What can you tell me about water wells in the area?

We have good water. It’s full of minerals, which also causes some of the hard water deposits you see in your bathrooms and kitchens. I know we are not talking about soft water systems, but most people don’t realize that there’s a good possibility your home either has a system in place, or hookups ready for a system to be installed. Almost all of the newer constructed homes have hookups – remember the plastic pipe loop next to your washer and dryer? That’s what it’s for. I’ll save you from what I know about ion exchange in regards to how these systems work. Back to wells. I decided to do this write-up because of an increasing number of buyers interested in lots that are uncertain about the cost of drilling a well, and bringing in other utilities. As far as the cost, it’s pretty simple. I interviewed a few local well drilling companies, it’s about $40/foot including a well casing. The Idaho Department of Water Resources requires a steel casing, that is tagged with a well tag number. Almost every well drilled in recent history is then recorded with the department. The department’s website, idwr.idaho.gov provides a well driller’s research tool in which you can pull up information on each well drilled that has been reported, called a well driller’s report. The well driller’s report will tell the approximate site, the types of ground materials, and at what depth. As you would guess, it also reports the exact depth of the well. The reason I am telling you this of course; the next logical question after understanding the price per foot, would be the depth. Usually, you will find a neighbor who has a well in the same area in which you are thinking about drilling a well. Now, there are no guarantees your well will be the same depth of your neighbors, but you can bet that it will be pretty close. The well driller’s research tool can be daunting unless you understand how to search by township and range, but there is also a way of searching by last name etc. On a final note, you might be thinking to yourself, “Why don’t I just buy a lot in town and hook up to the city water and sewer system?” You can! Just remember, the city will charge a hook up fee for water and for sewer, and it’s not all that cheap. The cheapest way of doing it? Locate a lot in a development with a pre-existing community well system. They’re usually pretty reliable, and fairly inexpensive to hook up to.