What tests should I run on a well before buying an acreage?

Two, and both belong in the offer as conditions. A water quality test sends a sample to an accredited lab for bacteria, nitrates and local minerals. A flow test runs the well for a sustained period to see whether it holds up under real household demand. A well can pass one and fail the other.

What does the well drilling record tell me?

Alberta wells are drilled under a reporting regime, so most have a record on file showing depth, casing, the formations the driller hit, and the yield measured the day it was completed. That is your baseline. Comparing it against a test run today shows whether the well has held up.

What if the acreage shares a well with a neighbour?

It happens, and it is workable, but you need the agreement. Confirm it is registered on title, read who pays for repairs and pump replacement, and understand what happens if the other party stops contributing. A handshake arrangement between previous owners does not transfer reliably.

Can well water problems be fixed?

Often yes. Many quality results are treatable with the right equipment. Treat that as an ongoing ownership cost and a factor in your offer rather than something that resolves at closing. Quantity problems are harder, because you cannot add water to an aquifer.

Calgary Answers · Acreages · Due Diligence

What to Knowabout the well

A well can pass one test and fail the other. You need both, and you need them written into the offer as conditions, not asked about after.

Book a Buyer Call Browse Calgary Listings

Two different tests, and both matter

Water quality and water quantity are separate questions answered by separate tests, and a well routinely passes one while failing the other.

Quality — a sample sent to an accredited lab for bacteria, nitrates and the minerals and metals common to the local groundwater. Some results are treatable with equipment; treatment is then an ongoing cost you own, not a defect that disappears at closing.
Quantity — a sustained flow test run for hours, not a tap turned on for a minute. A well that delivers beautifully for ten minutes can draw down under real household demand, and the only way to see that is to keep pulling.

The flow test is the one buyers skip because it takes most of a day to run. It is also the one that decides whether the property actually works for your household.

Ask for the paperwork before the tests

Alberta wells are drilled under a reporting regime, so most have a drilling record on file: depth, casing, what the driller hit, and the yield measured the day it was completed. That is your baseline — comparing it against a test run today shows whether the well has held up.

Then ask the seller for the age of the pump and pressure tank, any treatment equipment and its service history, and whether the well has ever run short in a dry summer.

The questions asked too late

Is the well shared? Some parcels draw from a neighbouring well or a small co-operative system. Find the agreement, confirm it is registered, and read who pays for what when the pump fails.
Is it a well at all? A few properties run on a cistern filled by a hauler. That is workable, but it is a delivery contract and a budget line, not a water source.
Where does the line run, and how deep? Freeze risk is a real acreage failure mode, and February is when you find out.

The full acreage due-diligence sequence is on our acreage buyer guide.

What to Knowabout the well

Two different tests, and both matter

Ask for the paperwork before the tests

The questions asked too late

Related Calgary questions