What's the drinking water like in areas surrounding Roanoke (Vinton: houses, high school)

[JohnVT68]

My wife and I are thinking about moving to the Roanoke area in about 5 years. We look at home listings around Roanoke and sometimes while looking at listings in Vinton and Goodview area we see Water Description as Private Well and Sewer Description as Private Septic. These do not bother me but my wife says "I'm not moving anywhere unless it has Public water and sewage because well water tastes bad and will ruin our clothes when washed". Can anyone provide me any experience or recommendations with the quality of water from Private Wells in the Roanoke area as far as the taste of water and if it ruins clothes. Seems to me that there would be some kind of filter to take care of these concerns. I need to convince my wife that Private Well water can be ok

[roanoker 4]

Hard well water can make clothes feel harder, not soft. It is ok to drink but you will notice a difference in laundry and using soap in the shower will feel different as it doesn't lather well. The public water system in Roanoke is excellent. Even the tap water tastes good. I would check with the local towns around here to find out how safe their water is to drink. A few years ago the town of Buchanan had to shut their water off as it was contaminated. I believe all is ok now in Buchanan.

[VALover]

My house in Wythe County is on a well and I have never had problems with my clothes becoming ruined. A lot of people that I work with here in Roanoke have wells and I haven't noticed their clothes looking bad either. If you were worried about the water being hard I would recommend a water softener. I love the taste of well water, it is much better than the chemical taste of city water.

[JohnVT68]

Thanks for your replies. I guess a lot of people with wells would also have some kind of water filtering systems. Anyone here that can provide feedback as to the cost of filtering systems or if they are any good or how often they need to be replaced, etc.?

[PaperTrail]

I live in that Vinton/Goodview area that you mentioned originally. When my wife and I moved there 3+ years ago, we had a plumber install this Water-Right system. (http://www.water-right.com/residential/sanitizer/asc1/asc1_series.html - broken link)

When we moved in, the washer and dryer conveyed, and we did noticed that there was rust-colored stains at the water level in the washer. After we had that system installed (which includes filtration and softening), all is perfectly perfect. No stains ever, the water tastes great, and the maintenance is minimal.

The kicker: The cost was about $3,700, which included materials and labor. It ended up being a great value, and we've never had to worry about paying the government for water!

Hope this helps.

[sandykatan]

In Boones Mill we are on well water and never have had any problems. We have a whole house water filter which keeps and small sediment from accumulating in faucets. It is very cheap to install and easy to change the filters every 3 months. My neighbor had a water softener installed (about $700) and they love it, but I don't really detect any difference from my water.

Any of the outlying areas will be on well water and I have never heard of any widespread issues like rust, sulfur, or other issues that typically can make well water undesirable.

Generally I like to have control over my own water source and not have to rely on a municipality to provide and chemically treat my drinking water.

[happygal0000]

Well, most homes in the Roanoke valley are on city or county water (in the county you can't have both...you have to choose between well or county water). In the outlying county areas and some parts of the mountains, there are houses still using well water and have septic systems. The septic system is a bigger worry for me than the well water, since you really have to watch your water usage (dishwasher, clothes washer, garbage disposal) so you don't overflow your septic tank. Yikes! I haven't noticed any rust or staining from the well water, and don't have a filtration system.

[JohnVT68]

I appreciate the replies received so far. Keep 'em coming. Happy Holidays!

[Kreutz]

When looking at homes I tasted well water in a guys house near Bent Mountain, it was really cold and good. Never tasted it before.

We have public water with the house we picked, no septic tank.

[Residenthere]

I can Remember a few times the public water system breaking down and water coming out brown, This was about about 5 years ago when I was still at Northside High School. Eventually they found the problem and fixed it, I'm assuming it hasn't happen since. I've had Tasted and cleaned with well water/public water all over Roanoke Valley. Typically what I perfer Well water, with the right filters (some areas I didn't even have a filter) The water is nice and cool tasting and the clothes came out just fine.