We are waiting for the well inspection on a house purchase. The house is in Mountains of NM and is 14 years old. There is a common well that was drilled by the original developer for 4 residences. The original well report indicated 20 gpm water flow. Is this enough water for 4 separate homes. I was told by the RE agent that 4 gpm was more than adequate home use. I have no idea how to evaluate the new well inspection results. Please advise. Thanks,

I would also be interested in two other items:

1. How far above the pump is the water level?
2. How many gallons a day will the well be able to deliver? In other words, 20 gpm would probably be adequate for four houses, but not if the well can only deliver 200 gallons per day.

20 GPM isn't bad but with 4 houses that's only 5GPM or 1 5 gallon bucket per minute. If a washer is turned on and a couple of baths, you will not have adequate water supply or pressure. If you decide to go ahead with the purchase, I'd try and convince the other residents to buy/install a 1000gallon tank and use that as a reservoir.

I agree with what's been said but also think you need to go deeper in this issue. Who now owns the well and must pay to power, maintain and redrill if it goes bad?

ballengerb1: The well, as I understand is owned/used collectively. The electric bill is paid for by one homeowner monthly ($11.00)and then quarterly she presses for reimbursement from the others. Repairs have been made in the past but how and by whom, I don't know. So by saying Collectively, it is to say everyone and no one. Which I view as a large problem. The only reason I am pursuing this home is because in all other respects and in every detail that matters to us, this home meets our needs. The shared well is the Sword of Damocles in this case. How well it is tethered remains the mystery.

jlisenbe: Not sure I understand question 1, unless you mean how far above the pump is the house plumbing, of that I am not sure but probably more than 50'vertical.

2. not sure at this point. According to the present owner the water needs have always been met though the pressure is not as high as "in Town" pressure. Washing and showers work properly. According to her. She however used the house for family ski vacations in winter and never year round.

Ownership and respndibility for the well is not done by an understanding alone. There must be something in writing. Ask for that documentation

What a great comment! How well tethered. Wow, I have a new use of the phrase!. Thanks, Brian

NW, I simply mean this. You have, I assume, a submerged pump in the well. Let's say it is 200 feet down. I would want to know how far down is it to water. If the pump is at 200, and the water table is at 180, then you only have 20 feet of water above the pump. I'd like as much as possible above the pump because that gives you some reserve, which would be nice for 4 families.

Ballengerb has a great point. Someone needs to be responsible when problems arise. If the pump goes out, who comes up with the cash to replace it?

Both of your replies are direct and to the point, and I thank you for your thoughts. The well inspection has been completed and the lack of a signed well agreement has revealed itself as the source of many problems. Yes I did say no well agreement. It is now a contingency to the purchase moving forward. Additionally there are several recommendations outlined by the inspector that will have to be complied with before we move forward as well. This will involve a good deal of money, by the seller, or the 4 owners together. We have given the seller a reasonable but not over long deadline. And we will see. I spoke with the inspector, he advised me verbally that the well equipment is short cycling and in his opinion is already damaged and will likely fail completely by summer if repairs are not made now.

Let this put to rest any doubt that a well inspection prior to purchase is worth the money.

ma0641: Brian, You flatter me, Sir. But thanks for the compliment.

Res ipsa loquitor

Reminds me of a quote from Eric Sevaraid from decades ago:

"That which belongs to everyone belongs to no one and will be treated as such."

He was describing the core problem of socialism.

And he described it perfectly. History is replete with examples of national examples of collective ownership compared to private ownership societies. No. and So. Korea, East and West Berlin, Havana, Cuba and Miami Beach, USA. More importantly we have an example of a reversal of fortunes when private ownership was given back to the ignorant proletariat. China!
If I could afford to drill a private well on the property in question, I would do it in a heartbeat.