Well water coliform

[MUZ720]

Buying a house water testing came back with Coliform Bacteria owners are going to have it shocked. Found out they are doing it themselves and having the water test a week after the procedure? Can this be done correctly by a homeowner or should a professional do the work? After doing some research many things can cause this issue, I want the well inspected, owners are balking. Water test is not back yet!

[loudbeard]

You can request whatever you want. They can say no. Everyone can walk away because of it provided the contingencies were written appropriately.

[MUZ720]

Don't really want to walk but thanks, and yes, it was part of the contingencies. Anyone who buys the house if not us will be asking for the same thing so why not work to make things right?

[typeone]

as a well owner myself, have every inspection/test completed that you can. sounds suspicious to me ... none of it's cheap, and issues don't just evaporate, they get worse. $$$ ... i'd want to know why the contamination in the first place. doubt the owner can tell you that confidently UNLESS they've performed all tests, including structural checks. the bleach shock is a temporary bandaid to rid the system of bacteria, not a fix.

not cool when you can't drink your own well water.

[loudbeard]

Don't really want to walk but thanks, and yes, it was part of the contingencies. Anyone who buys the house if not us will be asking for the same thing so why not work to make things right?

Because they want to spend less money.

[boosten lebaron]

I have both my wells shocked. So e times I do it myself, other times I pay. It's only $300 to have a company come out and do it. They just pour chlorine down the well and cycle the system for a while. I do the same when I do it myself. Just run a hose back into the well and let the water rip for like and hour. Test a week or two later. Either way works fine, I just get lazy some years.

[obsolete]

Tell them it needs to be done and cleared professionally. If they say fuck off, well... you can. Personally I don't trust anyone I don't know to do anything right.

[R7]

We just had this done with our Ca property, we had a well company give us a quote prior to the end of the contingency period, and asked for a price reduction in that amount.

We were told the main causes for bacteria in wells were either from lack of use, and/or a bad seal near the surface that allows air into the well.

For us, it was $1,600 to shock the wells (we have 2), and $150 to come back to re-test the water a week later.

[RandyO]

Buying a house water testing came back with Coliform Bacteria owners are going to have it shocked. Found out they are doing it themselves and having the water test a week after the procedure? Can this be done correctly by a homeowner or should a professional do the work? After doing some research many things can cause this issue, I want the well inspected, owners are balking. Water test is not back yet!

I've done water tests several times, shocked a well once, charged my client $$$$ when he could easily done it himself

[Kurlon]

Find out WHY the well has an issue or you'll be chasing it constantly. You can put a UV sterilizer inline if it's persistent, but... I wouldn't.

[obsolete]

Find out WHY the well has an issue or you'll be chasing it constantly. You can put a UV sterilizer inline if it's persistent, but... I wouldn't.

Porque?

[Kurlon]

Porque?

Well, with other issues like sediment, hard water, etc, you can see when the filter/remediation system isn't keeping up. Unless you're doing constant water tests for coliform you're just hoping the sterilizer is up to the job at any given moment.

[MUZ720]

Test results should be in Friday; we will be taking a sample from the house ourselves and getting it tested. If their test comes back positive, we are going to have to find out why. and put off the closing until we have a definitive answer as to where the issue is. They prevented us from being on site when we had the chimney inspected. So not trusting them to give us an actuate report on the water.

[boosten lebaron]

Why did they stop you from being on site? I've flipped dozens of houses and being prevented from being onsite for repairs was an instant walk away for me. No talking. No asking. No thinking. I am done that very second.

[MUZ720]

Walking away is on the table. believe me the trust issue has been lost. Friday is D Day!

[RandyO]

dug or drilled ?

[MUZ720]

Drilled 1988

[R7]

Test results should be in Friday; we will be taking a sample from the house ourselves and getting it tested. If their test comes back positive, we are going to have to find out why. and put off the closing until we have a definitive answer as to where the issue is. They prevented us from being on site when we had the chimney inspected. So not trusting them to give us an actuate report on the water.

