Winnebago County does not require a well or septic inspection on every sale, but its Health Department performs the loan inspection when a lender asks for one, and it decides how private wells and septic systems get built, changed and inspected. Its Center for Environmental Health Improvement answers the phone at 815-720-4100. A buyer looking at a house with its own well or septic system should ask the seller for the system's records before the offer, and ask the county what it has on file for that address.

If you are comparing homes for sale in Winnebago County, this is one of the few topics where the house itself can look perfect and still hide the biggest repair. Gambino Realtors has worked in the Rockford area since 1923. This guide sticks to what the county health department, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois EPA and the U.S. EPA publish, and it tells you which office to call for the rest. It is a plain explanation, not legal or financial advice. For the system on a particular property, the health department and a licensed contractor have the last word.

Who Runs The Rules For Wells And Septic In The County

Start with the office. The Winnebago County Health Department lists a Center for Environmental Health Improvement, and wells and septic systems are one of its programs. In the department's own words, the program permits, inspects and regulates private water well and sewage systems in the county. It also says inspections and permits are required for the construction of new systems or the modification of existing ones, and that it provides inspection services related to construction and to property sales and purchases.

That last phrase matters to a buyer, so read it carefully. The county offers inspection services tied to sales. The county's pages do not say that every sale of a house with a well or septic system must be inspected by the county. What the department does say is narrower and more useful. It conducts the inspections that a mortgage or banking institution requires when it issues a loan on a property with a private well or septic system. Its permit page lists a "Loan Inspection Request" form, described as a well and or septic inspection for a realty transaction, including the FHA and VA versions of that request. Ask your loan officer early whether the loan you are using will want one.

The department also describes what its inspectors do day to day. They oversee the licensed well and septic contractors in the county to make sure private water and sewage systems are installed and repaired properly, they conduct loan inspections, and they conduct site verifications. A site verification is the county confirming where the well, the tank and the field sit on a lot. The department's form for it covers a soil boring site verification and a check of the distances between the septic field, the tank and the well. This is the paperwork behind a new house, and it is also the paperwork behind an addition, a garage, a deck or a pool on an existing one.

Two more items on the permit page are worth knowing about, even though a buyer rarely meets them. One is a well and septic variance. It is a petition for a proposed installation that cannot meet all state and county codes, and the department states that approvals are subject to review and are not guaranteed. The other is plat review, which is the county looking at lot sizes for proposed new subdivisions where public water or sewer is not available.

The state sits above all of this. The Illinois Department of Public Health regulates the installation of private sewage disposal systems that have no surface discharge, which is how it describes septic tanks and seepage fields, and it licenses the installation and pumping contractors. It also notes that about 90 local health agencies in Illinois review sewage system construction plans, either under a local ordinance or as an agent of the state. In this county, the health department is the local office that handles the permits and inspections. For wells, the Illinois Water Well Construction Code sets the rules for building and sealing them. The practical result for a buyer is simple.

One honest limit before moving on. The county's pages do not include a public map that shows which streets or parcels have public water and sewer and which do not. The department's own advice is to work it out from signs on the property, and those signs are listed below.

Buying A House On A Well Or Septic System

How do you know which kind of house you are looking at? The health department's guide gives a short list. A house most likely has a private well if the water line coming in has no meter and the owner does not receive a water bill, or if there is a well cover or cap in the yard. It most likely has a septic system if the owner does not receive a wastewater bill, if the neighbors have septic systems, or if the house is in a rural area. The same page tells owners and renters alike to find out which they have. A buyer should go one step further and ask the listing side in writing.

The seller's disclosure report is the first place a written answer shows up. Illinois' Residential Real Property Disclosure Act includes a form with a line on whether the seller is aware of material defects in the well or well equipment, a line on unsafe conditions in the drinking water, and a line on material defects in the septic, sanitary sewer or other disposal system. The form is blunt about its own limits. It says the disclosure is not a substitute for any inspections or warranties, and that a seller not being aware of a problem is no guarantee that it does not exist. Our guide to the Illinois seller disclosure report walks through the whole form line by line.

So the disclosure tells you what the seller knows. An inspection tells you what is actually in the ground. The health department says it plainly on its well and septic page: have septic systems inspected before you purchase a home. The U.S. EPA's homebuyer guide to septic systems says the same thing and adds the reason.

What does that inspection look at? The EPA's guide lists what an inspector checks. It starts with the pumping and maintenance records and the age of the system. It goes on to the sludge level and scum thickness in the tank, signs of leakage such as a low water level, and signs of backup such as staining above the outlet pipe. The inspector also looks at the tank, the inlet and outlet pipes, the drainfield for standing water, and the distribution box to see whether the drain lines receive equal flow. Finally the inspector checks the available records to see whether the system complies with local rules on function and location.

Illinois publishes its own evaluation form for the same job. The Illinois Department of Public Health's Private Sewage Disposal System Evaluation Form has the evaluator check the ground around the tank for discharge or saturation, the inlet and outlet baffles, the water level, the sludge and scum layers, the date the tank was last pumped, and the field for dead or missing vegetation and for tree encroachment. The form says the evaluation for discharge or saturation should be done when there has been no precipitation for 48 hours before the evaluation. That is a useful detail to know when a buyer wonders why an inspector wants to reschedule after a storm. It also says the combined sludge and scum layers are measured against a threshold of 33 percent of the tank's designed liquid level.

Two practical requests come out of all this. The first is the as-built drawing. The health department says an as-built drawing of a home's septic system can be requested from the local health department, and the EPA says the same. The county and the EPA both list it as the way to find the system, which matters for the field in particular. The second is the pumping and maintenance record. Ask the seller for the dates, and ask who did the work. A tank that has never been pumped and a tank that has been pumped on a schedule are different purchases, even when they look the same from the driveway.

