Water Well Home Inspection in Saratoga, NY

If you're looking to purchase a home, you may come across a property with a well as its water source. What does that mean to you as a home buyer and a potential future occupant of the property?

With a municipal water source, there's a basic assumption you can make that water will readily flow through your faucets and that this water will meet the safety standards of your area. But, with a well, nothing can be taken for granted.

What's Wrong With A Well?

A well can be a very dependable and clean source of water, so long as you do your due diligence to ensure it's up to all of today's codes and standards. A private well can save you money since you won't have a city water bill, but during the up-front purchasing process for the property, you'll want to front the cash to have some well tests done that will verify the well's functionality and quality.

If you are considering a home that is serviced by a private well instead of a public water source, you need to make sure that you have the well tested. This should be part of the contingency deal when making your offer, meaning you won't be stuck buying the house if the well doesn't past tests for one reason or another.

Getting Your Well Tested

All wells should be tested to ensure their safety and overall quality. When a Saratoga, NY home inspector is testing the water, they are really checking for two things: quality and quantity. Both tests are of equal importance because you want to make sure the water is safe to consume, but also that there is enough of the water to service your home.

If the well passes a quality test, which means it's free of contaminants and particulates that could be hazardous to you and other residents of the property, the next step is the quantity test.

The quantity test conducted during Saratoga, NY home inspections ensures that your well is able to provide enough water (usually measured in GPM, or Gallons Per Minute) to make sure you won't be sitting there for hours waiting for the bath tub to fill up or find yourself missing water pressure.

Every area has different regulations for what they deem acceptable when it comes to water quality and quantity. You should ask a home inspector about what's expected in the Saratoga NY area and whether or not a property you're considering has a well that meets those standards. A well flow test inspection is actually very fast to complete. A bacteria test may take between 1 and 2 weeks to receive the results from the lab. Although the test performed during a home inspection by your local home inspector are not labor intense, there importance shouldn't be underestimated.

The Author Adam Clark is the owner and operator of Shield Guard Home Inspections. Adam Clark is a local Home Inspector located in Albany NY that has performed over 6000 Inspections Book online Phone: (518) 720-7152