes. There evidently was a teenage son in the house who took safe sex seriously...like really seriously. I was the only female in the group and I couldn't stop laughing for 10 whole minutes. There must have been 500 of those things floating right on top...obviously he was left alone alot and had alot of girlfriends or he just like to wear them. I swear to you at closing I could barely look at the people's faces. I wondered if the septic guy ever mentioned it to them.

Kelly

Yeah, there are something's you don't put down into a toilet when you're on a septic system and safe sex stuff is one of them. Also something you don't want to put down there are sanitary napkins.

 

[sha_lyn]

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

Yep I'm thinking it's about time to pump the septic. It's been right at 10 yrs for our too.

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

That's what we say about city water LOL, which we are now on. I filter it for drinking, cooking, ice etc.

 

[sha_lyn]

If you truly have a "dug" well I would be very careful. They are extremely prone to contamination and are outlawed here in CT. A dug well is what you think about in old stories... a big round hole in the ground with a little roof over it. There is no way to protect them from surface contamination

That is not true. Yes the diameter of the hole is bigger, but they line it and cap it just like a bored/drilled well.

 

[pampam]

You may want to talk to the local man who pumps the septic system. He can tell you more about that particular septic system than you will ever want to know. If it's a small community, and I'm sure it is since it doesn't have town water or sewage systems, he will know how often that system was pumped, how large the tank is, the condition of the weeping bed, etc.

 

[stm61]

we've always had well/septic systems and never had any major issues with any of them. THe only problem we've had is power failures. We just fill a bathtub and several jugs/pots/etc. with water when the forecast is bad and use that water to flush with. We don't put anything in the septic system and don't use any special kind of toilet paper. We did have a small problem one year that turned out to be a tree root grown thru the pipe to the tank. Dh spent the day uncovering the line and replacing one section, he said it wasn't a big deal or hard to do.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Ours is all relatively new, so no problems yet. Knock on wood. There is a guy who comes out and does filter and maintenance. I really don't know what all he does. He could go down there and do jumping jacks for all I know. Have to trust him because even if I bothered watching I wouldn't know what the hell I was looking for.

Most toilet paper is safe. I haven't found any I wanted to buy that wasn't.

The best things are that you save a little dough on water/sewer bills and you don't have to rely on the city for water.

The worst things are (at least for me) that when the power goes out, there is no water, either. We have a generator now because that was a problem (and because we don't want to be without electricity for days on end.) Then there is the fact that the water from the sprinklers turns the driveway/sidewalk orange. And there is the shower/soap issue. Took me YEARS to get used to it and while I do feel clean, I still feel cleaner when I shower somewhere that has city water.

 

[Stitchfans]

We had to have our well closed up due to some factories close by contaminating it. Quite costly mess. Not to mention a big scare not knowing if we will cancer in the future from the chemicals we were drinking. Our septic is pumped out every several years. One problem we have with our septic though is if we get a long heavy rain then our toliet won't flush properly. We want to get sewer but it is awful expensive. Some day we will though. IMO I really don't care for well/septic.

 

[debden]

It's so great to get so many responses.Alot of different opinions and views on septic/wells.So if I decide on a house with a septic/well It sounds like I'll have to just take my chances and hope for the best.It could go either way.
It's good to know what problems I could have and how much it could run me if anything should happen to either.
I will ask lot's of questions before purchasing a home with septic/well.
Thanks to all who responded!!
Debbie

 

[miss missy]

I love the well and septic! No rust problems, I love my water!

NO WATER BILLS!!

Hints:
The septic should be pumped every year or 2, NOT every couple months, ask the septic guy and he will tell you it needs to build up in order to work correctly.

DONT flush things like wipes or anything like that! If you have a storm, fill up some milk gallons with water, then you can pour that into the toilet to flush during an outage.

Invest in a generator and you'll be happy you did.

Have 15 years, 2 houses with both well and septic, so far all good.

Here we have a septic law, needs to be "title 5" (meaning it is in working condition) to sell a house.

Well water wont have floride-in case you have kids.