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Forum Thread
Would a house having a septic tank and well water turn you away from buying?
December 4, 2017 at
10:31 AM
When I was a kid we had a house with a septic tank and well water...but as you all know that was eons ago 
I have heard of some horror stories of having to replace the septic tank and it being pretty expensive to do.
I did Google _ for all of you who may have been ready to post the lmgtfy link... and read how you are supposed to take care of them and not add any strain on the tank by not putting coffee grounds down the disposal, no grease from pans, no antibacterial soaps to be used..showers held to like 10 minutes etc.
Sounds like a PITA actually and although I found a nice house that I like.. I am thinking of skipping any with septic and well...
Any personal insights here in the knowledge well we call the lounge?
I have heard of some horror stories of having to replace the septic tank and it being pretty expensive to do.
I did Google _ for all of you who may have been ready to post the lmgtfy link... and read how you are supposed to take care of them and not add any strain on the tank by not putting coffee grounds down the disposal, no grease from pans, no antibacterial soaps to be used..showers held to like 10 minutes etc.
Sounds like a PITA actually and although I found a nice house that I like.. I am thinking of skipping any with septic and well...
Any personal insights here in the knowledge well we call the lounge?
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Well water is greater concern, at least for me. You may be at the mercy of others as far as water access, contamination, etc. I wouldn't buy a home in the desert on well water, but maybe that's me.
Personally I bought my current house 9 years ago and haven't done anything with the septic system other than the time the line to it from the house froze because I cleared too much snow off of the ground above it. I am careful about what I let go down the drain but I still use some antibacterial soaps. I also have never worried about how long of a shower I take or how much water in general I use at any given time.
I did have to have the well pump replaced a few years back which was a little pricey but still cheaper overall than paying for water. I love the taste of my well water but the quality and taste can vary greatly depending on location.
I'm more concerned about the unused septic system on the lot that my shop is located on. I have been running water into the tank occasionally but I worry that without any new bacteria entering the system that anything left in the system could solidify. Odds are it won't be used in the foreseeable future but I still think about it once in a while.
Well water is greater concern, at least for me. You may be at the mercy of others as far as water access, contamination, etc. I wouldn't buy a home in the desert on well water, but maybe that's me.
Thanks for the input.
Also the well on this specific house is a community well.
Fairly newer neighborhood in comparison.. built in '96.
The realtor at the open house mentioned a double tank for the septic.
I realize that some areas you have no choice...
Many around here are septic but finding one on a city sewer isn't impossible.
Just really leaning toward not dealing with it or worrying about it.. grr.
Personally I bought my current house 9 years ago and haven't done anything with the septic system other than the time the line to it from the house froze because I cleared too much snow off of the ground above it. I am careful about what I let go down the drain but I still use some antibacterial soaps. I also have never worried about how long of a shower I take or how much water in general I use at any given time.
I did have to have the well pump replaced a few years back which was a little pricey but still cheaper overall than paying for water. I love the taste of my well water but the quality and taste can vary greatly depending on location.
I'm more concerned about the unused septic system on the lot that my shop is located on. I have been running water into the tank occasionally but I worry that without any new bacteria entering the system that anything left in the system could solidify. Odds are it won't be used in the foreseeable future but I still think about it once in a while.
everything I have read is.. you should have it serviced like every 3 years..
But I know a couple of people who have spent like 8 to 10K to have them replaced.. which would suck.
My first house I owned for 14 years. I had to replace the pump that was inside the well. But it was a shared well with the neighbor's duplex so it probably received more use than average. I had no issues with the conventional septic system.
I've owned my second house for 2 years and we haven't had any issues. It's a mound system and the state of WI requires it to be pumped every three years. We don't treat it special at all other than we don't have a disposal because I don't want to dump anything extra down the drain then what we need to. We take long showers and since there is sometimes up to 7 people living here I would imagine there is a ton of water that goes down the drain. I wouldn't dump grease down the drain no matter where I live. It's going to coat your pipes with grease and it will eventually plug up. I haven't heard about not using antibacterial soap, but I don't use that anyway do to the bacterial resistance concern.
My old neighbors had a holding tank because their house was pretty much built on wetland so they couldn't use a conventional or mound system. They had to have that pumped all the time, I'm thinking at least once a month but am unsure of the exact frequency.
I would never buy a house with a shared well again. That was a major pain to deal with.
I would suggest tasting the well water before putting a bid on a house. We filter our water just because my SO is picky about how the water tastes. Replacing filters can be an added expense. My parent's water tastes perfect but I think that is because they live in a very sandy area and the water must be naturally filtered.
Thanks for the input.
Also the well on this specific house is a community well.
Fairly newer neighborhood in comparison.. built in '96.
The realtor at the open house mentioned a double tank for the septic.
I realize that some areas you have no choice...
Many around here are septic but finding one on a city sewer isn't impossible.
Just really leaning toward not dealing with it or worrying about it.. grr.
Yeah I get that. Even though water and sewer comes with a monthly bill.. I kind of think I'd have more peace of mind.
Hmmmm...
everything I have read is.. you should have it serviced like every 3 years..
But I know a couple of people who have spent like 8 to 10K to have them replaced.. which would suck.
But hey there's no maintenance!
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When I first was looking for a house a couple years ago, there was 1 new home development that we liked aside from the fact it was well/septic. It killed me to have 10k+ of the home price going towards septic etc as opposed to going into the house.
House we're building now is municipal water/septic.
Hmmmm...
everything I have read is.. you should have it serviced like every 3 years..
But I know a couple of people who have spent like 8 to 10K to have them replaced.. which would suck.
But with that said it is still a good idea to have it pumped occasionally if for no other reason than it may catch a problem early. If the system is sized and designed properly it should never need servicing but you can't be sure that it has been done properly. But a place built as recently as '96 was probably regulated pretty much and might even have a backup drain field in place already. That is a requirement in some place now from what I have heard.
I did speak with my brother who has had a couple of houses with well and septic and this current one is a community well...
he said he wouldn't shy away from a house especially if newer like this one is ..but to make sure that if I'm serious about the house to go talk to neighbors and see if they have any issues with the well water.. around here it would be rust...
I don't knowwwwww I am so torn .. lol such varying opinions on this...
It's not fair to assume that houses with wells and septic tanks do have outhouses?