Pros and Cons of Well/Septic System (Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates: real estate, house)

[xpreciousp]

All,

We have been trying to decide where we are moving to. We will be selling our current home and have been struggling with the decision of "where to?".

One of the areas that we truly enjoy is Hawthorn Woods, however I am noticing that the majority of homes are on a Well/Septic system. We currently live in the Schaumburg area where we are on a public system for both water and sewer.

Are all homes in Hawthorn on Well/Septic? If not, which areas would have city water and/or city sewer systems.

And which of the two (well and septic) are we best to avoid? While I really enjoy the area there, I TRULY am concerned (worried) about this.

I guess the same line of questions would be true for Deer Park/Kildeer as we are interested in that area as well.

Your help will be very appreciated!!

[gardener34]

First of all, if the system is older, you must have it inspected to make sure it was taken care of over the years and is fully operational. It is very expensive to do a septic field repair or replacement. Also, with a septic field you cannot just wash any old thing down your drains. (latex paint comes to mind) or flush everything down there. It will plug up your field. You cannot do loads and loads of laundry one after the other. I limit mine to 2 a day. How many people are in your family and are they all mega-shower takers? These are all things you should take into consideration.

Also you will need to get the well of any home you are looking at - inspected as well.

Plus - no city water bill or watering bans.

[jlawrence01]

Several other points:

1) A lot of people - myself included - will not buy a house with a septic/well system. They take a lot of care and you never know what can pollute your well. Therefore, when you sell, the number of people who will buy your home is more limited. If you are in a rural area, that is different as the expectation is a septic system.

2) If the area grows, at some point, the city will require you to tie your house into the city's septic system. That can be very costly as you will need to run plumbing out to the street.

[treeg26]

I have a well/septic and have no problems what-so-ever. We are a family of 6 (3 girls) and have no issues. I do up to 5 loads of laundry a day, 6 showers are taken, the toilet is flushed a lot (3 girls = lots of TP) and I have no problems. You DO need to be careful of what you put down the drain, but it's not that big of a deal. No tampons, cotton balls, gum, no garbage disposal. The only thing I miss is the garbage disposal, but it doesn't take much time to adjust. We have our septic system checked in spring and fall for about $70/each time. We have it pumped about every other year ($150). This is all cheaper than paying a water/sewage bill each month.
We DO have a good septic system, though. Find out what kind it is and do a google search on it.
As far as the well goes, you should have a good water softner and filter system. I have no odor from our water. We have a charcoal filter, a whole house filter, then the water softner. The softner was a little expensive, but worth it!! We had a water company come out and do an evaluation on our water and we followed their recommendations. There are quite a few companies that do this. (DuPage water, Amber Soft, ect)

All of these things will still cost less than a monthly city bill. Check with the neighbors about the well. Everyone in our neighborhood has a well and nobody has problems. My parents well is so good they don't need a water softner OR extra filter systems - just the whole house filter.

Don't let well/septic scare you off a nice house.

[sgresident]

We have lived in our home for 22 years. we have a septic system and city water. We have never had any problems whatsoever. Our septic guy sends a reminder card as to when we need a pump out. It is less than $200 and only needed about every 3 years. I do as much laundry as I want and we do use a garbage disposal.

[gardener34]

If you live in a nicer area where people are more likely to keep up the homes (upscale) you will not have a problem. We live in an older area with some run-down homes. And you guessed it - some of the run-down homes have bad fields. And they cannot afford to fix them. So they don't. they reek and they leak and are a health hazard. Nothing will be done about them until someone complains.

But, yes these likely were never taken care of correctly and they were never pumped, etc.... so make sure you know the history of your field before you purchase a home with one. Get an inspection.

Also, if you have a LARGE party (really big) I have known some people who have rented portapotties for outside to not stress their field. That no water bill is pretty sweet.

We had to upgrade ours about 6 years ago. It went bad, because it was never installed correctly and was never maintained properly. And they told us to NOT get a garbage disposal.

And yes, well water (ours) will make everything turn yellow. And it tastes funny, unless you have a house filter. Which you may have. You may ask around the neighborhood to see what others do about their well water treatment. We have a softener/filter.

[xpreciousp]

Wow! Thanks for the information everyone. I really appreciate it. I can't say that all of my concerns were put to ease, but at least I now have more information than I had previously.

Still however, are ALL areas of Hawthorn Woods on Well/Septic? I thought I'd seen some real estate listings that showed either no well or no septic. But I can't recall which areas of Hawthorn.

Again, thanks so much!

[middle-aged mom]

The overwhelming majority of single family homes in HW and Kildeer are on well and septic.

New(er) construction, like Hawthorn Woods Country Club, a Toll Brothers development, is not. They are still building in there and there are some resales, too.

Deer Park is 100% septic.

Be aware that school district often influences prices within these areas.

Hawthorn Woods and Kildeer feed into LZ and Stevensen.
Deer Park feeds into LZ and Barrington.

Some sub divisions are split.

Please do not rely on what a given listing says relative to sewers or school districts. Work with a real estate agent who knows the dirt.

[xpreciousp]

All,

Thanks so much for the information (varied as it was). Still confused and haven't a clue yet what we are doing. The darned Metra line and schedules also are playing a part in our relocation choices as well, as my husband has a daily commute downtown and presently we are in Hoffman Estates and he uses the Roselle station.

[At1WithNature]

one pro is no flouride or hundreds of other prescription pills found in water supplies.

Prescription Drugs Found In Water Supply Of 41 Million Americans - Central Florida News 13

plus, well water has many more minerals, such as iron, that are good for your body.