Buying a home on a private well is different from buying one on city water, and most buyers find that out too late.
On city water, someone else owns the pipes, the pump, and the water quality. On a well, you own all of it. The day you close, the well is yours. So is the pump, the tank, and whatever is in the water. If any of it is bad, fixing it is on you, not the seller.
The standard home inspection barely touches this. A general inspector will note that a well exists and maybe run a faucet. That is not the same as knowing whether the well is any good.
Here is the checklist to work through before you sign, whether you are buying in Hernando, Pasco, Citrus, or Hillsborough. Bring it to your agent. Some of these items you can check yourself. Some are worth paying a well contractor to check.
1. How old is the well?
Wells do not last forever. A well casing can last several decades, but pumps and tanks wear out much sooner. A pump might run 8 to 15 years. A pressure tank, sometimes less.
Ask the seller how old the well is and when the pump was last replaced. Get it in writing on the disclosure if you can. A 30 year old well with the original pump is not a dealbreaker, but it tells you real expenses are coming, and that is worth money at the negotiating table.
2. Was the well permitted, and how deep is it?
Every legal well in this area was built under a Well Construction Permit from the water management district. That permit is a public record. It shows roughly when the well went in, how deep it is, and how deep the casing was set.
The district runs a public permit search you can look up by county, by owner name, or by the property’s parcel number. Parcel number gives the cleanest result. You can get the parcel number from the county property appraiser.
A well with no permit record is not automatically bad. Many older wells predate the current rules. But it is something you want to know before closing, not after. An unpermitted well can cause headaches when you later sell or refinance.
If you find the permit, note the casing depth. Shallow casing in the wrong spot can mean a higher chance of surface water getting in. We wrote a whole piece on why the casing and its seal matter so much, and buying is exactly when that knowledge pays off.
3. Get the water tested. Really tested.
This is the one people skip, and it is the one that costs the most to ignore.
A quick sniff and a clear glass tell you almost nothing. Central Florida well water can carry iron, sulfur, hardness, and sometimes bacteria or nitrate, and several of those are invisible and odorless.
Two levels of testing exist.
A basic field test checks the common nuisance items. Hardness, iron, pH, sometimes sulfur. Fast and often free. Good for a first look.
A full lab test goes further. It checks for bacteria like total coliform and E. coli, and for nitrate, which can come from nearby septic systems or farm runoff. These are the results that actually matter for safety, and only a lab can give them to you.
Before you buy, pay for the lab test. It is a small cost against the price of the house, and it is the only way to know what you are drinking. If the results come back with problems, that is not always a reason to walk away. Most water issues are treatable. But treatment costs money, and knowing the number before closing lets you ask the seller to cover some of it.
You can read more about what each level of testing covers on our water testing page.
4. Check the pump and pressure tank
Have someone look at the working parts of the system, not just confirm they exist.
Here is a simple check anyone can do. Turn on an outside faucet and let it run. The water should come out steady. Watch and listen near the pressure tank. If the pump clicks on and off rapidly while the water runs, that is short cycling, and it points to a failing tank or a pressure problem. That is a repair the current owner should handle, or price into the deal.
Knock on the pressure tank. The bottom should sound solid and the top hollow. If the whole thing sounds full and heavy, the tank is likely waterlogged and near the end.
A well contractor can check the actual pump performance, how fast the well recovers, and whether the equipment matches the well. If the house leans on well water for a family and irrigation, that inspection is worth every dollar. See our pump repair and installation page for what that covers.
5. Ask about the well’s flow rate
Flow rate, or yield, is how much water the well can produce, usually measured in gallons per minute.
A well that produces plenty for one retired couple might struggle for a family of five with a big garden. If the household you are moving in is larger than the one moving out, ask whether the well can keep up. A contractor can run a simple test to find out.
Low yield is not always fatal. Sometimes the fix is a storage tank or lowering the pump. But you want to know before you are standing in a cold shower that ran out of water.
6. Look for a second, older well
Older Florida properties sometimes have more than one well. An old shallow well for irrigation, a newer deep one for the house, that kind of thing. An abandoned well that was never sealed properly is a real liability, because it can let surface contamination reach the aquifer.
Walk the property. Ask the seller directly whether there are any old or unused wells. If there are, ask whether they were properly capped or plugged.
7. Is there a septic system too?
Most well properties around here are also on septic. That matters because a well and a septic drainfield share the same yard. If they are too close, or if the septic is failing, it can affect the well.
Have the septic inspected as its own item. And when you test the water, the nitrate and bacteria results will hint at whether the septic is affecting the well.
The short version
Before you close on a well home:
- Ask the age of the well, pump, and tank
- Look up the permit and note the casing depth
- Pay for a full lab water test, not just a field test
- Have the pump and pressure tank checked, not just confirmed
- Ask about the well’s flow rate
- Walk the property for old or unused wells
- Inspect the septic system separately
None of this is meant to scare you off well water. Millions of Florida homes run on it happily. Well water is often better than city water and there is no monthly water bill. The point is simply to buy with your eyes open, because once you sign, it is all yours.
We inspect wells for buyers
If you are under contract on a home with a well, we can come out and check it before you close. Water test, pump and tank condition, flow rate, the works. You get a plain report of what is good and what needs attention, which is exactly what you want in your hand during negotiation.
We cover Hernando, Pasco, Citrus, and Hillsborough Counties. Learn more about the areas we serve, or get in touch to schedule a pre purchase well inspection. Every visit comes with straight answers and no pressure.