Well Water Odor (Brunswick, Gorham, Poland: lender, hotel, selling a home)

[221B]

As we are looking for a home in ME, a question came to mind.
We were staying at a hotel, and noticed that the water had a pretty bad smell to it, and a smidge bitter tasting. The owners mentioned something about getting it looked at, and had bottled water available, so no big deal.
I was wondering what might be the cause of this type of problem with well water (as we have no experience with it), and how to be aware of it as we are looking for a property.
Is this one of the things an inspection routinely covers? Are there "fixes" for something like this?
Thanks!

[AustinB]

Sounds like a plumbing issue, or a volcano is about to erupt near the motel.

[elston]

We had a house in Gorham. The city water from the tap was absolutely delicious. I thought that it must come from the same aquifer as what Poland Springs bottles and sells. Best water I ever drank. I hope that you luck out and have a lovely home and sweet water.

[Submariner]

Until it gets tested there is no way of knowing what the issue is.

Our well driller installed an improper fitting onto our well casing, which cracked a few years later and led to algae slipping inside. A smell, a color, a taste led to us getting the water tested. Then we got our well inspected; and finally I fixed it.

If something got inside the well and is growing, often a 'flushing' with bleach can fix the infestation. But the source of how it got inside the well needs to be addressed too.

I see well heads with loose caps. That is bad.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Some parts of Maine test high for manganese. It is safe to drink, but tastes "funny". Our well tastes fine and we have never had it tested. The prior owner never had it tested and the well was drilled around 1946.

Submariner is right about loose well covers. If an ant gets lost and falls down the well your well can show bacteria in a water test.

What if you find the perfect home and the water tastes "funky"? You just go to Home Depot and get a reverse osmosis unit and you'll have crystal clear water with nothing in it but water. Some people like the slight taste of minerals. I know a guy who can tell what minerals are in well water by the taste.

[Maineguy04654]

Most wells are fine. We had a issue at a home we had in Machiasport years ago. The well guy said we had algae or something in the water he dumped a couple gallons of bleach in the well head and a week later all was fine. This house has water as good as anything out of a bottle.

[WhoFanMe]

Your agent can get you the Seller's Property Disclosure filled out by the seller at the time the listing is taken. One of the questions is, "Have you had the water tested?" and "If Yes, are test results available?" If no test is available or if it's more than a year old, I strongly recommend a complete test, not just potability test and depending upon the type of financing you use, your lender may require it. This is not an area to save a few dollars. The state estimates that 10% of wells exceed the legal limit of arsenic. Like an oil or gas burner, the well is a maintenance item and should be monitored on a regular basis, not just when buying or selling a home.

[221B]

Originally Posted by AustinB

Sounds like a plumbing issue, or a volcano is about to erupt near the motel.

Actually, the soon to erupt volcanos are apparently here in the West!

[221B]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

Your agent can get you the Seller's Property Disclosure filled out by the seller at the time the listing is taken. One of the questions is, "Have you had the water tested?" and "If Yes, are test results available?" If no test is available or if it's more than a year old, I strongly recommend a complete test, not just potability test and depending upon the type of financing you use, your lender may require it. This is not an area to save a few dollars. The state estimates that 10% of wells exceed the legal limit of arsenic. Like an oil or gas burner, the well is a maintenance item and should be monitored on a regular basis, not just when buying or selling a home.

Great info, thanks. We'll keep an eye out for this during the buying process.
Looking at the posts for this topic, it seems as though algae may have been the culprit back at that hotel. It certainly had that sort of taste and smell x2!
Good to know there are courses of action that can be taken from several angle to attack the problem. This is helpful info to us as we have no practical experience in this area. Thanks again for your great advice.

[Maineah]

There is lots of sulphur in wells in the Brunswick area. Our water when we lived there smelled like rotten eggs. It was so nasty we wouldn't drink it. Even showering you had to really use the smelly soap to feel clean. I went through a lot of Aramus in those days.