This Week's Q & A

Q: I was looking at an MLS listing for a property that had a shared water service with an adjacent property. Is this a bad thing? Is it legal? And is it something that can be remedied easily?

A: This is not terribly rare nor is it likely to be a serious problem, according to the attorneys I consulted. You’re probably dealing with a situation in which two properties share a well – a not uncommon strategy for coping with the cost and potential logistical problems related to compliance with Title V, which mandates minimum standards for septic systems.

If you purchase a property with a shared system, there are three primary issues you will want to address: usage rights, capacity, and division of costs. On the first point, find out what kind of arrangement the current owners have for shared use of the well, and make sure that agreement is binding on subsequent owners. If the well is located on your neighbor’s property, you want to be absolutely certain there is no question about your right to draw water from it. If there is no agreement in place, you should make that a condition of your purchase. You also want to be sure the agreement specifies your mutual obligations for maintenance, repairs, etc.

The capacity of the well is another obvious concern. Make sure it is adequate to serve the two households depending on it. Finally, there is the question of allocating the costs. The easiest approach would be simply to split the monthly bills. But that may not be a particularly attractive option if you neighbor has a family of 8 compared with your family of 3 (or vice versa), or if your neighbor has a swimming pool but you don’t. If you’re not comfortable dividing the bill and if you can’t establish an acceptable formula based on your differing consumption patterns, there are devices for monitoring outflow that will give you a more scientific basis for allocating the costs. Again, these are issues you will want to address before rather than after you buy.