Well inspection by a qualified well inspector

What a home inspection does not cover

A general home inspector will run a tap and confirm pressure exists. Pressure at a tap tells you about the pressure tank, not about the well. A well giving 1 US gallon a minute handles a short shower fine but runs dry on laundry day, which a quick walkthrough will never show. You need clear facts on water yield, pump condition, and potability, so we test all three during an inspection.

Real yield: measuring what the ground produces rather than what sits in a pressure tank.

We measure true yield by pumping the well down under controlled rates and timing how fast the water level recovers. Two standards help explain what your flow test numbers mean for household use. Standard residential planning guidelines estimate daily household use at roughly 490 litres per person per day. RDN rezoning rules require 3.5 cubic metres per day per new lot, proven by pumping 2.5 litres per minute for 12 hours with 90% recovery in 6 hours. Buying a house does not require that long test, but we run the same flow measurements to check your supply.

The pumping system, and what its condition tells you

We inspect the pump, the pressure tank and its pre-charge, the control box, the wiring, the wellhead and the cap. A proper wellhead has casing rising 0.3 m above ground, an intact seal, a tight cap, and dirt sloping away from the top. We measure surface distances to ensure potential contamination sources like septic fields sit at least 30 m away.

Water quality, and who runs the sample

We collect your samples and send them to an accredited third-party laboratory. We test nothing in-house, and results come back on the laboratory's letterhead. What to test for depends on the aquifer. Water records across Cedar and Yellow Point show sulphur, coliform bacteria, and fluoride exceeding drinking guidelines. In Errington, historical water tests recorded fluoride levels up to 2.90 mg/L. On Gabriola Island, wells show iron, manganese, sulphur, and hardness, plus sea water intrusion at Silva Bay and Degnen Bay. Basic tap water tests often miss local mineral issues, so we test for the specific risks in your area.

What the record says

Public GWELLS records show depth, rock formations, casing specs, and original yield figures recorded on the day drillers finished. Older wells might not have records in GWELLS, meaning our site inspection provides the only clear facts you will get.

What an inspection includes

• Yield test

  We record drawdown and recovery during controlled pumping, so the final number describes what your well produces rather than what your tank holds.

• Pumping system inspection

  Pump, pressure tank, control box, wiring, wellhead, cap and setbacks.

• Laboratory analysis

  We collect water samples and send them directly to an accredited lab, doing no testing ourselves in-house.

• Record search

  We pull the original GWELLS record if available and compare initial driller findings to your well's actual performance today.

How a purchase inspection runs

1. 1

   Record search — we check GWELLS for a construction report, depth, yield at completion and the aquifer the well draws from.

2. 2

   Wellhead and equipment — we check casing stick-up, cap, surface seal, setbacks, pump, tank, control box and wiring.

3. 3

   Yield test — we pump the well under control, watch the drawdown and time the recovery.

4. 4

   Sampling — we collect to the laboratory's own instructions and send the sample to an accredited lab.

5. 5

   Report — we write up yield, equipment condition and laboratory results so you can read them alongside the rest of your purchase file.

How local ground geology shapes your water testing needs.

Two properties four kilometres apart can need different tests. In Cassidy, sand and gravel at 13 m median depth gives 20 US gallons a minute, with common complaints being iron and odour. Cedar sits on bedrock at a median 50 m depth yielding 2 US gallons a minute, with sulphur, fluoride, and coliform reported. Ordering identical water tests in both areas misses key mineral issues, so we tailor testing to your lot.

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