Cost for Septic System and Well

-

mitch340Duster

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
255
Reaction score
22
Location
Manchester, CT
Hey folks I'm hoping to build a barndominium in the Nashville area. Property is very pricey there and we all know how the cost for everything has basically doubled from 3 years ago. Because of this I now have to watch my budget for a piece of property VERY carefully. Can anyone give me a good idea about the cost of a septic system and a well in TODAY'S money. Or either if you built 3 or 4 years ago how much it cost you then, and I suppose I will double that amount. Yeah I looked online and got some numbers but I'm way more comfortable getting actual data from actual like-minded people. Thanks in-advance ! -Mitch
 
Keep close track of where you put it. It could get very expensive if you decide to put a patio or garage in the backyard at a later date and the loaded concrete mixer truck finds it for you.
 
Keep close track of where you put it. It could get very expensive if you decide to put a patio or garage in the backyard at a later date and the loaded concrete mixer truck finds it for you.
Friend of ours wanted to put on a patio, but couldn't because of where the drain field is

So, keep future expansions in mind when plotting all this out
 
That might get your septic system done... But what about a well? How can you even guess about a well? How deep till you find good water? Some wells are good at sixty feet, some wells need to go 600 feet...

Around here most wells are 150-300' and the starting estimate would be in the $30K range... I know things cost more here but I'd rather over budget & be happy to come in under budget than have it the other way around...
 
I had a well dug at my home in SE Pa. in Dec 2021 and it was $10K to drill the well and another $10K to plumb it into the home so $20K total but I am in a "expensive" part of the country. I do believe. Also if you want to really add it up I still have a section of concrete sidewalk that the truck destroyed that I still have to repair but I am planning on pouring that myself. The well is 285 feet down and yes it is 10 grand but that didn't leave me with running water in the house...I say this because before I had the work done people were telling me "Ten grand for a well" and technically yes that's true.

My "grinder pump" septic was 10 grand in 2008 . I'd say double that now if you can get both under 40K you are probably in an acceptable ball park but its relative to where you are I think.
 
Last edited:
I am so glad I bought my property already hooked up....Holy ****...because these prices today are astronomical
 
I am so glad I bought my property already hooked up....Holy ****...because these prices today are astronomical
Yes my well was old and collapsed was down half as deep as the new one I do think the water is better in my new well I had corrosive water before.
 
That might get your septic system done... But what about a well? How can you even guess about a well? How deep till you find good water? Some wells are good at sixty feet, some wells need to go 600 feet...

Around here most wells are 150-300' and the starting estimate would be in the $30K range... I know things cost more here but I'd rather over budget & be happy to come in under budget than have it the other way around...
Because I have one 340 feet deep. I'm sure costs have gone up though. But 30k?
 
I just had a mound system put in last october. $24K
Municipalities are getting very sticky about putting the old style leech fields in which is what I had to begin with. I'm in rural central indiana.
 
Hey folks I'm hoping to build a barndominium in the Nashville area. Property is very pricey there and we all know how the cost for everything has basically doubled from 3 years ago. Because of this I now have to watch my budget for a piece of property VERY carefully. Can anyone give me a good idea about the cost of a septic system and a well in TODAY'S money. Or either if you built 3 or 4 years ago how much it cost you then, and I suppose I will double that amount. Yeah I looked online and got some numbers but I'm way more comfortable getting actual data from actual like-minded people. Thanks in-advance ! -Mitch
I answered this very question when you posted it in another thread? Your price may vary as we are in Ark.
 
well et us know what you find out like said I did the well thing a year and a half ago($20K) the sewer thing 15years ago($10K) ...15 years ago prices have doubled I'd think.
 
Wow! Over the decades I have put in wells in Ga. (3) and in Misouri (4) from 75 to 450 feet deep. The deeper the larger the casing and more HP for the submersible pump. If I was going to look at property I would have a well drilling co.'s number to give a quick call. Last one I drilled was in Mo. in '07 and it was 450 ft with 8 inch casing and a 2 hp ? pump if I remember but that is 16 years ago and it cost me about $7500. The same well same depth 2 counties over where I hda sold my place by the local co .there would have been about $5000 and I was pissed!

Makes a big difference the depth of well and cost and it can vary a lot in areas I know.
As far as running the line from well to home and such, I have always rented a trencher or small ish backhoe but I am cheap labor. Know where the areas frost line is. But I have always lived in the stcks and maybe where you are buying requires " insured pro licensed "state and county approved" engineers.
 
Because I have one 340 feet deep. I'm sure costs have gone up though. But 30k?