Our realtor made it very clear that we did want a homeowner doing any repairs… always always always negotiate a price reduction and hire someone yourself to do the work after closing.
I’m not sure it’s even legal for them to prevent you, or at least your realtor from being onsite for any inspections pertaining to the sale of the house.

Also, wait until the very last minute to sign off on the contingencies, if you decide to move forward, it’ll give you a bit more leverage for bargaining.

Speculating here based on your posts, but it seems your realtor is a little to relaxed and not fighting for you.

[RandyO]

Our realtor made it very clear that we did want a homeowner doing any repairs… always always always negotiate a price reduction and hire someone yourself to do the work after closing.
I’m not sure it’s even legal for them to prevent you, or at least your realtor from being onsite for any inspections pertaining to the sale of the house.

Also, wait until the very last minute to sign off on the contingencies, if you decide to move forward, it’ll give you a bit more leverage for bargaining.

Speculating here based on your posts, but it seems your realtor is a little to relaxed and not fighting for you.

legal ? remember we are in NH, the no nanny law state

[MUZ720]

Water Test came back negative for Coliform we are still having our own test done to make sure. Our realtor is helping but not very forcefully. We are now driving the show he is on the sidelines.

[RandyO]

Water Test came back negative for Coliform we are still having our own test done to make sure. Our realtor is helping but not very forcefully. We are now driving the show he is on the sidelines.

I grew up drinking from a dug well in a cow pasture, I remember my Dad shocking it several times

[SteveM]

Water Test came back negative for Coliform we are still having our own test done to make sure. Our realtor is helping but not very forcefully. We are now driving the show he is on the sidelines.

Is it "your" realtor, i.e. an official buyer's agent, or is it the realtor you have been using, i.e., a co-broker with the seller's realtor, or is it the listing realtor, i.e., the seller's realtor.

Unless it's a true buyer's agent, with a contract representing you and being paid by you. then they are ALL working for the seller, even the one you've been working with.

Follow the money. If you are paying them, they are working for you. If they gat paid at closing from the Seller's proceeds, they are working for the seller.

Also, you can always tell when a realtor is lying, their lips are moving...

[RandyO]

Also, you can always tell when a realtor is lying, their lips are moving...

ha!, worked with a lot of realtors, the majority are actually honest, but yes, a significant number are just looking for a closing without issues, they didn't like is when I showed encroachments on my boundary surveys, or worse yet, disputes, poorly operating septic systems and existing wetland violations, which sometimes I ended up waiting for closing to get paid

[MUZ720]

No, he is our buyer's agent. But I got to tell you these guys/gals are playing a game so sad but true. We made a full price offer OUR agent wanted us to go higher over asking. Offer excepted, then came the there is another offer behind yours, and the rush to close. Their agent even had the gall to call our mortgage company to see if we were real? Pissed off on how this is going is an understatement. But we love the house and area, so we are making it work. One last of many hurtles.

[R7]

No, he is our buyer's agent. But I got to tell you these guys/gals are playing a game so sad but true. We made a full price offer OUR agent wanted us to go higher over asking. Offer excepted, then came the there is another offer behind yours, and the rush to close. Their agent even had the gall to call our mortgage company to see if we were real? Pissed off on how this is going is an understatement. But we love the house and area, so we are making it work. One last of many hurtles.

On our recent Ca house purchase, we signed the buyer agreement with an agent we hired, however the seller still paid our agents fees. I’m sure that varies by state, here in RI, the seller also pays all the agent fees.

I do believe the agents play games with each other.. some good, some bad. The houses we looked at, were all off market (expired or private listings) at the time and they tried to use the full asking price of years past as a starting point. Our first offer was verbal, and $300k less than asking price. She asked us to justify the lower offer in an email.. I simply emailed her and said our justification is, we don’t want to pay what they were asking. Of course, the sellers said no, and we kept looking. Every other week, they came back and lowered the price by $50k. We ended up with the house for $50k over our first offer, however a week before closing, we got an additional $40k off the price for a failed septic tank, same well issued you’re having with the well, and a few other minor issues the inspector found.

Good luck with everything and hopefully all works out.