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.