# Well and septic system concerns



## Brilliant (Jun 25, 2006)

We are thinking about moving. We found a lovely house and it has a well and septic system. One thing I am concerned about the potential change of life style. I've heard people tell me its its not much different than public water/sewer while others online write about turning off the water while you lather in the shower. 

I am worried about the impact on my hobby. I am looking for input from other hobbyists who have a well & septic tank to see what kind of impact this will have on me and my tanks.

Thank you for your input.


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

You should be fine. THe only problem I have is adjusting my shower time because the hot water tank runs out easily. 

With smaller tank you'll be ok .. larger tanks may require more hot water than you heater can provide in one sitting (unless you have a tankless water heater).

The other thing to check is water hardenss. Well water can be very hard and in my are carries a lot of Iron. Also check the ammonia level of the tap water.

Hope this helps a little.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

We've had a well and septic as much as public sewer. We're in our 50s. You should have a well and septic inspection. Wells should produce a certain minimum # of gpm. If they don't then it might need a new well. House should also have a minimum size of septic system per bathrooms/bedrooms. Sometimes this gets off when people add on to houses. Make sure it's up to code. After that you should be fine.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

As a general contractor, I can tell you that a well and a septic system are alot more money then if you were hooked up to a sewer and city water.

On older homes they can be even more of a mess. Often they will stop you from say adding a bath room or the like. Simply do to the fact that they do not have the capcity to run them. Some times you can redo the system, but often modern codes won't let you. I've had to tell people several times, on top of the money for the new addition, you are going to have to spend 10s of thousands more to redo your septic system. I've also had to tell them, you can't do what you want as there is no legal way fix the septic system. 

A local chruch just had to sell a camp its had for 50+ years do to just that. They needed to completly redo the bathrooms and kitchen. The septic system is way undersized, not only is it undersized, its too close to a stream for it to meet modern codes. There was no legal place any where on the property that they could have put a leach field. There is sewer service ~ 2 miles away, Sadly it is almost 300' higher then the camp. I ran some basic numbers on what it would cost to run a line with all the needed pumps, tanks and etc. it was about 800k.


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

Tab of course you are correct, but that is alot of "ifs".

If the well system fails a potability test (which should be tested prior to purchase), and if the septic hasn't been pumped. primed and inspected (inspected prior to purchase) ... If they decide to add on extra rooms, if the building code in their area hasn't changed.

Assuming all is normal, there will be lifestyale adjustments of course but it can be worth the effort


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

have you priced out replacment well pumps recently? more so when you have a really deep well. even for something like a 1.5 hp pump and controler for a shallow well, is still in the 1000-1500 range. instaltion can cost another grand on top of that easy.

Something else to think about, if you don't have power, you don't have water. So you really need to have a generator, even if its only big enough to power your well.


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## Zabman14u (Jun 20, 2009)

ive had a well/septic tank almost all my life. i dont think i could go to city water/sewer haha. i know there are the building codes and stuff that TAB talked about in some areas regarding septic tanks but as long as they dont inspect them, if you live within your means you have nothing to worry about (not saying that they should be totaly ignored, as they are there for a reason). the biggest thing about septic tanks is that water has to leach out of them into the ground. typically by the time the water even reaches the soil from a properly setup tank, you can drink it. as long as you dont overload your tank your fine. just remember what you can/cant flush down your toilet. get toilet paper that specifies "septic safe" on the label. other than that and poo, do not put anything else in the septic tank. no tampons, no paper towels, no cigarettes, small children, napkins, clothing, or anything else that will not break down in water [-X. also there is a product called "rid-x", use that monthly. it adds bacteria to break down the waste, the same way our fish tanks work. fish tank water may actually be beneficial to the system but i cant verify that.

like mentioned above, before purchase, have your well and septic system inspected. if something is bad, either its the home owners responsibility to fix it or the cost to fix it should be deducted from the purchase price. personally i would choose the deduction of the price so you know the home owners are not doing it as cheap as possible just to sell the house and possibly have problems a few years down the road. other than that, as long as you life responsibly, you have nothing to worry about.

EDIT: also forgot to agree with the comment about water hardness. in my area, the water is VERY hard and i go threw a lot of softener salt as a result. when ever i do water changes, i have pull it out of the cold water only faucet AFTER i bypass the water softener or it wreaks havoc on my tank with the softened water. the hot water is full of softened water. typically outside faucets are not softened but i choose to just hit the bypass on the softener to get direct well water in the house. its quite nice with snow on the ground. i then heat the water up on the stove and have figured out if i boil 2 of this certain pan full of water, it will put my water dead nuts where i want it for temp. just takes a lot of time. i have since been working on an auto water changer that drips straight well water into the tank and slowly drains it off. a week later, so far so good. and its slow enough it doesnt affect the temp of the tank.


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## J-P (Jan 5, 2010)

ohhh also check to see if it is a "dug" well or a drilled one. Drilled are much better IMO.


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## Brilliant (Jun 25, 2006)

Thank you for the great responses everyone. 

I was going to tell you we would have the well & tank inspected by a specialist before buying but I didn’t want to sound like I knew it all already...haha. Good advice. 

It is definitely something to think about and I lean towards public water/sewer but we won’t let it make or break the decision. There are plenty of houses out there to choose from.

Hopefully I will have some good news soon.


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## Zabman14u (Jun 20, 2009)

another bonus of well water... no chlorine!!


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