Question about buying a House with a well (agency, contract, standard)

[HBosch]

We are under contract to buy a house that has a well. Let me preface this by saying I know nothing about wells. The owner just had the well water tested in May and supplied us with the satisfactory test results.

Do I still need to have the well inspected from a mechanical/structural perspective? And if so, would the companies that collect and sample the water also be the ones who inspect the actually mechanics of the well?

I guess what I'm asking is should I just worry about the water quality or is standard to also have the mechanics(pump etc) inspected as well? Same companies usually do both?

[Mike1306]

There is not much to a well to inspect. You have your pump and your expansion tank in most cases.
An inspection of the pump will likely reveal either it is working or it is not working.

[chet everett]

Deep wells ( which generally means anything more than about 30 feet) have a submersible pump that requires a well drilling company to haul up all the pipe and the pump. You don't want to do that until the pump neess replacement, which depending on water quality and usage, happens about seven years or so on average.

Shallow wells have pumps mounted next to the captive air tank, typically in a utility room. Easier to service, but potentially different issues.

Either kind of well might also gave some associated filters and potentially similar housings for treating the water to improve taste, odor, or reactivity -- in areas where the pH is too low or too high it can harm other parts of the plumbing.

Some areas also have issues with bacteria counts, and chlorine or ozone purification systems may be needed.

Probably 90%+ of all wells are drilled, and there is big steel pipe called the casing that covers the first several dozen feet. Assuming no unusual circumstances those last nearly forever. The small number of dug wells may be lined with clay bricks, concrete or stone. Very few towns would approve those..

Local authorities can be a geat resource. Typically they can give you a detailed history of the well, water quality tests, and suggest trusted / licensesd firms to service the well and components.

Newer wells are nearly invisible in use / operation, the tests are mostly to make sure no changes have occurred. Older wells should be budgeted for upgrading, something that tends to happen when you have whole bunch of other expenses. Put aside money for eventual service so that you don't need an emergency loan to keep the water flowing...

[marmac]

Contact the company that drilled the well originally.
They have log books on every well they drill and could give you a lot of info including the water rate/capacity when it was first drilled.

Driller1 could explain it better than me.

[EricBoyd]

If you're getting FHA financing, they may require the county health dept do a test on the water quality. Ask your lender or loan officer about that.

[corgiloveTN]

We bought a house 18 ys. ago. We have never had in trouble.

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by EricBoyd

If you're getting FHA financing, they may require the county health dept do a test on the water quality. Ask your lender or loan officer about that.

FHA financing just requires that the water supply system meet the requirements of the local agency in charge of such systems.

Chet Everett's comments are spot on.

[Silverfall]

You should always get a well flow test in addition to water quality testing. Lenders typically require that a well pump out at 5 gals/min or better. If it is less than that a storage tank is often the solution.

[HBosch]

Thanks for all the knowledge and advice. Not going FHA so that won't be a problem.

I vaguely remember the house had some type of four foot high thin white canister attached to the water pipes(intake) in the house in their storage area. It seem as if it might have been some type of additional filtration device. I have the general home inspection this week so I will out exactly what that is.

[PghREA]

I would definitely get a water sample tested.