Would you buy a house with a shallow spring well?

[spaceman]

?

 

[SampSon]

Is the water pumped from the well that is fed by a spring, or is the water pumped directly from the flowing spring?

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: SampSon
Is the water pumped from the well that is fed by a spring, or is the water pumped directly from the flowing spring?

it isnt an artesian well, but were debating on wether to just drop one in when (if) we buy it.
there is some pump and filtration mechanism in the house,there are house aroun it i am assuming they have artesian wells as wells

it was described to me as a shallow spring well

 

[Armitage]

My dad's place has one in eastern PA. It's never gone dry in 30+ years we've been there, but you can't say the same for some of the neighbors wells. The water is somewhat acidic and they do have a treatment system on it now. Apparently there is an ecoli issue that was revealed by a water test - we never had any health problems though.

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: Armitage
My dad's place has one in eastern PA. It's never gone dry in 30+ years we've been there, but you can't say the same for some of the neighbors wells. The water is somewhat acidic and they do have a treatment system on it now. Apparently there is an ecoli issue that was revealed by a water test - we never had any health problems though.

ya i have heard surface water and whats around you can influence it.the well has tested fine and to the reealtors knowledge never tested bad.
my dad mentioned a reverse osmosis system or if im that worried just spend the 5k or so to dig an artesian well.
i really want this house

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: ncircle

Originally posted by: SampSon
Is the water pumped from the well that is fed by a spring, or is the water pumped directly from the flowing spring?

it isnt an artesian well, but were debating on wether to just drop one in when (if) we buy it.
there is some pump and filtration mechanism in the house,there are house aroun it i am assuming they have artesian wells as wells

it was described to me as a shallow spring well

So then the spring constantly feeds the well and it's pumped from the well.
I've done quite a few appraisals on houses that utilized springs and spring fed wells for their water. All of the houses have had the spring source being used for at least 50 years and it has never run "dry". Depending where you live a big drought could make the spring not flow as much or possibly run dry for the season.

When purchasing a house with spring fed water the lender may require that the appraisal have a comparable sale with a spring fed source as well.

Personally I wouldn't worry too much as long as you have a nice filtration system like a UV filter system. Chances are if you have an active running spring on your land you could easily drill a traditional artesian well and expect water.

 

[0roo0roo]

like in the ring?

 

[DeadByDawn]

Have the local health dept test the water pre-filtration. They'll do it for free here.

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: ncircle

Originally posted by: SampSon
Is the water pumped from the well that is fed by a spring, or is the water pumped directly from the flowing spring?

it isnt an artesian well, but were debating on wether to just drop one in when (if) we buy it.
there is some pump and filtration mechanism in the house,there are house aroun it i am assuming they have artesian wells as wells

it was described to me as a shallow spring well

So then the spring constantly feeds the well and it's pumped from the well.
I've done quite a few appraisals on houses that utilized springs and spring fed wells for their water. All of the houses have had the spring source being used for at least 50 years and it has never run "dry". Depending where you live a big drought could make the spring not flow as much or possibly run dry for the season.

When purchasing a house with spring fed water the lender may require that the appraisal have a comparable sale with a spring fed source as well.

Personally I wouldn't worry too much as long as you have a nice filtration system like a UV filter system. Chances are if you have an active running spring on your land you could easily drill a traditional artesian well and expect water.

thanks for the advice.
the street runs out of the city sewer grid but it is gods country for land to me at least(2 usable acres) 240ft of frontage house sets about 100ft back from the road and i think we are within striking distance for a good bargain.Weve been looking for months and months now for a property..none having this much land to work with.

 

[aidanjm]

so long as there's no way little kids or animals could fall down the well and drown/ die

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: aidanjm
so long as there's no way little kids or animals could fall down the well and drown/ die

i dont think so,i havent actually seen the well.i walked the property at dusk last night but my agent couldnt get there til 5.i know the selling agent well(we work together) which doesnt mean anything.im not sure how a shallow spring well is cfg'd in any case we'll probably want an artesian well in the near future.

 

[purepolly]

Be careful, I've got neighbor's who have a shallow well and every summer they are praying for rain so they can have water --- and their property is surrounded by wetlands.
It gets old real quick having to run to someone else's house to take showers, and unfortunately they can't afford to sink a new well ($$$).

 

[Bryophyte]

We bought a place with a shallow well. We have a float valve down in the well that kicks off the pump before the water level goes below the intake so that we don't burn out the pump. We stage water from the well into a 1500 gallon holding tank, then a second pump moves the water from the tank to the house (and greenhouse/barn/garden.) Works fine for us for now, but when we build a new house, we plan on having a proper well drilled. Can't do it now, it could cost $20,000 or more.

 

[DeadByDawn]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
We bought a place with a shallow well. We have a float valve down in the well that kicks off the pump before the water level goes below the intake so that we don't burn out the pump. We stage water from the well into a 1500 gallon holding tank, then a second pump moves the water from the tank to the house (and greenhouse/barn/garden.) Works fine for us for now, but when we build a new house, we plan on having a proper well drilled. Can't do it now, it could cost $20,000 or more.

20k for a well? Wow. I had a new well put in for about 5k two years ago. Must depend on the depth and rock.

 

[Vich]

Whats an artesian well?

 

[IronWing]

Have the water tested for e. coli and also nitrates. Test for e. coli at the well and also at the tap. Plan on filtering no matter what the results as water quality can change rapidly in shallow wells, particularly in wells w/o proper sanitary seals. UV systems work well. As suggested above a holding tank is probably called for. Well>>holding tank>> filter system>>house. If it is an older house, test for lead at the tap. If it is a really old plumbing system then you will probably need to replace it well to tap as old systems have a habit of leaking. Underground leaks allow contaminants to enter the pipes with any pressure loss.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Vich
Whats an artesian well?

http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/a1/artesian.asp

we had one in our old house, went down pretty deep, and there was no "well" on the surface that anyone could fall into, the one we had, had some astronomicial gallons/min rate and more or less would never run dry

it was naturally floridated as well which was cool because when i was a kid i nnever had to take that crap at the school

 

[Vich]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Vich
Whats an artesian well?

http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/a1/artesian.asp

we had one in our old house, went down pretty deep, and there was no "well" on the surface that anyone could fall into, the one we had, had some astronomicial gallons/min rate and more or less would never run dry

it was naturally floridated as well which was cool because when i was a kid i nnever had to take that crap at the school

Cool, i bet they are expensive as hell!

 

[vital]

what if some creepy girl starts crawling out the well

 

[FoBoT]

get it tested

 

[Zontor]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Have the water tested for e. coli and also nitrates. Test for e. coli at the well and also at the tap. Plan on filtering no matter what the results as water quality can change rapidly in shallow wells, particularly in wells w/o proper sanitary seals. UV systems work well. As suggested above a holding tank is probably called for. Well>>holding tank>> filter system>>house. If it is an older house, test for lead at the tap. If it is a really old plumbing system then you will probably need to replace it well to tap as old systems have a habit of leaking. Underground leaks allow contaminants to enter the pipes with any pressure loss.

QFT

We looked at a house a few years ago in Ohio that not only had its own natural gas field with pump....given the price of heating now sometimes I wonder....

 

[BurnItDwn]

No,
I wouldn't buy a house unless it had city water.