Water Quantity and Quality Issues
During Residential House Sales with a Private Water Well
Gary L. Hix, R.G., CWD/PI
Residential home sales are booming all around Tucson, and a finite number of the homes being sold either have their own private water well, or they have a share in a well. For some homes the private well is the sole source of water. For others, the private water well supplements the municipal water supply for outdoor irrigation purposes. In each of these cases the issue frequently arises as to what is the quantity and quality of the water produced by the private water well. Buyers are becoming more concerned about the water well that they are buying or sharing, therefore, brokers and agents need to be informed about private water wells.
We assume that all real estate brokers require home inspections to be performed with each and every home sale. We all know that Home Inspectors in Arizona are licensed and certified by the State Board of Technical Registration. Certified Home Inspectors, however, were excluded from inspecting and testing private water wells. No state standards, or individual qualifications were established for inspecting private water wells. Many brokers, however, require that a well inspection be performed for the protection of the buyer, and the agency.
Lending institutions typically recommend (some require) performing a potability test. Some lenders ask that this test be certified, but they don’t define who or what constitutes certification. Potable water is often defined as water that meets the US EPA and/or State water quality standards that is considered fit for human consumption. The US EPA has established, by the Clean Water Act, two categories of standards for drinking water, Primary and Secondary standards. The Primary standards are primarily metals that are suspected to have adverse effects on human health if consumed in concentrations above their listed standards.
These are the standards that must not be exceeded in all public water supplies. 
The Secondary standards are metals, elements, and compounds that they (EPA) recommend not be exceeded in publicly consumed waters. None of these standards are regulated for private water wells, and they are not required to be monitored, tested for, or met. See table below for EPA listed standards and a sample of a reporting form.
Just as there is no standard for water quality from private water wells, there is no standard for quantity that must be delivered by a private water well. An Exempt private water well may produce as little as 1 gallon-per-minute (GPM) or as much as 35 GPM. What one family of five can live on, another individual may not find adequate for his or her needs. Both quantity and quality are somewhat subjective issues, and can often lead to confusion and stress while trying to close the sale of a home.
There may be as many as 9,000 private water wells in the Tucson and Santa Cruz Active Management Areas (AMAs). All of them should be registered by now with the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). It has been a requirement that all known water wells (domestic, commercial, municipal, and irrigation) were to have been identified and registered with the ADWR since October, 1980. The majority of them have been registered, however, occasionally a well is discovered that was not. To register a recently discovered well requires the payment of a $10 Late Fee and the filing of a form provided by the ADWR (form 55-65). Forms to register a well are available from the ADWR via the Internet by logging on to forms at azwater.gov and downloading a PDF form 55-65 for printing.
A broker/agent must first determine if the property in question has a private water well associated with it, even if it is not Registered, or not working, or if it has been capped, or if a well was abandoned on the property. A search of the ADWR records of registered wells can be performed by logging on to: azwater.gov., and searching for a well registered to the listed seller, or perform a search for all wells listed in the Section, Township, Range of the legal description of the land. If the seller can provide the registration number (55-000000) or the file number D(T - R) Sec., ¼, ¼, ¼, the search will be much easier. Not all registered wells are listed in the name of the current seller. The well ownership may not have been transferred to the seller when they purchased the property, or they may be connected to a shared well, listed in another name.
All legal water wells drilled in Arizona since 1980 were permitted by the ADWR at the time they were drilled. Arizona water law requires that the well driller complete and file a Well Driller Report and Drill Log (ADWR form 55-55) within 30 days of completing the well. It is also required by Arizona law that the well owner file a Pump Installation Completion Report (ADWR form 55-56) within 30 days of the time that the well was equipped. Our State records show that these requirements were not always fulfilled. There are a lot of gaps in the ADWR records that can, and should, be filled in during the inspection period. Filing a current Request to Change Well Information (ADWR form 55-71A) at the time of closing with all the blanks filled in is in the best interest of the buyer, and the agent.
If there are any Grandfathered Water Rights associated with the land being transferred, then it is imperative that that water right, along with the ownership of the well, be properly transferred during closing. A full discussion of Grandfathered Water Rights is beyond the scope of this paper, but will be taken up in later writings by the author.
Filling in the blanks takes a coordinated effort between the seller’s agent, the buyer’s agent, and the water well inspector. Timing is everything. Typically the well inspection should be conducted on a date that both agents and the buyer are present. The items that the inspector finds about the well and water delivery system that require fixing should be noted, and documented. If the well is to be pump tested, and/or sampled, then additional time must be allowed for working up test results, or laboratory analyses to be completed and reported. The water quality testing and analysis takes the longest time. Sometimes two weeks are required for the laboratory to complete, and report, the test results.