I got a quote for a well and cistern (3k gallon) last year. Quoted $60/ft to drill (we're also in a very rocky area), plus materials/plumbing/equipment and hookup. Well control and booster pump was quoted at $6k, almost $14k for the cistern and it's controls and pump. My current well depth is near 300ft (cased 30ft to solid granite), which would cost $18k to drill today, plus cost of the casing. Due to new local rules, the cistern is more or less required (fire department wants you to have water available if no hydrant at the property, and will deny the well permit w/o the cistern being on the plan).

Oh, and well drillers are booked out 16-24 months around these parts which makes it impossible to negotiate costs - and they're likely to go up between deposit and execution. Which is why I decided against moving forward.

No idea on septic, but I had a drain field issue from people not listening about what goes down the drain, and at that time I was given a verbal ballpark of $15-25k to install a new field assuming there was space/room for it (no one will take the soiled soil from around a drain field and so putting a new one where the old one is would be a no-go). That doesn't include a new tank, plumbing it, etc. But I figure new work is often cheaper, and the tank is likely $4-8k depending on size. So $20-30k for a tank and drain field feels about right.
 
Like I said before I sure am glad my place already came with it all I could not afford all this s***
 
Here in Michigan, my mom and her husband just put in a well. Not sure the depth but less than 100’, cost them $6500. Not sure about the septic system, haven’t had one done in awhile. Seems $10k was about the number if it’s not an engineered field and everything perks ok!
 
$30 grand plus tax here in Ontario Canada plus 13% tax for a well. Total bullshit........With all of the demand, they can ask whatever they want. During F'ing Covid, everyone went nuts for rural properties and drove those prices stupid......Now they want Garages, Wells, and septics driving those prices up as well. ****, it's getting close to $10 grand for 30 foot section of floating dock.

I thank my lucky stars that I was 20 years ahead of the curve.
 
You know we can give you all kinds of numbers, because we’re from all over the place. You should get the prices from where you plan on building.
It depends on the soil, water table and vegetation. It all depends on the county and state regulations. You may need to have a designed system for septic system and that can be costly.
As for a well that can get costly too depending on how deep to get to a sufficient amount of water and how much rock they have to drill though to get to water.
It can cost a certain amount per foot for the first 100 feet and after that more per foot.

I retired after 40 years as survey tech and engineering tech for an engineering firm which sometimes dealt with design of site systems.
 
I had drilled 6 holes before we hit good water, and also had to have a second septic systems designed in case the first one would ever fail. St Cloud, The Granite City
 
Tons of great info here thank you everyone and I PROMISE I will reply more at-length as soon as I can. There is a 5% chance that we won't get another 4" of rain tomorrow even though they are promising a nice day so I'm hoping to spend the first whole day working on the Duster in YEARS (seriously). When I reply you will get a good idea of WTF I've been dealing with here for the last 3 years.
 
everything is a money racket these days. in my area I had to go down 285 feet for "good water" whatever thT IS MY OLD WELL WAS 120 FEET BUT THE ATER WAS CORROSIVE. THAT WELL "COLLAPSED" ALOT OF SANDSTONE. 20 GRAND FOR A NEW WELL AND CASING AND THEY SAID THEY SOULDNT GAURN==ANTEE TAHT WELL WOULDNT X=COLLAPSE EITHER BECASUE OF TEH SAND STONE...
 
My wife and I put a new house on the property in 2019. Long story short we after some discussion we got off city water and sewer and rehabbed the existing well and put a septic system in. Our cost will probably be irrelevant to what you are doing but I do have a couple things you might want to consider.

On the septic, particularly the leach field needs to be placed where it will not be driven over to prevent compacting the soil.

In case of a power outage, your well will no longer work. Out here the typical well system uses a pump and pressure tank(s).....no cistern and cistern pump. During a power outage there is enough water and pressure in the pressure tanks to flush the toilets a few time etc but but it wont last long. Our well is to far away from the house for the backup generator to provide power to the well (which is on it's own line and meter). The well is an "on demand" system, when pressure drop in the tanks the well pump kicks on refilling/pressurizing the tanks.

We have a couple horses and a couple dogs that also need water. As a back up we installed 2 1000 gallon water tanks with their own separate pressure tank and pump that the house backup generator can power. By switching a couple of valves the backup system goes on line to the property water system.

We just got a backup generator to use as a dedicated backup for the well. As the well is an "on demand" setup it makes no sense to run the generator on the well full time as it may go hours and hours before the well pump actually kicks it. It will be run as needed just to refill the 1000 gallon tanks as required.

As far as generators, we have switched over from gasoline to propane generators (yes we had to add a propane tank to the property). With the quality of the gasoline and it's shelf life the standby gasoline was being rotated out (burned in the cars and replaced) every 6 months......one less hassle to deal with.

Anyway good luck with your project.
 
We had our drain field redone this spring.

$3500.

Just the drain field, nothing with the tank.

That was for a "3-75" system, three legs of 75 feet each.
 
-
Back
Top