I’m getting ready to retire, and I would really like to buy some acreage, put a new manufactured home on it, and live away from the hassles of the city.
But I’m worried that I’d be exchanging them for new hassles in the country. My chief concern is utilities.
I guess I’d just have to pay whatever it took to get power to my house, although I expect that I could use wind and solar to lower the cost long term. But I’m more worried about water and septic.
A town very near to where I live has a problem every spring with some kind of algae bloom in its water source. Apparently no filtering or boiling can make it safe; they have to get water from outside. Something like that on my property, and I didn’t find out until too late, would be my worst case scenario.
But even without that, it seems like there are so many things that can go wrong with finding water, purifying it, and disposing of sewage with non-public utilities. And I am clueless about the actual process.
Obviously I’ll inform myself about these things by reading, but I’d appreciate pros, cons, and tips from people who have actually drilled wells or lived with septic systems, that may not show up in the web pages of people who are trying to sell me their services.
Most of the places I’ve lived had septic systems, and we currently have a well and septic. No problems, no big deal, and our water is delicious and clear w/o filtering. I think you’d have to be pretty isolated to be required to generate your own electricity.
drilled wells and septic systems are fine with maintenance.
a well and water supply system may take little maintenance. you may need a water softener or iron filter depending on your available water.
septic system needs to be inspected and pumped, by a septic pumper (couple $100 USA), every three years or so. don’t put bad stuff down your drains and toilets and you are fine.
people have lived with both many generations. the technology for both has improved as well.
I’ve had a well and septic system for nearly 12 years now. They do need periodic maintenance, but it’s not even an every-year thing and if you’re not having a problem it’s not that expensive. Basically, you need the tank sludge removed periodically. You hire a guy with a truck to do that.
Avoiding problems is pretty straightforward. Put nothing but bodily waste, toilet paper, and “greywater” down the drains. No food scraps (garbage disposals not recommended. Some systems can handle them, but you’ll probably need your tank cleaned out more often than otherwise). Use only cleaning products marked "safe for septic systems - which are most, from what I’ve seen.
Don’t let anyone drive vehicles over the septic drainage field. Don’t build or pave over the drainage field (this happens more often than you might suppose). Don’t dig deeply over the drainage field.
Get your water tested once or twice a year. If the water is hard you might want a water softening system or water filtration system.
I live in the Pacific NW now, but I have no idea where I’ll end up. I’m reading all the retirement websites now, trying to decide. Looking for a mild climate and low prices, which probably means I’m 50 years too late.
Can’t get any milder than Hawaii. Check out this place only 2 miles to the Pacific for $84,900 on an acre of land. And that’s the asking price, offer $70.000.
Septic systems and wells aren’t a big deal if they are maintained and work correctly. I wouldn’t advise against them because people have them all over and they generally work fine for a long time but there are a few things you need to be made aware.
You are responsible for their maintenance.
You have to come with a solution and pay for it if yours fails.
There is preventative maintenance that you can do on a septic system that doesn’t cost a lot. You just have it pumped and inspected every few years but it takes some minor digging to do that. It typically costs about $150 dollars to have one pumped clean to get rid of any non-degradable deposits you have built up but it is worth it because it will extend the life of the system. However, if you get a crack in the tank and it fails, the potential cost to replace it is tens of thousands of dollars and you don’t have a choice especially if you live in a heavily regulated area.
Wells are a different story. The water quality depends on your immediate area. It may be the best you ever had or sub-par and need to be treated. They usually don’t require much work but you are responsible for the pump and any treatment filters you may need. It is also quite possible to run one dry if the well can’t handle your peak loads. That is a pain but you can have a backup well drilled again for several thousand dollars to take care of that.
I don’t mean to scare you. It usually works just fine like it would anywhere else. This stuff is routine for lots of people but you can’t just call a utility company to fix it when you own your own services. There is a financial risk if you have a major failure.
A potential risk of digging a well is that you will hit either iron water or sulphur water. (Though I understand there are filter systems that can address those.)
Our house was built in 1989. It has a well and septic system. We’ve lived here for 11 years.
Had to replace the well pump last year. Total cost was around $500.
When power goes out, we lose water.
I’m beginning to think our septic system is on its last leg. From research I’ve done, I don’t think it is operating correctly. With the new laws that are in place, I think I am looking at $10K to $20K to replace it.
We have a lot of iron in our water, so I use the green bags of salt in our softener. Not sure how well it works, as we still get rust spots in the sinks. And the valves in the washing machine and dishwasher stop operating after a while.
I have no reason to suspect there’s anything wrong with our water. We had it tested when we bought the place, and the results were fine. As a precautionary measure, though, once a year I’ll open the well top and pour in a gallon of bleach.
My house has had a well since it was built in the 1950s and the water is delicious. However, my daughter’s house is about 4 blocks away and the water tastes nasty. I don’t know why for sure, but suspect that we were just lucky. That, and our well is very deep. The well pump was replaced twice within that time, the first time because it was fried by a lightening strike. Each time the well was opened it had to be treated with something or other, possibly bleach, to guard against contamination.
For about 30 years the property was served by a septic system and there were zero problems. Then the town decided we needed sewers and we were forced to connect and to have the septic tank taken care of so that a sinkhole would not develop or any other nasty thing. Once the drainage system had been disturbed by the sewer installation we started to get ground water in the basement during heavy rains, which had never happened before. We now pay a few hundred dollars a year for something unnecessary IMHO.
I used to have a vegetable garden right over the area where the septic tank field was. I had noticed that the grass always grew very lushly there. Wow, did we get bumper crops! One summer I harvested literally dozens of tomatoes *every day * out of a plot that was only about 100 square feet.
I’ve had experience with 2 houses with well and septic. #1) My parents place, out in the country. Wonderful tasting water. No filtering needed. I wish I could pipe it to some of the places I’ve lived. Septic system put in in the 1980s, in sandy soil. No problems.
#2) House my SO and I owned in the Chicago suburbs. Bleck. So much iron in the water that clothing would occasionally change color. We had to have 2 extra filters and a water softener. We still wouldn’t drink the water (due to taste, not health issues). The 60 year old septic system was a bit iffy. It was definately undersized for today’s houses (mainly the cloths washer).
So the short answer -
water quality will depend on where and how you drill. Maintainence is really not that big a deal, on a newer well. Quantity of water available can be an issue, depending on the well.
Septic - A new septic system is no hassle, as long as you get it properly sized and do some maintence of it.
Before buying land, be sure to have a perc test. They dig a small hole and fill with water. It has to drain away within a certain time period. You can’t build a house and put in a septic system unless the land passes a perc test.
Perc tests can be fussy. One lot will pass and the one across the street might not. That’s why a perc test should be required in any offer you make.
We woke up one night to a loud buzzing from the basement.
The alarm for the septic tank was triggered.
The pump had failed and was replaced the next day, service call and new pump was around $400.
Worst thing is a power failure, no power, no water. No water, no flush toilet.
Yeah, power failures are the worst. That’s why prior to this storm I had several days worth of drinking water put by and a couple of buckets of water to flush the toilet with, just in case. So if you’re prepared it’s not horrific but if you’re not prepared… it can be pretty miserable and unpleasant.
One other reason to contact the state’s DNR is to find out about zones that are susceptible to chemical contamination of the ground water. You don’t want to live in an area where the water is full of Atrazine or local wells are likely to have naturally occurring arsenic.
