Quality Water Tests Problems

[Shane Bishop]

Hi BP Community,

My wife and I are in the process of purchasing our first home which is a duplex that we are planning to house hack near Greenville, SC and we are reaching out for help with a situation we are currently facing.  This property is a new build and for the past few months, the water coming into the house has failed the quality tests that are being run by the city water company. The builder had to tie into a water main that had been sitting, with water in it, for about 40 years.  He requested the city to flush the mainline, however they refused.  Consequently, when the water was tested, it failed, and continued to fail after multiple attempts to clean the pipes. The builder has since then ripped up every inch of pipe and laid down all brand new pipe and we still had failing tests. This builder has built a dozen homes in the surrounding area and in that same neighborhood and has never experienced this issue before. 

After flushing the pipes for about a week, the city revealed that we have acquired the two passing tests needed to move forward. The builder had an FHA test done to identify what particles in the water were causing the tests to fail, however that test was done the day before the first passing test was taken. I requested the builder run a second FHA test and am still waiting for the results from the first test and whether or not they are willing to run a second test.

Where my concern comes in, is for the future and for my family. We are scheduled to close on Monday, June 26th and my concern is that if we were to run another test 3 months or 6 months down the road and it fails, that my wife and I would be on the hook, financially, for the repair.  This is our first home and certainly want to cover all of our bases, but we don't know what we don't know and are worried that we aren't protecting ourselves from a potential problem down the road. 

Can anyone provide some advice for us in handling this situation as we move into the closing stages of this process? Any help would be greatly appreciated!   

Thanks,

Shane