What should I know about a shared private well?

There are a number of reasons why one well might serve more than one home: Maybe two nearby homes were originally owned by members of the same extended family, or one homeowner couldn't find adequate water and their neighbor was willing to share the well, or developers sometimes install one well for multiple homes to reduce costs.

What you really need to know about sharing a well is that there are potential pitfalls. If the system isn't designed properly, there can be pressure issues during times of heavy use. Sometimes there can even be water shortages during drought conditions or because of higher use of the aquifer in the surrounding area. Even if the well pumped plenty of water initially at a later time, it might not be able to keep up.

Regarding subdivisions where there may be two to ten or more homes on a single well, this is typically intentional on the part of the original developer. They're being careful to limit the number of homes on a single well, such that the well is not considered a public water supply, while reducing their costs by not installing a well at each home. It's really not a good practice and forces neighbors to share responsibility whether they want to or not. We would suggest thinking twice about buying a home in this situation.

In these cases, the maintenance and shared ownership of the well are typically written into the deed. In other cases, there is a separate written or possibly only a verbal agreement in place. This is even more of a risk because generally one party owns the well and the others just have agreed upon rights to use the well. If there's ever a conflict, the owner may change their mind or could decide to make a change to the well that you either don't agree with or can't afford to share the cost for. If you have a shared well, be sure to do your homework and protect your investment in your home by ensuring you have an accessible and adequate water supply.

The Private Well Class is a collaboration between the Rural Community Assistance Partnership and the University of Illinois. Through the Illinois State Water Survey and the Illinois Water Resource Center. And funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The views expressed here solely from the class authors and not endorsed or reviewed by US EPA. For more information on private wells, sign up for our free 10-week email course at www.privatewellclass.org.