Wells and Farms

[Carrie12345]

I’m probably not gonna do it.
I’m only looking at doing it.
I might do it.

Land of decent size (several acres) that is zoned residential is hard to come by here. My favorite land just got sold to become a campground because I wasn’t allowed to put a house there.

I’ve been eyeing a smaller, less private, but nicely located piece of land that a local farmer is selling. There are some woods in back, but most of it has been crop land. No animals for at least the 15 years I’ve been here.

I’ve been able to look up issues that can be faced with existing old wells on and near farmland, but I can’t seem to find anything about NEW wells.  Anyone have better google skills or experience?

[Pawz4me]

I'm not sure what your question is?

My brother and I jointly own quite a few acres of land that have been in our paternal family for multi generations. The land has been actively farmed or grazed for most of those years, except a few between the time my father died (he leased it out for farming) until my nephew began planting on it. A few years ago DH and I considered building a house on a portion of it, and we had it perked for a well. The health department approved it in a timely manner, with no issues raised. I don't know if that helps you or not??

Edited June 5, 2020 by Pawz4me

[Selkie]

I'm guessing you're concerned about runoff from the crops contaminating the well? Your local health department might have helpful information on that, or could point you towards someone who does. We dug a well on our 50 acres, but this land has never been cropland and there are no planted fields nearby, so that wasn't a concern.

[Carrie12345]

16 minutes ago, Dotwithaperiod said:

How new do you mean? Is there a county engineering/building & septic permit department? Around here, there are just a few well drilling companies— maybe you could call around to see if they kept records for more recent time periods.

Oh, you want info about problems with newer wells? It seems like the owner would have to disclose any wells on the property. Then you could see if it was or needed to be sealed.

 

13 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm not sure what your question is?

My brother and I jointly own quite a few acres of land that have been in our paternal family for multi generations. The land has been actively farmed or grazed for most of those years, except a few between the time my father died (he leased it out for farming) until my nephew began planting on it. A few years ago DH and I considered building a house on a portion of it, and we had it perked for a well. The health department approved it in a timely manner, with no issues raised. I don't know if that helps you or not??

 

5 minutes ago, Selkie said:

I'm guessing you're concerned about runoff from the crops contaminating the well? Your local health department might have helpful information on that, or could point you towards someone who does. We dug a well on our 50 acres, but this land has never been cropland and there are no planted fields nearby, so that wasn't a concern.

Yeah, I’m sorry that I’m stinking at multitasking today, lol!

This is basically “raw” land; no existing buildings, wells, etc.  No equipment storage or anything like that nearby. It does border (with a small tree line) land that will continue to be farmed, fertilized, and pesticided.  I have feelings about that, but my main concern is well water quality from previous contaminates and potentially from the nearby continued use.

I do live with a well (about 200’ deep) on my current property, but of course testing was required as part of the buying process with an existing home. At the land I’m looking at, the nearest existing homes are a substantial number of acres away, and the closest one is inhabited by people I don’t relish approaching about their water quality.

I don’t know how one determines if the water below will be safe. (I do understand perc tests, though.). 
I haven’t gotten far enough to look into whether there are special filters or systems that can combat the discovery of any issues.

[Soror]

I've been on well water all of my life, but not on farm land. I did have friends with wells in farmland in low lying areas that didn't drink their water. I don't know if they actually had it tested or just didn't as a precaution. We had our well tested to be safe and it was free from any issue but our well is very deep (over 300 ft) and as I said we aren't in farm lands but hill. If you are in a safe area well water is far superior in taste than even fancy filtered water. I don't know if a new or old well would make a difference if contaminents have seeped into the water table. ARound here you would talk to the University Extension office, maybe they could help?