Dug Well-Buying Concern

[CateP]

Originally Posted by skibum

Hi Cate,

Dick is quite correct in his definition of artesian wells. I am the Water Quality Supervisor at Gilford Well, where we do everything from well drilling, irrigation, geothermal, to water treatment. By the way, there are other very reputable well and/or water treatment companies in the area.

We test water through state approved labs for banks and mortgage companies on a daily basis. They all have different parameters for their desired testing. As long as a state approved lab test passes their requirements, they are satisfied.

Dug, or shallow, wells are a perfectly viable source of water. They have their good points and drawbacks, some of which have been mentioned by previous posters here. On the plus side, it would be unusual to find high concentrations of arsenic or radon in a dug well. Arsenic is usually found in deeper drilled wells and radon is a gas which tends to dissipate in a dug well. It is also unusual to find high concentrations of hardness, iron or manganese. On the down side, dug wells are prone to testing positive for bacteria, can end up with nitrates from fertilizer runoff, and can have an acidic pH level from all the pine trees in our state. These are easily corrected with water treatment and tend to be less expensive than correcting the problems found in drilled wells. Shocking the well or installing an ultraviolet unit will take care of the bacteria. A reverse osmosis unit for drinking water will take care of the nitrates and an acid neutralizer will raise the pH. Don't forget that the well may have none of these problems and require no treatment at all.

I hope this helps and make sure that you check with your lender to find out what they require for water testing before your home inspector visits the house.

Rick

This is great information Rick. Thanks. I guess my main concern at this point is running out of water (for days at a time), the well running dry and having to drill or not having enough water to do basic things like laundry, showers, dishwashing etc. on a regular basis.

[Winnisquamguy]

Originally Posted by CateP

This is great information Rick. Thanks. I guess my main concern at this point is running out of water (for days at a time), the well running dry and having to drill or not having enough water to do basic things like laundry, showers, dishwashing etc. on a regular basis.

There is a test that they can do to tell you the gallons per minute, as well as the recovery rate. I would suggest getting that done when you get your water test done. Also if the well is your only problem with the house, I would just put aside $8000.00 and plan on drilling a new well.

[Seeker]

Cate, When you get all done with this purchase you can put in for your Home Inspectors License.

[lawn psycho]

Resale. Look at how this is influencing your decision to buy the house. The next owner will do the same and some will walk away. Something to think about.

I would not buy a house with a dug well as it's too risky for my taste.

As for depth in areas for drilled wells, jmen is dead-on. I co-worker of mine built on Sebago. The drilled to 750 ft on a lakefront lot and we essentially bone dry to that point and had to hydro the well to get only 3-4 GPM.

His neighbors well is at 325 feet with 10 GPM. You just never know when drilling a well BUT, if you buy that house I would get a drilled well as part of the deal.

[fatlazyless]

The blue jug still works for many islanders and some main-landers. There's probably hundreds of island cottages that pull their water direct from the lake with a shallow well set-up powered by a 1/2hp electric pump and use it for everything except drinking. For drinking and cooking they lug water onto the boat in one of those blue 5-gallon porta-tanks filled with town treated water.

The islands are very rocky and when was the last time you saw a big, tall water drilling rig and large truck set up on an island drilling an artesian well? Probably, never! So's, how do the islanders all get their water?

Turn on the kitchen sink.....and out flows lake winnipesaukee water! It LOOKS just like the town treated water.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by lawn psycho

Resale. Look at how this is influencing your decision to buy the house. The next owner will do the same and some will walk away. Something to think about.

I would not buy a house with a dug well as it's too risky for my taste.

As for depth in areas for drilled wells, jmen is dead-on. I co-worker of mine built on Sebago. The drilled to 750 ft on a lakefront lot and we essentially bone dry to that point and had to hydro the well to get only 3-4 GPM.

His neighbors well is at 325 feet with 10 GPM. You just never know when drilling a well BUT, if you buy that house I would get a drilled well as part of the deal.

And my sister drilled a well at our former lakeside camp in southern NH and ended up with sulphur smelling nasty water. The old dug well had worked fine for 40 years. As I said before, my shallow dug well has beautiful water while my neighbor drilled a well 100 feet from my well and is not happy with the quality.
I would never write off buying a house just because it has a dug well. You might find more problems and expense with a drilled one.

[CateP]

Originally Posted by lawn psycho

Resale. Look at how this is influencing your decision to buy the house. The next owner will do the same and some will walk away. Something to think about.

I think you bring up a good point LP, however I think in a resale situation if the buyer isreally interested, they will go through a similar process that I am going through now...educating myself about dug wells (here at the forum) and asking experts in the field (making phone calls). At this point I would do all the testing that's been suggested and just live with it. (possibly happily for many years) If the dug well becomes a problem down the road then I would look into drilling.

[SIKSUKR]

Just to add Cate: It has been my experience that Nh wells that are drilled into granite ledge in general have hard water. Dug wells tend not to so further treatment such as softening system may not be needed. In my case the water is great and only needed sediment filtering. However, I do test a little on the acid side so I needed an acid nuetralizer. I would ask the experts what their opinion is on a particular dug well. That would be a water treatment center and not necessarily a well drilling company that has a conflict of interest. FWIW

[Just Sold]

Cate, one problem that can occur with any well and in particular a dug well can be bacteria. This typically is discoverd during water tests associated with a buyer home inspection.
The bacteria problem can be easily corrected with a bleach treatment but bacteria can come back another time and you do not know it unless you have your well tested again.
I recommend installing an in-line UV system that treats (purifies) the water as it passes into the house. So long as the UV light in the system is working any bacteria in the water will be killed off. Well companies can supply you with the information on these systems.

This is just one comapny that makes UV treatment equipment. I have no connection with them just found them from a web search.
http://www.freshwatersystems.com/c-1...FUSo4AodMxdBCw