water & sewer versus well & septic

[RichmondVa]

How do the respective costs to connect to public utilities or to install private well and septic systems compare?

More to install well and septic, as a general rule, depends of course, on the composition of the soil. There is apparently a lot of shale here.

 

[Ken B]

http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/planning/zoning/pages/maps-and-publications.aspx

 

[Ken B]

If there is heavy pine growth in that area, it is an indicator that soil conditions are less than conducive to traditional septic systems. There are alternatives for land that doesn't perk, but they are pricey. (I used to work the Fredericksburg area, but not north of Stafford/Quantico. I assume what was true for Stafford is also true for southern PWC.)

 

[Bobby Bucks]

More to install well and septic, as a general rule, depends of course, on the composition of the soil. There is apparently a lot of shale here.

Do you ever encounter problems with the number of bedrooms allowed with a permit after a successful percolation test? Some municipalities have created major headaches in that regard which typically isn't a problem with public sewer.

 

[Michigan CG]

In my area we have a mixture of both types of properties. There is no difference that can be extracted except in areas where there is heavy sulfur in the water or if an engineered septic is required. Around here you can drill a well for $5,000; a septic system is going to run $8,000, give or take, and an engineered system is going to cost $15,000-$20,000.

But of course that is my area, not Virginia. I have been to Virginia, once, as a tourist and my motel had city water and sewer.

 

[The Bob]

Whether the difference has an effect really depends on your buyer pool, imo. Anyone looking to buy/build in a rural area knows going in its going to be well and septic. In suburban areas it gets a little trickier.

My wife and I bought and are renovating a house in a neighborhood that has both septic and co. sewer. All of the lots are on co. water. Our house has septic. This subdivision is located in a suburban area and most of the competing houses are on co water and sewer. I can't tell you how much the difference makes, but I can tell you that the houses with septic take a lot longer to sell. I think this is due to some buyers not even considering a house with septic.

Today's buyer is a little more sophisticated when it comes to septic systems. Add to that the requirements for a septic system are much tighter and no one I know really thinks some of the alternative systems look good in your yard.

As to your 10 ac min, Hanover Co has the same and I have seen lots of 4-6 acres (grandfathered) sell for nearly the same as the 10 ac. They all have the same utility...a single building lot.

 

[RichmondVa]

Thanks for all of your responses. Personally, I have had both in homes I own, and prefer not to have that water & sewer bill! Thanks for the maps Ken, my colleague also got maps from the county, no water here either. I have heard that cedar trees are indicative of soil that does not perc well from a local broker who deals in land. Apparently, most of the still undeveloped land in this county requires alternative septic systems. I spoke to a county appraiser, and she said that they are not seeing much price difference now for traditional versus alternative systems in terms of the land price. An alternative system here is about $30,000. Things are expensive here. As for the number of bedrooms, the permits are issued with a bedroom count, I am not aware of problems after a permit is issued.

We appraise primarily land, and yes, a 4-6 or even 3 acre lot can be almost the same price as a 10 acre lot. As we are doing work for eminent domain, we end up breaking things down to a square foot price, which would seem strange when doing acreage, but its how compensation is calculated. So, if say a 1 acre lot seems worth about $2.50, 2 acres could be $1.75, and so on down.

 

[RichmondVa]

oh, i see now. first thing id check is if water and sewer come down minnieville and front your lots. if so then check the tap fees which should be about 6k to 7.5k each. call the pw co service authority and they should be able to tell you. Customer Service: (703) 335-7950

Well, no water or sewer, as we suspected. Thanks for that info.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Do you ever encounter problems with the number of bedrooms allowed with a permit after a successful percolation test? Some municipalities have created major headaches in that regard which typically isn't a problem with public sewer.

We have a development, about 26,000 acres and 22,000 residents now. Some sewer, but mostly septic in a clay, high moisture soil. And "perk" tests often reveal real problems. So the architects may have a 2,400 SF house, but it only has one "bedroom". It probably has a sewing room, a sitting room, a library (all with beds in them) but only 1 bedroom, and probably 3 bathrooms....in my state bathrooms don't count. Go figure. And since the lots are steep and awful, they may have 4 laterals of 50' length and those run by a valve that you are supposed to go switch from one to the other lateral every week...No one does. But woe the real estate agent who sells one of these as a "three bedroom" home. Many have had to pay for new systems or have been sued over plugged septic.

Like Richmond, I prefer wells and septic. My water is great tasting, howbeit short supply. It's a choice. And my septic has been untouched for 32 years now. But I put in an oversized leach field and there are no trees to create sewer rats nearby. My well, OTOH is nigh 300' away from the septic...by design. Less chance of contamination. I could hook up to rural water, its in my yard, but I will settle for the fact I have a fire plug within ¼ mile of the house and a fire station only 2 miles away, which lowered my HO premiums a bunch. I had to get the line and went ahead and paid for 2 taps (one on each side of my farm) just in case. But that $3000 is far more than I paid for all the repairs and even the drilling of the well. I've not even replaced the pump. I have replaced the pressure tank (this year) and controller twice. While a repair might run $800, it's not going to be $40 a month, month after month. With the well being 30 years old, I've got my money's worth.

 

[timd354]

More to install well and septic, as a general rule, depends of course, on the composition of the soil. There is apparently a lot of shale here.

Also depends on the costs and connection fees charged by the water and sewer authority. To connect to water and sewer in the WSSC service area (the water and sewer authority in Montgomery & P.G. Counties in Maryland) the costs are $7,625 - $8,150 for water and $11,300 for sewer. Of course, they will kindly let you finance the charges through a hefty "front foot benefit" charge of $1365/yr (for both water and sewer) which gets added to your property tax bill for the next 20 years.