Owning a Well and Septic System on the Eastern Plains

Plenty of people move from inside Colorado Springs out to Falcon, Peyton, Black Forest or the acreage east of Powers and discover that two utilities they never thought about are now entirely theirs. No monthly bill, no city crew, and no one to call when something stops working except whoever you can get out there.

It is very manageable. It just is not automatic.

Your well

The equipment. A submersible pump down in the well, a pressure tank in the house or well house, a pressure switch that tells the pump when to run, and the piping between. Most well problems are one of those four things.

Signs of trouble worth catching early:

• Pressure that fluctuates noticeably while a tap is running
• The pump cycling on and off rapidly — this is called short-cycling, it is usually a waterlogged pressure tank, and it destroys pumps
• A drop in overall pressure or flow rate
• Sputtering air at the taps
• Sediment appearing where there was none

Short-cycling deserves special mention because it is common, easy to hear, and quietly expensive. A pressure tank that has lost its air charge makes the pump start and stop constantly, and pump motors fail from starts far more than from run time.

Testing. Private wells are not regulated the way municipal supply is, which means water quality is on you. Annual testing for bacteria and nitrates is the general recommendation, plus a broader panel periodically. If anything about taste, smell or clarity changes, test rather than guess.

Treatment. Hardness, iron and sulphur are common enough out here that treatment equipment is normal rather than exceptional.

Your septic system

How it works. Waste flows to a tank where solids settle and separate. The liquid moves out to a drain field, where it disperses into the soil and is treated biologically as it percolates. The system depends on that separation working and the field staying able to accept water.

Pumping. Tanks need pumping on a schedule based on tank size and household size — commonly every three to five years, though yours may differ. Skipping it lets solids carry over into the drain field, and a drain field ruined that way is the single most expensive failure in this article by a wide margin.

What not to put in it:

• Wipes of any kind, including anything labelled flushable
• Grease and cooking oil
• Harsh chemicals and large volumes of bleach, which kill the bacteria doing the work
• Garbage disposal use beyond the occasional, since it loads the tank with solids fast

Protect the drain field. Do not park or drive on it. Do not build on it. Keep trees and their roots well away. Divert roof runoff and irrigation away from it, because a saturated field cannot accept more water.

Warning signs: slow drains throughout the house, gurgling, sewage odour outdoors, and grass over the drain field that is suddenly greener or soggier than the rest of the yard.

Power outages change everything

No electricity means no well pump, which means no water at all — not for drinking, not for flushing. Out here that is the practical argument for a generator, and it is why generator installers stay busy in Black Forest and Peyton.

Keeping drinking water stored is a reasonable baseline even without one.

Buying a property with a well and septic

Before closing, get all of the following, and treat them as non-negotiable:

1. A well yield and flow test, not just a water quality sample
2. A water quality panel covering bacteria, nitrates and local concerns
3. A septic inspection with the tank pumped and opened, so the inspector can actually see the baffles and the condition inside
4. Records: well permit, well depth and construction, septic permit, as-built location and pumping history
5. The physical location of the tank lid and the drain field, marked

That last one sounds trivial until you need it in February and nobody knows where the lid is.