Rental property with septic & well water

[Katie Polemis]

Hi all, I've never owned a property with septic or private well and hoped to get a landlord's perspective on dealing with these systems. Is it better/worse/same as municipal water-sewer in terms of maintenance & expense? Thanks for any input. 

[Scott Schultz]

@Account Closed where do you get 2 time per year from? maybe a holding tank, but that is more like every 3 months. a properly functioning septic could go many years without pumping, Here in Wisconsin Law dictates it mist be pumped and inspected every 3 years, so it is important to know your local rules regarding septics. 

In regards to cost, I would rather all my properties be on Well and septic, my personal home is, I hate municipal charges. our rentals on septics we have in the lease that the tenant is responsible to have the tank pumped per local law, if they dont, like unpaid water bills, they will be evicted. wells come with in some cases Iron issues, as well as hardness issues, we supply a filter and softening system, it is the tenants responsibility to replace filters, and fill salt, no different than having them replace furnace filters. yea you may have a pump fail, or a septic fail, but the over all cost can be a CapX item. Tenants like it, because they dont have a quarterly water bill that many times is $300-400/ quarter, where pumping is generally $150-300 every 3 years.  I have a lot of experience with wells and septic systems, so dont hesitate to ask.