Private well distance from property line

In Puyallup, you can put your well anywhere you want, on your property. But if any part of the 100' radius around the well is in another parcel; you will need to record a restrictive covenant, keeping any potential contaminants over 100' away.

I haven't had to do well/septic placement in years, but in the county where I grew up the only stipulations I remember are separation between wells and ant septic field were 100' if well was uphill from septic and 200' if well was downhill. There may have been something like 10' from the property line, but I really don't remember.

Looks like HUD says 10 feet.

Canƒ??t seem to paste the document.

One of my staff (a PLS) recently discovered a new well on his dad's 20-acre parcel in a rural area of the county I live in. To be certain, he and another of my staff surveyed the 20 acres (part of a Parcel Map) and the well and determined the new well is just under 20' onto his dad's property. He went to the County office who issued the well permit and they showed him the cartoon that accompanied the well permit application. It showed the well 200' away from his dad's property. He showed the County staff the exhibit he prepared showing the actual location and they said "oh well, nothing we can do about it. Seems like a legal matter." The owner of the adjacent parcel for which the well was drilled lives over 100 miles away. All signs are that it was purchased for a pot growing operation (lots of that going on these days), so there is a potential illegal/dangerous component. That person has not been contacted yet about the well not being on his property.

This is going to be interesting. Yet another example why getting a survey done before making expensive improvements is a worthwhile investment.

@spmpls?ÿ

This happens way too often down here in Okieland.?ÿ I've personally been the "bearer of bad news" discovered by surveying to property owners in a half dozen or more cases.?ÿ The speechless deer-in-headlight look and disbelief is seared into my memory.?ÿ I'm sure laws differ from state to state.?ÿ But here in OK you own what is upon your property.

I remember a situation involving a tree farm and nursery business that grew from a family farm.?ÿ On the property stood the original old farmhouse.?ÿ A grandson had purchased the house and 2.5 acres from the family, secured a mortgage and remodeled the old place to the tune of about 500K.?ÿ A couple of years later the grandson was unable to maintain his mortgage and the property was foreclosed upon and eventually sold to another party.

The "description" of the 2.5 acres had never been surveyed on the ground.?ÿ I'm sure at the time it made little difference since it was all "family".?ÿ ?ÿI discovered the rather expensive large diameter deep commercial well for the tree farm was actually inside the severed property by about 15 feet.?ÿ By the time I got there the court case was well underway.?ÿ

The new owner claimed the well was part of the property.?ÿ A district court ruled it was.?ÿ The family was appealing by claiming that the well was never meant to be on that property, placed in error and therefor it shouldn't be part of the severed property.?ÿ I believe in legal terms this was considered a "hail Mary"...

Eventually the property line was adjusted to place the well back on the family property.?ÿ This cost the family an arm and a leg.?ÿ I questioned as to whether it might have been cheaper just to drill a new well.?ÿ They explained the cost for a new well might have been less that the litigation, but there was a menagerie of irrigation pipes already in place that would have also been replaced at a much larger expense.

Live and learn.?ÿ ;)?ÿ

Had an existing oil well fall within inches of the line of the aliquot part.?ÿ They managed to turn the pump such that the rocking pump head would not be over the line.?ÿ Now, that's close!

@spmpls I think your dad should offer to sell them water at a very profitable rate.

Unless the water is stored you don't own any water in this state. A well can be anywhere as far as your ability to use it. Although it has to be permitted with the SEO or you are in jeopardy. They will also push for you to get an easement. There are offsets to septic regulations, generally it needs to be 100 feet from the septic. But there is no property line regulation. No one can claim your water right because of location.?ÿ

@mightymoe Same thing here. State owns all the water and I acquired water rights, 500 gallons a day, I'm 'allowed' to use from my well. This winter we've had a lot of snow and I had to push a pretty good amount of it to the other side of the state road my drive way is on and I'm just waiting for the state DOT people to complain so I can tell them that it's their water and I'd like for them to take it back.

@williwaw?ÿ

While you can't own free flowing surface or ground water, you can own stock in stored water. Some of that has exploded in price. I got the sob story of a guy that "purchased" 150 shares of a reservoir about 15 years ago only to have the deal fall through at the last minute. Seems those shares have reached 5 figures in value now.

@mightymoe Read recently the West is the driest it's been in at least the last 1200 years based on tree ring studies, which I find simply astounding. I can see where the value of water stocks would explode given that water is basically life or death.?ÿ

https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-west-megadrought-f02449c2db4f0ebeb1557bb39504c62d

?ÿ

@mightymoe?ÿ

That is a strange concept.?ÿ In the NE, at least, there's more than enough ground water.?ÿ Arguing over who might own it or not seems pointless.?ÿ Hell, wish someone would come and claim some of mine in springtime

@jph?ÿ

As a surveyor you can have a career doing water rights and nothing else. A subset of surveying sort of like "mineral surveying".

Posted by: @jph

@mightymoe?ÿ

That is a strange concept.?ÿ In the NE, at least, there's more than enough ground water.?ÿ Arguing over who might own it or not seems pointless.?ÿ Hell, wish someone would come and claim some of mine in springtime

While that's true on the surface, so to speak, there are aquifer protection regulations all over eastern Mass. New wells are tightly regulated in some areas.

?ÿ

Once again late to the party but for a contribution to the OP,

"The State of Florida Department of Health requires a minimum of 75 feet between a private well for potable (drinking) water and the septic system. drinking water wells should have a minimum horizontal distance of at least 10 feet from property line."

With respect to artesian wells, there are hundreds of homes built on top of capped artesian wells in Central FL.

????

The fun part is attempting to get someone to state unequivocally where the measurement is to be taken to in the case of a lagoon for septic purposes.?ÿ Is it the nearest toe of the embankment or the horizontal location of the inside of the top or some design level of water on the interior slope of the embankment.?ÿ For the most part, it is just a number put in a regulation by bureaucrats who have never been exposed to a septic lagoon.

@holy-cow

I've never heard of a "septic lagoon", is that the same thing as a "drain field"? ?????ÿ

@flga-2-2?ÿ

No.?ÿ The lagoon replaces the septic field, usually due to soils that have low absorption potential or shallow depth to bedrock.?ÿ We have many areas of very tight clay with little ability to absorb the effluent.?ÿ The lagoon may be square, rectangular or circular in shape.?ÿ The size is dependent on the need, which is commonly determined based on the number of bedrooms in the house.?ÿ The theory being, the more bedrooms, the more people using water.?ÿ Rather than absorbing the effluent into the soil, as is done with a drain field, it is exposed such that evaporation is the primary factor.?ÿ In areas of shallow depth to bedrock, the lagoon must be surrounded by a berm to create the three to four feet of design water level plus occasional water surpluses and that added by rainfall, etc.?ÿ I have seen cases where the only site available for the lagoon is uphill from the house, thus the need for a sewage grinder/pump to get the dirty water into the lagoon.

Here is a video showing a small, somewhat circular lagoon with only a short berm.?ÿ One being uphill and on shallow depth to bedrock may have berms approaching ten feet in height.