I don't have any experience with well water issues but common sense tells me that your inspector found the water was undrinkable, the sellers had to fix the problem now it's up to them to prove the water is drinkable.

That's right - it's like when you ask for plumbing or electrical to be repaired, the seller must provide receipts as proof it was completed.

I would think that drinking water is even MORE important than other inspection issues and that they should have to pay for it. If they are paying to fix it, then the water should be tested to make sure that it is indeed repaired in a way that the water is potable - and not just a temporary fix.

Personally, this would be a deal breaker for me. Tell them you're walking away from the deal and see if they change their tune.

How much does the re-test cost?

How badly do you want the place?

IMO, the sellers should pay to have the well retested to prove the water is drinkable. However, they are unwilling to do so. You now have a choice - walk right now or pay to have the well retested and possibly walk if the water still proves undrinkable.

In NJ, the well water must be tested in order for title to change hands...however, the law does not dicatate that it be remediated..or tested again; it also does not dictate who pays.

Your state may be the same, whereas it is up to your attorney to protect your interests by addressing these issues in the purchase contract in order that everyone is in agreement BEFORE signing on the dotted line.

thank you for your responses.
I just wanted to check that I'm not crazy to expect the sellers to retest to prove that the water is drinkable. We've had an easy purchasing process so far, so for the sellers to take a hard stand w/ this item, it threw me off, making me think I'm asking some outrageous request, like for them to renovate the kitchen before we buy it.

I don't think it's a big issue; inspector says it's an easy to fix issue.

We're planning to pay for the retesting, and will DEFINITELY walk if the water fails again. I can't risk owning a home that does not have drinkable water for me, and for when I resell it later down the road.

thanks.

If it's a buyer's market, then I think the seller's are being unreasonable. Also, how does the OP know that this is not a recurring issue? It may be fixed but because the seller allowed it to get to an undrinkable state, just how likely is it that it will remain safe to drink after repair?

This is the type of thing I would not want to chance at all. I have no experience with well water, so maybe it's a common thing, but I wouldn't want to have to deal with the worry of it.

Huango - personally, I would not let this go. The water has gotten to a point of being undrinkable, which means it could very well happen again. What if this is a common problem that they have not disclosed?

You are taking a risk despite getting it re-tested because you will have to frequently test it to ensure it remains potable.

Just cleaning the well, will not provide good water. Find out where the water is coming from and find out how if there are any cows, horses, pigs near the well. This state has found out these animals farms have to be a certain amount away and it damages the ground water. Find out what makes it undrinkable etc. This could be a future problem. We use to live in a area with well water and there had to be filters and check every month.
Just be careful

It is the sellers responsibily to prove that the water is safe to drink.

That might be possible and probably is why they are selling. If they don't want to fix things, Run, do not walk, run away from this purchase until the water can be drank. You might be thinking bottled water, have you thought about showering or washing dishes in water you can't drink?

I think that you are talking about Coliform bacteria

I think you mean coliform.

The well can be treated to get rid of it. But that only gets rid of it temporarily. How is it getting in there in the first place? Is this well drilled into rock? How many feet of casing are there? I would be concerned that whatever is causing the contamination will just occur again.

hmmmm...more to think about...
terriks/sue36: yes, that's it: coliform bacteria. (thanks for link: reading more about it).

The sellers have lived there (MA) for over 30 years (raising 3 kids), retired last year, moved to NH last year, so the well hasn't been used.
The well is over 100 feet from the septic, and not near any farms.
There is a Culligan water filter (or softener?).

Note: the sellers said that they never had the water tested, in all these years.

thanks for all the heads-up/warnings.

(I LOVE these forums, because of all the help. :)

terriks, thanks for the link, good reading there.

IMO, since the water hasn't been used and the softener system was sitting with water in it, it's possible the test wasn't accurate unless they let the water run 24 hours.

When my dad built his house last year, they ran the water for 24 hours to get all of the crap out of the system. I would have taken it one step further and replaced the filter, possibly backwashed the system.

Coliform bacteria originate as organisms in soil or vegetation and in the intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals
(fecal coli).

This would be more than enough for me to run from this deal. I would not be willing to take the risk as the outcome could be deadly.

Testing well water cost $15 at the Health Dept. here, I'd be crazy to let that get in the way of buying a house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Health Dept. Well Water Testing

Berniek - for me, the risk would be too great. I wouldn't want the worry of contamination in the future. It's not the cost of the procedure at all.

Q: How could they enter a water system? A: The most likely sources come from where the water is used, the spigot, sink, or unclean containers. Another source includes backflow from a contaminated source, a sink-top carbon filter, bucket of water, or puddle at the end of a hose. Also, reduced pressure or suction in long water lines, or drawing in soil water at the joints are sources as well.

Q: Where else could coliform bacteria come from? A: Don't always blame the water first. Who sampled the water and how? How sanitary are your practices in food handling, personal hygiene, etc.? Do children wash regularly? While uncomfortable and personal subjects to some, these are more likely routes for contamination than the water itself.

Q: How should a water sample be collected? A: Most testing laboratories or services supply their own sample containers. Use the containers provided and carefully follow the instructions given for collecting, preserving, and handling water samples. Samples for coliform bacteria testing must be collected using sterile containers and under sterile conditions.

Some procedures require that water runs from an inside tap for several minutes before filling the sample containers. Other instructions ask you to collect samples in the morning after water has been confined in the pipes overnight. Laboratories may sometimes send a trained technician to collect the sample or to analyze the sample directly in your home.

