Test a private well for bacteria at least once a year — nobody does it for you.
Bluffdale is at the stage where city water has reached properties that were on private wells for decades, and that puts a decision in front of a lot of owners here: connect, keep the well, or do both. It is not an obvious call. A functioning well is a genuine asset, particularly for irrigating a large lot, and a water right attached to a property has value independent of the pipe in the ground. On the other hand a well is equipment you own and maintain, and the failures happen on their own schedule. Most of what we are asked here is some version of that question.
The common and sensible middle path is to connect the house to municipal water and keep the well for outdoor use. That gives you treated, tested, somebody-else’s-problem water indoors, and keeps the well doing the thing it is best at, which is irrigating a large lot without running a water bill up.
The critical requirement if you do that is physical separation. A private well and a municipal supply must never be cross-connected, because well water entering a public system is a contamination event affecting more than your house. That means genuinely separate piping and the appropriate backflow protection, verified rather than assumed, and it is exactly the kind of thing a well-meaning do-it-yourself connection gets wrong.
So this is work for a licensed contractor with the arrangement inspected. If a property already has both supplies and nobody knows how they are plumbed, that is worth having traced and tested, because an existing cross-connection from a previous owner is a live problem rather than a historical one.
In Utah, groundwater is administered by the Division of Water Rights, and a well is not simply a hole you own — it operates under a water right that specifies what the water may be used for and how much may be used. That right is a property interest, and it is separate from the condition of the equipment.
Which matters to the keep-or-abandon decision in a practical way. Abandoning a well and giving up a right is not easily reversed, and in an area where water rights are scarce it may be the most valuable part of what you are deciding about. Before doing anything irreversible it is worth establishing exactly what right the property holds and what it permits.
If a well genuinely is being taken out of service, it has to be abandoned properly rather than just disconnected. An unused well is a direct conduit from the surface into the aquifer, and plugging it correctly is a defined procedure with filing requirements. A capped-and-forgotten well is a contamination pathway and a physical hazard.
If the well is staying, the equipment that will need attention first is not the well itself but the pressure system. A pressure tank has a bladder and a charge, and when the charge is lost the pump cycles on and off rapidly every time water runs. That short cycling is the single most common cause of premature pump failure, and it is cheap to diagnose and cheap to fix.
The signs are easy to recognize: the pump starting and stopping repeatedly while a tap is open, pressure that swings noticeably during a shower, or a tank that feels full of water when tapped rather than hollow at the top. Any of those is worth acting on before the pump pays for it.
Beyond the tank, the items to keep an eye on are the pressure switch, the wiring and controls at the wellhead, and the well cap itself. A cap that is cracked, missing a seal or sitting loose lets surface water, insects and debris into the well, and it is one of the most common causes of a bacteria test coming back positive on an otherwise sound well.
Not without finding out what you would be giving up. A well operates under a water right administered by the Division of Water Rights, and that right is a property interest separate from the equipment — in an area where rights are scarce it may be the most valuable part of the decision, and abandoning it is not easily reversed. Many owners connect the house and keep the well for irrigation.
Only with genuinely separate piping and proper backflow protection, verified rather than assumed. A private well must never be cross-connected to a municipal supply, because well water entering a public system is a contamination event affecting more than your house. Use a licensed contractor and have it inspected — and if a property already has both and nobody knows how they are plumbed, have it traced.
Almost always a pressure tank that has lost its air charge, so there is no cushion and the pump cycles rapidly. It is the most common cause of premature pump failure, and it is cheap to diagnose and fix — much cheaper than the pump. Other signs are pressure swinging during a shower, or a tank that feels full of water rather than hollow at the top when tapped.
Describe the symptom and we will get you matched with a well or pump contractor who can actually look at it.
Get Matched With a Well ContractorA few details on when it started and what you've noticed — we will follow up to sort out what's actually going on.
