welll or public water? (Oakton, Fairfax: house, disposal, to live)

[gumbico]

I have always had public water and sewer, so I have no experience with septic tanks or water. But I'm looking at homes in the Oakton area and most of them have septic sewage and either public or well water. The newer homes have a septic/public water combo while the older ones, built around 1940s near Waples Mill, have septic/well water. I've been googling around and it seems there are some folks that love and some that hate life with wells, but nothing specific to the Fairfax area. Anyone have thoughts or opinons on whether I should stick to what I know or go ahead and exclude properties with septics and wells?

TIA

[Margery]

I have lived with both systems. When we lived in NJ we were on well and septic, Morris County inspected the septic every 3 months. The only problem we had was the electric was in overhead lines, so every time the power went out the well pump didn't work and we had no water to flush toilets with. I soon learned every time it looked like a storm to fill the bathtubs so we would have water to flush the toilets. Also, you may not be allowed to install a garbage disposal if you have a septic. You will also be limited as to what you can flush down the toilet; no tampons for instance.

You may need to install a water softener if you have well water; it tends to have minerals in it that will make the water "hard". The only other caveat I can think of right now is to remember that well water will not have fluoride so you will need to tell your dentist there is no fluoride in your water.

If you have found a nice home, don't rule it out because of well and/or septic. You can learn to live with it if you love the house.

[vlh71]

My folks have lived in Oakton since '89. The house they bought was on well and septic. The septic is so much of an issue. If it's newer and has been inspected and maintained it shouldn't be a problem. However, the well was a bit of an issue. They had a huge issue with sediment and build up. The minerals in the well water was harsh. They immediately hooked up to city water because of this.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Find out how old the system is - where we used to live we had to have ours dug up and it cost a lot of money. You have to be careful what you put down the toilet when you have septic. It also costs a lot of money sometimes to hook up to the public water system.

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by gumbico

I have always had public water and sewer, so I have no experience with septic tanks or water. But I'm looking at homes in the Oakton area and most of them have septic sewage and either public or well water. The newer homes have a septic/public water combo while the older ones, built around 1940s near Waples Mill, have septic/well water. I've been googling around and it seems there are some folks that love and some that hate life with wells, but nothing specific to the Fairfax area. Anyone have thoughts or opinons on whether I should stick to what I know or go ahead and exclude properties with septics and wells?

TIA

Keep your life simple. Stick to public services.

[questionmark13]

If you have a well water system can you flush tampons etc down your toilet?