quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
the house I lived in thru high school (and still own w/ my brother, our shop is there) was built in 1977

210' deep well,

line near the house replaced in the late 80's, or early 90's (developed a leak not far from the front of the house)
pump was replaced in the late 90's, don't remember why, I was out of the house in 87


it had one algae bloom, treated with a gallon of clorox,
pour in, let set a few minutes, and run some faucets till you cannot smell the bleach any longer,



the house I built in 2002 has a 300+' deep well,

4 miles or so away from the one above, and we had a bit of sulfur smell, so we put on an aerator, problem went away,

we had an algae bloom and also did the clorox thing, cleared it up,

if you ever have a bloom, be sure to run the faucets in each tub you bathe in until it is clear, and don't be alarmed if you see 'crap' come out the faucets

we had some dead algae come thru several sinks and the tubs after treatment,

So you know you are having an algae bloom by stuff coming out of the faucets or is some type of regular testing performed?

staining and build up in the toilet tanks and rim,

did not taste anything different, but the filter on the frige water was probably taking that out,

Our well is 47Ft deep. The pump is down the hole. Our rate of flow has never been a problem in over 25Yrs. The over flow is almost continuous.

Thanks for all the advice and wisdom. I have a good idea of what to look for and questions to ask now!

Our rural water company charges $1500 to break into their line and install a meter on our property. The trenching and connection to the house would be on me and probably run $500. We're still on the well at least for a while. I think it will vary quite a bit and you would need to check with your local company to find out for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
Thanks for all the advice and wisdom. I have a good idea of what to look for and questions to ask now!

Ok, Part Deux of your question, to which I referred earlier and is every bit as important: Does the home also use a septic system for disposal? If it does, you should be every bit as concerned about its condition as you should that of the well.

Just ask a friend of mine that bought a house with a septic system and took the seller's word on it that it was "fine."

It wasn't. In fact it was entirely non-functional--with waste backed all the way up into the home's sewer pipes.

If you haven't bought yet, I'd request a well inspection (not typically part of a home inspection).

You should want to know:
-Total depth
-Casing size
-Water table height
-Refresh rate
-Pump type/age

When we moved in we knew we had a shallow well with a jet pump. The water table and refresh rate were ok for the existing pump, but the pump was old. Due to the acidic nature of the water, it destroyed the impeller and we had to replace the pump shortly after we moved in ($1250).
Replaced the pump, the well would draw down and lose prime during heavy usage. (New pump moved much more water, we didn't realize the increased water pressure had such a downside).
We opted for a new drilled well, 210 feet, with submersible pump, and a refresh rate of 50+ gpm. Not quite artesian, but close.

Had we gotten a proper well inspection, we would have been better prepared and gone with a drilled well right off rather than replacing the pump.

It's also a good idea to get a full water test (ph, hardness, dissolved particle, bacteria). Acidic water will eat away any copper pipes, to hard/soft can lead to skin irritation, dissolved particles (iron, calcium, lime) can lead to build-up or staining in fixtures/appliances. Not usually too bad, but better to know why things are happening and what to use to treat/clean it.

As for bacteria, Coliform is typical, E. Coli is bad. Both can be treated by shocking (bleaching) the well. You can figure the amount of bleach you need based off the well depth, water height, and casing size. It's easy to do, but can be daunting the first time.

This isn't posted to scare you, with a little bit of knowledge, a well is a great thing to have as you are not dependent on city services. I'd be very hard pressed to go back to that!

It would help to know the age of the well pump.
Mine went out a few years ago, not the pump but the wires going to it in the casing.
Each time the pump is activated, there is some torque, wire can become abraded.
When we pulled the pump, since it was 15 years old, I elected to put a new 1hp Gould pump in.
My well is 210' with a static water level of 141 feet.
Get some water from your well and have it tested locally and proceed from there.

Thanks again for the great advice and pointers! I didn't mean to ghost the thread, just ran out of time and have been moving farm equipment and animals.

As for septic tank - yes it is on septic. Every house I've lived in has been on septic, never been connected to sewer, so I am the polar opposite with my well experience! We will definitely have a good home inspection and will do a well inspection too. It will be interesting to see what it reveals. There was an antebellum home here before the current home that was originally built in 1950. I've found maps from the 1870's and from 1925 that both show a house located on the property.