Well water

[MarjorieB]

We have recently purchased a house near St Jean d'Angely and have only just found out that all the water in the house comes from the well - the previous owners told us that we can use this water for washing and cooking (and filling the pool - when allowed) but we are not sure about making tea and washing salads etc.  Anyone have any ideas?  Mains water is available at the roadside - should we consider having it  brought into the house?

[Hoddy]

We had a similar situation when we bought our house except that our water was pumped from a stream into a pressurised tank. We knew about this beforehand though and I’m surprised that you’ve only just found out. I suspect a lot of French families live like this and that may be why some people buy such huge amounts of bottled water.

I wouldn’t myself use the well water for human consumption before I’d had it tested. You could ask at your local pharmacy or consult the Pages Jaune for a laboratory.

Getting connected to the mains wasn’t too difficult or expensive except that I wouldn’t stay at the house until it was done  and initially Sogedo wouldn’t connect the water until I was there.

I would have liked to keep the stream water for flushing the loos etcetera, but it would have meant a second lot of plumbing so we didn’t. We’re very happy to have our own supply for watering the garden though.

Hoddy

[Chrissie]

I took water samples in to be tested at a local lab and it was very cheap - I think 2 samples was about 30 euros, and the testing was very thorough. (I had explained I just wanted to know whether it was potable or not.)  The guy rang us to say all was Ok and hence I was a bit stunned when the paperwork came 2 days later and the opening line was to the effect that "this water does not conform to French requirements."  I rushed down and queried this but it was only because ALL our local water is very low in calcium that they had to write that.

Chrissie (81)