When you buy a home that has community supplied water like we have in the City of Winnipeg, you don’t usually give a second thought to the quality of the water. We have a great treatment facility that purifies our tap water and makes it safe to drink, cook and bathe with. But when you are dealing with properties – typically rural homes – that have water supplied to the home from a well, it becomes much more important to verify that the water is fit for human consumption. Not only do you want to keep you and your family safe, but lenders require a satisfactory water sample to fulfil their mortgage lending requirements. Total coliform bacteria and E.coli is routinely found in wells throughout Manitoba so it’s important for wells to be tested and maintained regularly to ensure any issues are identified and addressed quickly.

If you are selling your home that has well water, it’s a good idea to do a water test before you list the home, and have it available to potential purchasers so that there are no delays when you are dealing with offers. If you don’t do it before you list, it can cost you a lot of time and money to correct a contaminated well and retest, which can put a sale in jeopardy. It usually takes 3-5 business days just to collect the water, drop it off at the test facility, and get the results back. Add in the time it takes to correct any possible issues and you could be looking at weeks of delays.

If you are buying a home that has well water, be sure to ask for a recently passed water test. If the seller doesn’t have one available, make it a condition on your offer.

To test a well, there are specific bottles that the water needs to be collected in, and a number of steps that need to be followed to ensure you provide an accurate sample. You can consult the Manitoba governments website for instructions or reach out to your favourite Realtor to take care of it for you as part of their services 🙂

Stay hydrated!

– Justin