Tampa suburbs on wells? (Brandon, Bloomingdale: appliances, houses, heat pump)

[heatherm941]

Looking at many suburbs of tampa like brandon/Valrico, odessa and lutz, I find most house are on wells and septic. Is this common and does anyone know if they have public water available but choose not to utilize.
Thank you

[Sunscape]

If you look at houses on sub developments in these areas they won't have wells. They have public utilities. I guess that you must be looking at houses out in the country. Others will post more from those areas, as I can only tell you from ppl that I know who live that way.

[housingcrashsurvivor]

My area has private septic, public sewer, private wells, public water and reclaimed water for irrigation. I've one neighbor on well for water (he says it is of good quality, no sulphur smell) and septic for sewage.

I very much like all these options and I prefer the way my houses happen to be set up: public water for interior use (so that quality is controlled), private septic (so I have better control over the cost of that) & well irrigation to water what will be extensive gardens for the minimal price of running a pump. I've an existing well here but even if I had to drill a new one it would cost less over time than continually paying for reclaimed water (cheaper than potable water but it still adds up, especially on a large property).

At least two newer homes nearby are using the reclaimed water for irrigation and there's a smell at close range during watering (not once it dries).

Note that I also like to have the private utilities, particularly for sewage and irrigation, as I really don't use all that much potable water, because I think that as life gets more expensive and as it will be difficult for politicians to raise property tax mil rates by much without getting voted out, user fees will continue to make up for the short fall and public utilities will be an easier target for charging higher prices.

[algia]

The east side of Lutz has wells....off Livingston Rd, maybe some on Collier Pkwy, everything else is city water....

[Keeper]

We had a well and septic in Odessa. The water had a lot of iron in it so everything had a red ting including my daughter's blonde hair. We finally put in a water softner to get rid of it.

The bad news is when they do put in water and sewer it is going to cost you to join and it isn't cheap

[The716]

I live 1400 ft. from the intersection of Providence and Bloomingdale and I am on a well... an artesian well that is very deep. The water is very soft... you don't have to be out in the boonies to have well water.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by Keeper

We had a well and septic in Odessa. The water had a lot of iron in it so everything had a red ting including my daughter's blonde hair. We finally put in a water softner to get rid of it.

The bad news is when they do put in water and sewer it is going to cost you to join and it isn't cheap

Just a note for the future. Softeners are great and do a lot for the water but just for rust all you really need is a single sump filter which runs about $25 and a 5 micron filter cartridge which runs $4-5 and change every 3 months.

[Deef1]

As mentioned in an earlier thread...subdivisions are on public in Brandon. Some of the newer subdivisions also offer a choice in electric vs. gas appliance usage. Our house was piped for both for Oven, Fridge, Washer and dryer so you can use elec OR gas appliances. Our heat is Gas, AC is heat pump. Just a little info to ck on when looking for homes in the area.
On another note...
Also...Ask for Radon testing, especially on some of the older homes if that is the route you are going, but even the new ones. Request it to be checked before you buy. AND of course newer homes...Watch out for the Chinese Drywall!!! LOTS of builders used it in Fla!

Happy hunting.

[TampaKaren]

A good portion of the homes built outside planned developments are on well & septic, particularly those built pre-1970. It's costly. This also applies to a good portion of the homes built along County Line Road in-between Pasco and Hillsborough County and in rural South and East Tampa. Again, most homes in planned developments will likely have had the water/sewer lines run.

To clarify the Radon inspection, you can buy a test kit yourself for under $20 at the local Home Improvement stores.

[Keeper]

Originally Posted by Town&Country

I live 1400 ft. from the intersection of Providence and Bloomingdale and I am on a well... an artesian well that is very deep. The water is very soft... you don't have to be out in the boonies to have well water.

In one of my former lives I worked for a well driller. He guaranteed no iron or sulpher in his wells because he drilled 1,750 ft (I think that was the figure) down instead of just to where you hit water..

Mike.. thanks for the info.. that was years ago we had a well.