Pond well being hooked up to supply home too?
#1
03-02-14, 07:26 AM
Pond well being hooked up to supply home too?
Hello, I have a question and hope to get some imput to help me in the right direction, We are in the process of buying a home on 2.5 acres with an 1/8 acre pond, The owners have a well on the property to supply the pond (ONLY) and at the last minute we found out they have the house water coming from a shared well on the adjacent property and are going to cut that supply and run another water line from the pond well to the house we are buying.
Now they advertised the home with private well but did no disclose this switch out to anyone.
Will this work? Should there be some sort of anti reverse valve installed can the pond water get into our drinking water, I would not have so many worries but the owner seemed to be doing all this on the sly......
Now they advertised the home with private well but did no disclose this switch out to anyone.
Will this work? Should there be some sort of anti reverse valve installed can the pond water get into our drinking water, I would not have so many worries but the owner seemed to be doing all this on the sly......
#2
03-02-14, 07:33 AM
Ask for an explanation why the house wasn't previously connected to the pond well? Is the pond well deep enough to be safely potable? Have you had an independent test of the water? Is the well used only to "top off the pond" or is it continuous flow? If continuous flow does it have the capacity to also supply the house. Ask the owner those questions he can answer and ask if he will sign a notarized statement attesting to those answers. How he reacts may be a big clue.
If you do decide to buy have a well company check everything out.
If you do decide to buy have a well company check everything out.
#3
03-02-14, 06:10 PM
Group Moderator
The situation sounds slightly suspicious. Shared wells were common in the south so that's not a red flag but not switching the wells previously is odd. You've just spent the money to drill your own well so why not connect it to the house??? Contact the county's Health or Environmental Services Dept. for the well permits to find out if that well was permitted and could be used as a potable source. If not then I would proceed cautiously as it's basically a house without a water source. Depending on your county they may not permit connecting to it and require drilling a new well.
As for the pond... if it needs a well to keep it filled then it's not a very good pond so you might consider the cost of removing the pond. If the pond does not need the well to keep it filled than the story about the well is possibly a lie and a red flag.
As for the pond... if it needs a well to keep it filled then it's not a very good pond so you might consider the cost of removing the pond. If the pond does not need the well to keep it filled than the story about the well is possibly a lie and a red flag.
#4
03-03-14, 04:34 AM
Likewise, I could not imagine using a well to keep a pond filled, and certainly could not imagine drinking water from an open pond. Sounds a little "fishy" to me (pun intended). Locate the septic system as well, since certain spacing is required between the two.
#5
03-03-14, 05:16 AM
Super Moderator
I could not imagine using a well to keep a pond filled,
Follow danes advice and contact the health department..
#6
03-03-14, 05:30 AM
"we found out they have the house water coming from a shared well on the adjacent property and are going to cut that supply and run another water line from the pond well to the house we are buying."
As long as that well can produce the correct amount of volume and is pure enough to drink, I don't see a problem with that. It's rather curious as to how this happened and I would be surprised if the neighbor didn't know why, but as long as you have a functional well I can't see a habitability problem.
The pond may need the well and if it does, it's not much of a pond anyway. If you are buying the house because of the pond, I would think twice about buying it. It's not unusual for ponds to dry up during dry years, a bother, but one of the joys of country living. It's a pond, not a swimming pool.
As always, the well should be tested by a qualified home inspector and the water tested by an independent lab using a referral from a government agency, either state or county.
As long as that well can produce the correct amount of volume and is pure enough to drink, I don't see a problem with that. It's rather curious as to how this happened and I would be surprised if the neighbor didn't know why, but as long as you have a functional well I can't see a habitability problem.
The pond may need the well and if it does, it's not much of a pond anyway. If you are buying the house because of the pond, I would think twice about buying it. It's not unusual for ponds to dry up during dry years, a bother, but one of the joys of country living. It's a pond, not a swimming pool.
As always, the well should be tested by a qualified home inspector and the water tested by an independent lab using a referral from a government agency, either state or county.
