Septic and well Deals In the Hill Country, What is not in the TREC Report
If you sell acreage in Dripping Springs, Wimberley, Fredericksburg, or the rest of the Hill Country, the listing is not just a house. It is a house plus a private water system plus a private sewage system. It may have Solar too.
That is where deals get sideways.
A standard TREC home inspection is built around the dwelling. Wells and septic systems are optional systems. They are not automatic, and even when they are added, the Standards of Practice only require a limited visual check. The items that actually blow up a Hill Country contract—flow rate, water quality, tank condition, drain-field failure, permit history—are usually not in that report.
This is a field guide for agents: what the TREC report covers, what it does not, and what to order during the option period.
The rule agents mix up
Two different TREC rules matter.
1. The standard plumbing inspection does not include the well or the septic.Under 22 TAC §535.231, the inspector is not required to inspect private water wells, pressure tanks, or private sewage systems as part of plumbing. Functional flow at two fixtures is a plumbing test. It is not a well-yield test.
2. Wells and septic are optional systems under §535.233.If the client pays to add them, the inspector has a short list of required observations. That list is useful. It is not a full well evaluation and it is not a licensed OSSF inspection.
When a buyer says, “The inspector already looked at the well and septic,” ask: Looked at it under TREC optional-system rules, or actually tested it? Those are different products.
What a TREC optional well check includes
If the private-well section is added, TREC says the inspector shall:
Operate at least two fixtures at the same time
Recommend or arrange coliform testing
Report the type of pump and storage equipment
Report proximity to any known septic system
Report deficiencies in pressure and flow, pressure-switch performance, accessible equipment, and the well head (drainage and clearances)
That is the ceiling of the required scope.
What is not in the TREC well section
TREC says the inspector is not required to:
Open, uncover, or remove the pump, screens, lines, or other components
Determine the reliability of the water supply
Locate or verify underground leaks
So the TREC well check does not answer the questions Hill Country buyers actually ask:
Buyer question | In the TREC report? | What answers it |
How many GPM does this well make under load? | No | Timed yield / flow test (often 2–4 hours) |
Will it keep up with showers, laundry, and a dishwasher? | No | Yield test plus storage-tank sizing |
Is the water safe to drink? | Only a coliform recommendation | Lab panel: coliform/E. coli, nitrate/nitrite, TDS, hardness, iron, manganese, pH |
How deep is the well and what did it produce when drilled? | No | State Well Report (TDLR) |
How old is the pump? | Maybe a visible tag | Pump specialist / service records |
Will FHA/VA accept this well? | No | Lender flow and quality standards (often about 3 GPM for FHA) |
A well that fills two sinks during a one-hour inspection can still be a 1 GPM well that cannot support a family. Pressure on a quiet morning is not yield in August.
Hill Country reality: limestone, drought, and older wells make quantity as important as quality. Order a flow test and a lab sample early. Do not wait for day six of the option period.
What a TREC optional septic check includes
If private sewage (OSSF) is added under §535.233, the inspector shall report:
Type of system
Location of the drain or distribution field (as can be determined)
Proximity to known wells, cisterns, water lines, water bodies, slopes, easements, property lines, other absorption systems, pools, and sprinklers
And report as deficient:
Visible or smellable effluent at the surface
Inoperative aerators or dosing pumps
Problems with accessible components, functional flow, site drainage and clearances, and the aerobic discharge system
Useful. Not complete.
What is not in the TREC septic section
A TREC optional-system look does not typically include:
Pumping the tank
Opening the tank to inspect baffles, sludge, and cracks
A hydraulic load or dye test of the drain field
Confirming tank size against bedroom count
Pulling the TCEQ / county permit and as-built drawing
Verifying an aerobic maintenance contract is current
Checking whether the house was expanded after the system was permitted
A pass/fail by a licensed OSSF professional
Texas does not require a septic inspection for every sale. FHA, VA, and USDA loans usually do. Careful Hill Country contracts should anyway.
Common deal-killers that never show up on a walk-around TREC check:
Failed or saturated drain field
Cracked tank or failed baffles (only visible after pumping)
Aerobic system with a lapsed maintenance contract
System permitted for 3 bedrooms on a house used as 4 or 5
Spray heads discharging toward a well, neighbor, or creek
No permit on file in a county that requires one
Thin soil over limestone is why so many Hill Country homes have aerobic units. Those systems need power, a blower, and a current maintenance contract. If the seller “turns it off to save electricity,” that is a red flag.
Option-period plan for agents
Treat the general inspection, the well work, and the septic work as three separate orders, booked on day one.
Day 1–2
TREC home inspection (add optional well/septic visual if you want a first look)
Licensed well/pump company for a yield test
Water-quality lab (coliform at minimum; full mineral panel is smarter)
Licensed OSSF inspector or pumper for a pumped-tank inspection
Ask the seller for, in writing
State Well Report
Prior water tests
OSSF permit, design drawing, last pump-out receipt
Aerobic maintenance contract and last service reports
Electric bills if the well pump runs constantly
Do not let the buyer waive these on acreage. Waiving inspections to “win” a Hill Country house is how someone inherits a failed drain field and a well that cannot fill a tub.
Repair vs. credit
Easier conversations: overdue pump-out, missing risers, clogged spray heads, lapsed aerobic contract, treatment for hardness or iron.
Hard conversations: yield under about 3 GPM with no storage, bacteria or high nitrate, failed drain field, unpermitted or undersized system, well casing at grade with a poor sanitary seal.
Those last items belong in the contract as repairs, credits, or a walk—not as “we’ll handle it after closing.”
How listing agents keep the deal together
On well-and-septic listings, a pre-listing package beats a surprise on day four.
Order:
Pumped septic inspection and current aerobic contract
Recent well flow test and water lab
Well report and OSSF permit in the listing file
Buyers will still do their own tests. You have removed the mystery and given cooperating agents something they can send to underwriting.
Bottom line
The TREC report is the right tool for the house.It is the wrong tool—by itself—for the well and the septic.
In the Hill Country, the systems that keep the house livable sit in the yard. If those systems are only “noted” on an optional TREC page, your buyer still does not know whether the property works.
Schedule the house, the well, and the septic as three inspections. Read all three reports before anyone talks about waiving the option period.
Austin Property DoctorsHome inspections, well water testing, and septic (OSSF) evaluations across Austin and the Texas Hill Country.
(512) 762-5912 www.austinporpertydoctors.com www.austinpropertydoctors.comhttps://propertydoctors.inspectioninstructors.com
Educational for real estate professionals. Not a substitute for a licensed inspection, lab test, or county OSSF evaluation.
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