Hi Melissa,

Visit the county Enviromental Health Division, it is usually near the Planning Department or Building and Safety, at a lot of county offices. The Environmental Health Division will provide you with a wealth of current septic, well, and perc information. Good luck!
TV

There is a very good book that gives an overview of well and septic systems called "Cottage Water Systems" by Max Burns and distributed by Firefly Books in the US. You have some very thorough answers below Melissa so I won't repeat what they have said. It is most important that you work with a local agent who knows wells and septic systems, the right professionals to inspect them and who is also familiar with building restrictions on properties that contain well and septic systems so that you don't purchase a property with some inherent limitaton to expansion based upon the percolation (perc) capacity of the ground or the production of the well. I have lived on acreage with well and septic for 10 years, and 70% of the homes in Sonoma County where I practice real estate are on well and septic so I have had to become very educated about them, more than I ever thought I would! I have seen sales fall out of escrow when a buyer and their agent blithely assumed a home could be expanded to 6 bedrooms or that the well could support a second unit, etc. I spoke with a seller who had used his out of town agent to help him buy his home and I could tell just from my initial visit that the septic system will be a HUGE challenge for him should he decide to sell. If the seller doesn't pay for your well and septic inspections, plan on spending a good $1,000 minimum, in addition to your pest and contractor's report, for these inspections, and go to the county offices to read their files on the property and talk to the planners and well and septic people so that you understand the property and any possible limitations.
That said, it is not rocket science and I don't think you should be scared off the concept of well and septic, just make sure you work with a knowledgeable agent and learn as much as you can.

Frankly, I like having my own water--Santa Rosa municipal water is sky-high in price. I also like being somewhat self-contained. Another thing about wells and some septic systems is that you often need power in order to pump water unless you have a gravity fed system so in a power outage you will often need to be prepared with a generator or just some storage to tide you over. I manage to survive with horses, dogs and cats and no generator so you probably can too. Good luck!

Hello Melissa. I live in the country on 10 acres and we have a septic system and a domestic well and I have represented many buyers of properties with septic systems and wells. I would recommend that you ask the seller to pay for the inspections of the well and septic systems. Many times, the septic tank has to be pumped in order for it to be inspected (it's difficult to inspect a full tank, if you know what I mean). The cost of pumping is about $700 for a 1,500 gallon tank (in my area - Greater Sacramento area). When they test the septic system they look at the tank and all the inlets and also for signs of trouble with the leach fields. The kind of potential problems that you may encounter will depend on type of septic system (standard, pressure dose, sand filtration system are the most common types of septic systems in my area). If the property has been vacant for a while, problems with the leach fields are harder to detect. Some septic systems require a maintenance agreement and you should ask whether there is such a maintenance agreement and what the annual cost is. You may also want to find out whether there are any designated repair leach fields and what alternatives are available for failed septic systems. There are lots of alternate systems out there but not all of them may be permitted in the area where you will purchase.

As far as the well is concerned, you want to know what the well production is (how many gallons/minute), how deep the well is and the water quality (potability and mineral contents). If you don't need to irrigate landscaping with the well, a lower producing well (such 3-5 GPM) would probably suffice, but if you also depend on the well for irrigation, you'll want a higher producing well, ideally a second well to be used for irrigation purposes only. I hope this helps.

Melissa,

Here is a google video link to a video answer to this question:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3354618576547421298

Melissa,

Most of the concern will be in 2 areas. How well the systems were designed, and how well they have been maintained. If you can't verify one or both of these, then you could be signing yourself up for significant cost burdens. In addition, since the well is providing drinking water, you need to know something about the water source they drilled into.

There are companies that can do inspections of these systems, but sadly, most inspections are not detailed enough to answer either of the 2 concerns above.

Your best bet is buying a home where these systems were installed within the last 10 years or so. Restrictions implemented in many jurisdictions in the recent past, substantially increased the reporting requirements for installations, and some even require third party maintenance contracts.

Note, there are many, many homes sold with these systems that operate just fine, but you need to know the potential costs to repair these if they go bad. While locale will make a difference on costs, consider that a new septic pump, including installation, will run $500 to $1,000. A new septic tank (if one is cracked), could easily exceed $3,000 depending on size. A new septic field (where the gray water drains to) can easily exceed $10,000 and cause quite a mess of the yard. And if you had to replace the entire system, you might have to comply with current restrictions on design, which can tack on additional costs.

For a well, it depends on how deep it is and what kinds of problems you run into. For example, if the pump goes out, you should expect to pay at least $1,000 including installation. If the water dries up and they have to drill deeper, who knows what the cost will be, but it ain't cheap. If the water goes bad, well, you're toast.

But again, a lot of homes are sold with these systems without any problems. You just need competent local resources to help you with the decision.

Good luck,

Jeffrey