My buyers made an offer,which was accepted, on a foreclosed rural property with a bored (not drilled) well. The home inspection went well (no pun intended) EXCEPT for the well water came back contaminated for coliform, and the lender won't approve the loan without a clean sample.

Now all the well-drillers I'm talking to say its hard to get a clean sample from a bored well and the buyers should consider drilling a new well. We're asking the seller (bank) to pay for a shock treatment to try and get a clean sample, but if we don't, and my buyers can't afford to dig a new well, they CAN walk away from this deal on a loan contingency, right??

This is my first encounter with this problem so I'd be very interested to hear similar stories.

Thanks!

Of course the well is bored...no one has been using it. Ba da bing. I don't know the diff. b/w a bored and drilled well, but a coliform contamintated sample is pretty common in a foreclosed home with a well. A treatment can't be but 60 or 100 bucks.

Have buyers treat it and get a water service until they save their pennies for a drilled artesian deep well.

Talk to another well guy and get another opinion too. I would not let a deal go over that. If it is worse than I am making to be, give us more details. I'd like to learn about the bored well.

Frequently it isn't the water source that's contaminated; but rather the water distribution system. The insides of empty pipes, and faucet strainers harbor bacteria. The swivel on a kitchen faucet is almost impossible to sanitize.

I've sanitized many drilled and shallow wells. The secret is to warn any occupants to not drink the water during your treatment. Drop a gallon of Chlorox in the well or spring (pour it in, don't drop the whole jug); 1 quart per 100 gallons of water.

Let the water run until you can smell bleach in each faucet inside.

Let the pipes sit overnight for the bleach to do it's work.

Come back next day and run the water until all scent of bleach is gone. Most Labs won't accept any water with even a hint of bleach.

DO NOT draw your water sample from the Kitchen sink with a swivel. Always remove the strainer AND the Rubber Gasket. Swab the inside of the faucet with alcohol to kill any remaining bacteria.

DO NOT draw water from a shower faucet, as un-reachable bacteria is always present in the stand pipe between the faucet and the shower head.

If the water source is contaminated, then even after this procedure, it will still be contaminated . . . . but the distribution system will be clean.

I once had a shallow well that was shocked with a swimming pool treatment and it remained contaminated. For years, farmers had been spreading manure on fields within a half a mile of the Spring, and I was told it won't be free of e-coli for 10 years after they stop.

We installed a Whole House Chlorination System for that last one. Sometimes, a Ultra-Violet sanitizing system for the potable water is sufficient. Manganese in the water will render the U-V Light Bulb ineffective after a few months, so a test for manganese is necessary before deploying that technique.

Good Luck! (and don't spill bleach on your clothes)

I should add that if it's something more than Escherichia coli or other Coliform Bacteria in the water which is making the water unacceptable, then you've got bigger problems. Radon in the water, hydrogen tritium leaking from that nuclear power plant, or Arsenic leaching from the Embalming Fluid in the nearby Cemetery present issues well beyond my little sanitizing technique for simple microbes.

Please recognize that IF the ground water is contaminated; then drilling another well in the same area is a formula for disappointment . . . . just another way of releaving you or your Customers/Clients of their money. Until the source of pollution in the ground water is dentified and eliminated, the water from any well (new or old) will continue to be contaminated.

It's always something. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Thanks for your informative and humorous replies! We have a well driller coming out next week to treat the system (the lender wants it done by a pro - NOT the homeowners) so I guess we'll find out more then. I do know their is a water purification system in the house, so apparently water contamination to some degree was an issue with the former owners. My concern is getting a clean water sample to please the lender AND the buyers being assured they have safe drinking water until they can have a new well dug.
I'll repost after the well has been treated. Thanks again!

I would take the time to visit a few of the neighbors and see what kind of water problems exist in the neighborhood. Neighbors usually know about one another's water and septic problems. They will have known the prior Owners and this will give you a heads up regarding what remedial measures might be taken. And you'll be seen as taking more of an interest in the property than most average Agents.

You may have to trade some gossip to get what you want; but remember these people may be needing you at some point in the future and this can be a very nice way of introducing yourself . . . . it's the easiest prospecting you'll ever do. Under these circumstances, you're not a threat and your inquiry will be welcomed.

At this moment, you can be perceived as having control over who their future neighbors will be . . . . take advantage of it.

I think what you earlier said had been described as a "Bored Well" is also known as a "Driven Point" . . . . at least it is in this area, and hardware stores still sell the hardened points (with an attached porous body) that people actually drive into the ground until they strike a vein of water.

And I have NOT been able to find a way to sanitize a Driven Point with Chlorine Bleach.