Water coming from Well?

[Tim Kaminski]

Guys,   Looking at a property down here in Tampa, Fl.  Realtor pulled the info and said that the water is not hooked up to the utility company but that it pulls from the well.  I've never heard of that but am fairly new.  My realtor said he had seen it before and that I, as the landlord, would be responsible for quality and availability. Was wondering if you all had opinions on these type of properties.  My thoughts are that it is nice because it is free water, but the liability, not to mention the possible creation of a sinkhole(?) would be enough to make me steer clear. Hungry for your thoughts!

[Paul Ewing]

I have several properties on wells and it isn't much of a problem except in winter you need to make sure the tenant keeps a heat lamp in the well house and know that around here wells usually have a 20 year lifespan.  Also it is nice to know what aquifer the well is drilled into.  Many people initially drilled fairly shallow wells into the upper level aquifer and that is subject to more issues with over use.  I am about to purchase another property that actually has an OLD hand dug well (picture the fairy tale wells about three feet across but with an electric pump) and will be hooking it up to community water and putting a concrete cover over the well because of liability reasons.  Most modern drilled wells are 3.5-4 inches across with sealed pipes.