Here is a scenario to make the order of operations concrete. A buyer is under contract on a house at the edge of the county with no water bill and a well cap near the garage. The disclosure form lists no known defects in the well or the septic system. The buyer orders the general home inspection and, separately, asks the lender whether its loan program needs a well and septic inspection. The lender says yes, so the buyer submits the Loan Inspection Request. The buyer also takes a water sample to the City of Rockford's environmental laboratory. Our overview of what a Rockford home inspector checks covers the general inspection that sits next to it.

Testing The Water And Keeping The System Working

A buyer on a private well is buying the testing duty too. The Illinois Department of Public Health adds that it cannot require you to test your well.

What should be tested and how often? Both state agencies and the county give the same core answer. Test for coliform bacteria once a year, and test for nitrate every year. The county health department also says to test when the taste, odor or appearance of the water changes, and when the system has been serviced. The state's chart adds metals, which it lists as every three years, and says volatile organic compounds, pesticides and PFAS are tested for when they are detected nearby. The Illinois EPA suggests a test for volatile organic compounds when a business, an industrial site or a gas station is nearby, and it notes that radium is found primarily in the northern third of Illinois. Ask the testing lab or the county health department whether radium belongs on your list.

The nitrate warning deserves a sentence of its own. The state's limit is 10 milligrams per liter as nitrogen. Water above it should not be given to infants six months old or younger, and the Illinois EPA says not to boil water you suspect has high nitrate, because boiling concentrates it. It names septic systems as one of the usual sources, along with manure storage areas, feedlots and farm fields near the well. Because septic systems are a named source, a buyer on a lot with both should read the well test and the septic inspection side by side.

Where do you take the sample? The county health department points private well owners to the City of Rockford Environmental Laboratory. Samples go in approved bottles, which the county's page says are available at several places around the county and at the lab at 1111 Cedar Street. The sample must be dropped off at the lab itself. The city's laboratory page lists its normal hours as Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with normal sample submittals accepted Monday through Thursday, and it says a collection form must accompany each sample. Hours and fees change, so call the laboratory at 779-348-7151 before you drive over.

The well itself has a physical standard. The health department says a well casing must be at least 8 inches above the ground surface and free from wood chips, soil, brush or leaves. It also warns against landscaping that creates a bowl around the well, because that collects water and gives insects and animals a home. A buyer can check the casing height and the ground around it during a showing without any tools.

Now the septic system. Here the published guidance does not agree with itself, and a buyer should know that. The county health department says to have the system inspected every 3 years by a licensed contractor and the tank pumped as necessary, generally every 3 to 5 years, with an effluent filter, if there is one, inspected and cleaned once a year. The U.S. EPA's homebuyer guide gives a similar range and says to inspect every three to five years. The Illinois EPA's septic page says inspect annually for sludge and solids and pump every two to three years or more often if needed. The county's number is the local one, and a licensed contractor who has opened your tank can say whether your household needs it sooner. The county and the EPA both put the average life of a system at 15 to 40 years, longer with good care.

The signs of trouble are also published. The county lists wastewater backing up or gurgling in household drains, a strong odor around the tank or the field, and bright green, spongy grass over the drainfield. If any appear, it says to call a septic service provider right away. For the field itself, the guidance is to keep it accessible, plant only grass on or near it, install no sprinkler heads, and not park, drive or build on it. The EPA puts the weight limit in plain terms: keep your car and anything heavier than your lawnmower off the drainfield. A buyer who dreams of a driveway or a shed in the back corner should find out where the field is before drawing the plan.

That brings up projects, which is where wells and septic systems collide with permits. The health department says site verifications are required for any property with a private well or septic system when the work requires a building permit. It also says a verification is useful when planning other building or landscaping projects, because additions or changes to a house or yard can cause problems for the well and the septic system. Its form is titled for exactly these cases: additions, garages, pools and decks. If you plan to build, ask the county about the verification before you design anything. Our guide to Machesney Park water, sewer and private wells shows the same county rule from the village side, where a permit counter asks for the health department's approval first.

Two end-of-life situations round out the picture. If a house is later connected to public sewer, the county's Private Sewage Disposal Code governs closing the old septic tank. The tank must be pumped by a licensed septic pumper, the top and one side must be collapsed so water cannot collect, and it must be filled right away with sand, gravel or similar material. A licensed plumber is needed. The other situation is an unused well. Under the Illinois Water Well Construction Code, the owner must seal a well within 30 days after it is abandoned. A licensed water well driller must seal it unless the homeowner makes a written request to the local health department or the state, describing procedures and materials that follow the code. The state also says the health department must be notified at least 48 hours before sealing begins and that the well casing must be removed at least two feet below the final grade.

Bottom Line

A well or septic system is not a defect. It is a system the owner runs, and in Winnebago County the Health Department's Center for Environmental Health Improvement is the office that regulates it. Before you buy, get four things in writing or in hand: the as-built drawing and pumping records from the seller or the county, a septic inspection and a well water test that you ordered yourself, the lender's decision on whether a loan inspection is required, and the county's word on where the well, tank and field sit if you plan to build. None of these is a guess, and none of them depends on the seller's memory.

If you are weighing a specific house and its water and waste arrangements, bring those questions along with the rest of your search for homes for sale in Winnebago County. The county health department's number is 815-720-4100, and a short call about an address is easier than finding the answer after closing.

Still deciding what to ask before you make an offer? These are the questions that come up most when a house has its own well or septic system.

Frequently Asked Questions