Whether or not a private water well should be inspected during the sale of a residence depends upon the policies of the brokerage agency, the particular agent, or because of the buyer’s concerns. If sufficient data are provided by the owner, or the listing agent, then the buyer may be comfortable with the disclosure, and not require that an inspection be made. It might be prudent, however, for the buyer’s agent to get a waiver of a well inspection signed by the buyer if they choose not to conduct one. A lender may still require a water quality sample be taken and reported, even if the buyer is not concerned.
Since cost is always a consideration in making decisions of these issues, perhaps I should give some general guidelines for well inspections and testing. A simple inspection and brief letter report for a private water well located not too far out of town, and with a fair amount of factual data provided, might cost the buyer $200 to $300. Operational testing of the well equipment by conducting a flow test and actually measuring well performance, with written documentation of the results could double the above amounts. Water quality samples will add to the cost of the inspection and testing anywhere from $35 for a Coliform presence or absence test, to $180 each for Primary and/or Secondary drinking water standards.
In order to report water quality data for use by most buyers an interpretation of the results must be provided. A positive result for Coliform and a negative result for fecal Coliform is an acceptable result for a private water well. A positive result for some amount of Coliform is not a sign of contamination or unsuitable water. The typical test (Colilert method) is a test for presence or absence only. It does not quantify whether it is a little or a lot. If the results are reported as negative for fecal Coliform, then the small non-pathogenic amount of bacteria found in the sample can be treated with the simple addition of chlorine into the water. It is the same treatment that municipal suppliers of well water perform everyday.
Bacteria can enter the well through vent holes, sampling ports, and well maintenance operators. It can enter atmospheric water storage tanks in the same manner, or be born on the wind during sampling, and it is certainly present in large numbers around kitchen sinks, if that is where the sample was collected. The point of sampling, and the manner in which the sample was collected, can dramatically affect the results of a simple Coliform tests. Some buyers panic when the see a positive result for Coliform, often due to articles appearing in published media. Brokers and agents should be able to explain that a positive result for Coliform, but a negative result for fecal Coliform is acceptable, if treated with chlorine.
The same can be said for the results of the Primary and Secondary drinking water standards, but often magnified several times. The EPA limits are expressed as Maximum Contaminate Levels (MCL’s) and the choice of works often spreads fear in uniformed buyers. Each metal, element, or compound has a loosely worded risk assessment associated with it. The risks are often expressed as one additional chance of developing a cancer, if large quantities of this contaminate were consumed over the lifetime of an average white male.
Ground water is typically very good in the greater Tucson area and true contamination is found in very few private water well. Most nuisance contaminates can be removed with water treatment equipment if they are genuinely present in amounts that constitute a health risk. The best way to answer a buyers questions regarding a private water well is to disclose and provide all known factual data about the well, its existing equipment, its history of repairs, and perform an inspection and testing as is justified. Like all matters with real estate, the quantity and quality of a private water well depends upon three things: location, location, location.
Brokers and agents rely on Certified Home Inspectors to perform a thorough inspection of a home. They should also require a qualified water well inspector perform a thorough examination of private water well, and the associated equipment, if it is present. Who knows? They may have to rely upon the water well inspector to help answers some rather subjective issues in order to close the deal. Being knowledgeable about private water well registrations, construction, typical pumping equipment, and standards of acceptable performance can make the agent’s job much easier. Knowing a little bit about water chemistry and associated health risks is even better. If you don’t have time to get on the learning curve for these issues, I suggest you contact a qualified water well inspector and get him, or her, started before the escrow closing date.
| CATIONS & ANIONS | Recommended Limits | Typical GW Values ppm | Typical CAP Values ppm | Your Water Value mg/l |
| Calcium | 200 Mg/L | 50 | 85 | 124 |
| Magnesium | 125 | 10 | 30 | 15 |
| Sodium | 250 | 50 | 110 | 130 |
| Iron | 0.03 | 0.01 | unk | 0.025 |
| Copper | 1 | <0.3 | unk | 0.006 |
| Manganese | 0.05 | 0.01 | unk | 0.04 |
| Sulfate | 255 | 55 | 290 | 200 |
This the first of a series of informative papers about private water wells by Gary L. Hix, Registered Geologist, Certified Well Driller / Pump Installer. Gary is a former licensed water well driller and a certified pump installer turned consultant who performs water well inspections for transfers of real estate.