Well Flow Testing

I am going to start offering Water Testing and Private Well Flow tests. I saw the flow meter sold on Inspector Outlet. Anyone using that set up? Is it worth the price, or what are you guys using to conduct your flow tests?

Thank you in advance for any info.

A 5 gallon bucket and a stopwatch.
It has been used for very many years…

If you think well flow testing is that amount of water that comes out of a faucet or hose bib, you have a lot to learn. That meter tells you nothing about a true well flow test.

I would steer clear of trying to quantify water well yield, unless I took specific training and was prepared to apply a known testing protocol at the wellhead, before any pressure tanks, switches, etc. Be prepared to run several hundred gallons of water during the test.

I would consider this specialized testing and if I were to offer it, I would be trained/certified, apply protocols, professional equipment, and charge separately for the service. Possibly require a release from the seller.

As far as testing as part of a home inspection, I’m going to record static water pressure and visually observe for any significant pressure/flow fluctuations with water flowing at several fixtures running through multiple pump cycles.

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If that’s the meter made by Dwyer it’s the same one we use. InterNachi’s course on water wells is a good place to start. You are going to be very limited as to what you can do for your client and that needs to be disclosed clearly.

With that said you can offer this service which is a value to many customers, we’ve done it for years and never had a problem.

Another thing you should consider is looking up state records to determine well depth and yield and include this information in your report. We also look at septic records (we’re usually doing the septic inspection anyway) and determine how many gallons per day the septic is rated for on a daily. Our flow test usually run between 60-90 minutes.

Not sure if you have dug wells in your area but if you do you should lean how to calculate volume in a cylinder so you can determine how many gallons of water the well contains.

Finally, proper disclaimers should be in your inspection agreement and report. Let me know if you need help with any of that, I’m happy to share what I have.

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