Step outside the urban boundary in Langley, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, Mission or Chilliwack and the water service and sewer connection disappear. The house runs on a well and a septic system, and both need a different kind of attention from city plumbing.
The Well Side
A submersible pump in the well pushes water to a pressure tank in the house, and a pressure switch cycles the pump to keep the tank between its cut-in and cut-out pressures. The parts that fail:
- Pressure tank. The internal bladder loses its air charge or fails outright; the pump then short-cycles and burns out early. Checking the tank’s charge is a two-minute job that saves a pump.
- Pressure switch. Contacts pit and stick. Symptoms are a pump that will not start, or will not stop.
- Pump. Typically ten to fifteen years. Falling flow, sand in the water or a pump that runs constantly are the warnings.
- Check valve. When it leaks, the pump cycles at night with nothing running.
Water Quality
Fraser Valley wells commonly carry iron, manganese, hardness and sometimes bacteria. Sediment filters, iron filters, softeners and UV treatment are all normal here, and they all need service: cartridges changed, media backwashed, UV lamps replaced yearly. Test the water regularly, and always before buying.
The Septic Side
Household drains run to a tank where solids settle, and the liquid flows on to a field that lets it soak away. A plumber’s part is everything from the house to the tank; a septic contractor handles pumping and the field. What breaks the system is what goes down the drains:
- Grease, wipes and heavy chemical cleaners kill the bacteria the tank depends on
- A leaking toilet or a running softener backwash floods the field with clean water
- Garburators load the tank with solids and shorten the pumping interval
- Parking or building over the field compacts it
Buying A Rural Property
Have the well flow-tested and the water lab-tested, get the septic tank pumped and inspected, and have a plumber look at the pressure system, the filtration and the plumbing between the house and the tank. None of it is expensive compared with what it finds.
Related: plumber in Abbotsford · plumber in Maple Ridge · whole-home filtration
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