We went through this with our house - we had lived here about a year when we decided to have the water tested and it came back with coliform. We shocked the well, which is where you dump a couple gallons of bleach down it, let it sit overnight, then let the bleach water run through all your pipes and plumbing. In most cases this fixes the problem but in our case it didn't work - our retest showed we still had the coliform. Our well is new, 400+ feet deep, and the casing is fine (we had it checked). Our well guy and the water test place (two different people) both told us that this is a very common problem - it can happen when runoff from farm fields miles away gets into a stream which gets into an aquifer then travels underground and gets sucked up by the well. If the aquifer is contaminated, you can shock your well dozens of times and it will keep coming back.

The solution was simple - we installed a UV light system where the water enters the house. All of the water passes through this UV light and the bacteria in the water are killed. Once we installed this, we haven't had a problem since. Total cost was less than $1000 for the installation - plus we do have to replace the bulb once a year which costs $100. But now we know our water is clean.

We could also have opted for a chlorination system, which kills the bacteria by adding small amounts of chlorine to the water (just as city water does), but we didn't want to ruin the taste of the well water.

Like I said, this problem is becoming quite common around here - so common that many new homes are automatically getting UV lights installed by the builder before the water is even tested. It's really not a big deal and not worth losing the house over if it's your dream house.

That said, I definitely think the sellers should pay for the retest....in fact, if I were you, I think I'd ask for a UV light to be installed or a credit so you could install one yourself after the sale (you may want to go that route since if they install it, they will probably pick the cheapest crappiest one and it will cut way back on your water flow rate). That way you are assured that the problem won't come back and the whole retest issue is moot.

Good luck!

huango, when it was tested, who did the test and where were samples taken from? Do you know if they flushed the system out or is it possible they got stagnant water?

After reading lkplatow's post, it sounds like there is an easy, inexpensive fix for when you move in. A few months ago I had some sort of stomach virus. After doing research, I came to the conclusion that since I was on 3 courses of antibiotics for a tooth infection, the good bacteria in my stomach got attacked allowing bad bacteria to make me sick. Since we have well water, it most likely came from there, since I tended to get sick after having coffee made with our water. Reading further into it, there are low levels of bacteria in wells to begin with but not enough to affect a healthy person. Do all of the reading that you can. Speak to someone familiar with well water & water systems. They can tell you what the norm is.

If the next test comes back ok, my bigger concern would be water pressure. You mentioned they tested for quantity, where you at the house when they were testing that? If so, how was it done? It's common for older wells to have less pressure; running a shower, then flushing a toilet or filling a sink will affect the shower.

Huango this is VERY COMMON with well water in the spring. When the ground floods from spring water, bacteria from animals, plants etc flood the ground and can seep into the well. Three of my sellers have had the same problem in the last few weeks. The well needs to be shocked and then retested. All three of my sellers gladly re tested their wells. Its about $75 if you have the inspector do it and and if the seller gets the test bottle and brings it back to the lab themselves, its a $25 test. Its not a deal breaker if you're familiar with wells, but the sellers should pay for the retest. You paid for the first test.

I don't know, but as a buyer I would want to pay to have the test done so I know the test was done correctly and by a reputable place. Unfortunately the sellers of my current home did a lot of things to conceal several problems that I've had to fix so since that experience I prefer to take the suspicious road.

"After reading lkplatow's post, it sounds like there is an easy, inexpensive fix for when you move in."

This is good news. I've seen those lights for use with garden ponds. I didn't know they were used for residential water, as well.

"Berniek - for me, the risk would be too great. I wouldn't want the worry of contamination in the future. It's not the cost of the procedure at all."
Chlorinating wells is a common fix, so is annual testing if there is a concern. Daily pumping and usage normally takes care of any problems.
I have sold 100's of properties with wells and personally chlorinated wells to fix problems and had them re-tested, it's a common procedure.

Huango, Lyfia reminds me of something I wanted to say in the earlier post and forgot. You should have your person go and test the well and ask the sellers to pay for the test at closing. This way you know the test was performed properly and nothing underhanded was done.

You have a septic system...I do hope that you had that fully tested by a well established septic inspection company...ESPECIALLY if the septic system is the original to the home...or in excess of 15 years old...
...as a failed or failing septic could indeed be the cause of the coliform...and as such is far more costly to fix than the well issue...

I live in an area of NY where almost everyone has wells. I was told that if the Health Department Test fails for Coliform, they send their own inspector.If it fails, they will tell you to either put in a new well, or install a chlorinating system. Contamination could be coming from miles away, or a neighbors septic leaking. I personally test for a number of other things beside Coliform. Well water could also contain Nitrates, which could be dangerous to babies.

Frankly, I would walk away from this deal. Drilling a new well could cost a fortune.

The presence of coliform does not immediately mean that a new well or even a water treatment appliance are needed. A few tests ago, our water test showed the presence of coliform. I realized that I hadn't removed the screen from the tap when I collected the sample. All it needed was to follow proper procedure and the next test was clean.

The level of coliform is important. Low levels are not a really big deal. If there is any e coli at all, this is a big deal.

Correcting can be as simple as chlorinating the well and the house pipes, if the source has been removed.

Since the OP's well has not been used for over a year, flushing it thoroughly is required as well. Water sitting stagnant for that length of time would be a reason for coliform developing to a problem level.

It seems there really isn't an official guideline on who should pay for retesting, but I definitely agree that it should be the seller's responsibility to check the work performed to remediate an issue- Especially in New Jersey, where the typical well testing costs between $400-700 for the initial PWTA certification and ~$150 for retesting. Unfortunately we're dealing with a failing water test with the home we're purchasing right now- it just failed for lead & ph levels. In our case, there is no softener and the water is being drawn from the pump directly into the home which could be part of the problem. Crossing fingers hoping the sellers will agree to fix