distance between well & septic (Wells: loan, house, purchase)

[maureenb]

Hi - anyone know what the required distance between an existing dug well & a new septic is? The property is located in Knox County. Thanks in advance!

[Trailmonkey]

Common requirements are a minimum of 50 feet between well and septic tank, and 150 feet between well and leach field. That being said, check with your local code enforcement, as these may vary somewhat.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Trailmonkey

Common requirements are a minimum of 50 feet between well and septic tank, and 150 feet between well and leach field. That being said, check with your local code enforcement, as these may vary somewhat.

Sounds about right



An old dug well? Has it been tested? I would sure want a solid structure over it, and to get it tested.

[retiredtinbender]

According to the State of Maine disposal systems are to be 100 ft from wells or other sources of drinking water supplying less than 1,000 gallons p/day and 200 ft. from those supplying 1,000 - 2,000 gallons p/day. Your best bet though is to check with a site evaluator about the property or the local plumbing inspector.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

retiredtinbender is correct. In addition, when possible the well should be up hill from the septic system. Old time Mainers had two wells, one for the house and one for the barn. The barn bucket was NEVER used in the house well and vice versa. They knew.

While we are on what the old timers knew, Grandma told us to eat our vegetables, wash our hands and to each chicken soup when we were sick.

[JC3]

Am in the process of having a new well and septic done very soon...was told 100' was the distance.

[retiredtinbender]

[quote=Northern Maine Land Man;8555911]retiredtinbender is correct.[quote]

I cheated. Got it straight outta the state book.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

That isn't cheating. That is reliability. We do get some really peculiar ideas here from time to time. I like it when posts are dead on.

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by maureenb

Hi - anyone know what the required distance between an existing dug well & a new septic is? The property is located in Knox County. Thanks in advance!

Hello maureenb,

I'm not sure if your question is due to a purchase you are in the process of, but I received an update from a trusted lender last week regarding dug wells and FHA. FHA, with it's 3.5% down payment has become one of the most popular loan products available today.

Dug Wells are not acceptable unless an engineer does a survey and concludes that-

1. Health report with no qualifications

2. Pump test that indicates a flow of 3-5 gallons per minute for existing wells and 5 gallons per minute for new dug wells

3. No indication of exposure to environmental contaminations, mechanical chlorination, or anything else that could be a health or safety issue.

[Casper1212]

What RTB and NMLM said. And if it's a well that new to you, ie, you bought the place, etc., I would have it tested. Some states and counties also require that, just as they have distance requirements.