Water Supply Few country properties offer the convenience of being hooked up to a municipal (piped, treated) water supply. Therefore, you probably will be considering properties that depend upon a well to supply drinking water.
We take drinking water for granted in most parts of the country, but you can't automatically assume that all properties will have an adequate supply of good water. When you have a well, you have to be concerned with both the quantity and quality of water the well supplies. Both can be tested before you buy the property.
To test the output, or quantity of water the well produces, you can perform a well discharge test. This is simply a test where a technician pumps water from the well for a specified amount of time, usually three to four hours. This test can be done with the existing pump in the well, or with a portable pump provided by the technician. Most experts recommend using a high capacity pump that can pump greater volumes of water than the well produces to get a true reading of the gallons per minute of well discharge. For example, if you have a fifteen gallon per minute well and use a ten gallon per minute pump for the test, you'll never know the true capacity of your well.
Water Quality
The quality of the water the well produces is just as important as the quantity. You can have two separate tests done to determine the quality of water that the well produces.
The first is a potability test to verify that the water is safe for human consumption. The main purpose of this test is to verify that the well contains no contamination, and that the water is safe for human consumption. Many lenders require such a test before they will lend on country property.
The second test is a mineral analysis, which provides information on iron, sulphur, acid, hardness, and other characteristics of the water. It's not uncommon to find well water that is high in acid, for example. This condition can result in damage to copper plumbing, but can be treated by installing a neutralizing filter in the water system. Hard water is also a common problem, and can be corrected with the installation of a water softener.
Digging Your Own Well
If you're considering the purchase of a property without a proven water supply, you'll have some difficult choices to make. You can go ahead and take a chance, hoping that you'll find good water when you drill a well after completing your purchase.
Or, you can drill a well before completing your purchase of the property. Many country property buyers make their purchase offers contingent upon drilling a satisfactory well, with the acceptable gallons per minute and quality of water clearly specified in the contract. If you choose this strategy, plan to spend $20 or more per foot for drilling costs in most parts of the country, with no guarantee that water will be found.
Those costs are negotiable between the buyer and seller, so plan to do some hard bargaining.
After drilling a new well, you should get a copy of the well driller's report. This document will show the types of soils encountered while drilling, the depth of the well, the depth at which water was first observed, the gallons per minute of water produced by the well, and other details.
You should realize that the gallons per minute noted on the report may not be an accurate indication of the actual quantity of water your well can produce. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that most well drillers test the well discharge by blowing compressed air into the well to determine the amount of water available. This common practice can result in a distorted reading. That's why a well discharge test performed over a period of several hours will usually provide a better indication of your well's output.
You also should realize that the cost of drilling the well is not the end of it. You'll still need to install a pump and pressure system to deliver the water from the well to the house. This can easily cost several thousand dollars, depending upon the complexity of the system you choose.
Sewage Disposal
Throughout America, millions of city dwellers take for granted that they can flush the toilet and everything in it will disappear into the sewer.
Country properties, however, usually dispose of sewage with a septic system. Through a rather unsophisticated combination of a holding tank and perforated pipes called leach lines, the sewage is absorbed (leached) into the ground.
As you might imagine, there are all kinds of ways for things to go wrong with such a system. When your septic tank backs up, or your leach lines become plugged, septic tanks are no fun. That's why it's a good idea to make sure the septic system is working properly before you firmly commit to buying your country dream. As with the water potability tests mentioned above, your lender may require a septic system inspection and certification before lending on country property.
Septic Inspections
A septic system inspection usually includes a visual inspection of the area around the system to look for obvious leaks. Such system failures are usually detected by visual clues of seepage and the accompanying malodorous stench. The inspection also should include pumping the contents from the tank and a visual inspection of the inside of the septic tank after the pumping is completed. This inspection should reveal any cracks or flaws in the tank itself. If the system is in good working order, you should receive a written certification stating the results of the inspection.
Installing a Septic System
If you're considering the purchase of vacant land, you should perform soils tests to determine the feasibility of a septic system on the property. Those tests vary from area to area, depending upon the requirements of the local public health officials. If the land under consideration is located in an environmentally sensitive area, such as near a year-round stream, plan to meet more even more stringent requirements.
Soils tests will reveal what kind of soil you have at the depth where your septic system will be placed. For a septic system to work, the soil must be capable of absorbing the waste from your septic system. If the soil is too porous, or sandy, waste materials will pass through too quickly for nature to purify them. The opposite extreme, such as rocky soil or hardpan clay, will not permit waste materials to pass through quickly enough to be purified. A happy medium is necessary for a septic system to work effectively.
Most health officials will want to see the results of a percolation test, also known as a "perc test," to verify the rate of absorption for the soils where you intend to place your septic system prior to approving a building permit. A percolation test usually consists of boring several holes with a power auger, filling them with water, and observing the elapsed time for the water to be absorbed into the ground.
Some health officials also may require a soil mantle test, done by digging a deep trench with a backhoe tractor. By digging a trench several feet deep, health officials can better examine the makeup and quality of subsurface soils and decide how well your land will accommodate a septic system.
Whatever you do, check local governmental requirements for sewage disposal if the property you're considering requires a septic system. To protect your own interests, make your purchase offer contingent upon obtaining satisfactory soils test results.