Well and pump in Rimrock

Casner Drilling & Pump, on Beaver Creek Road, holds an active license, ROC 356377. Northern Arizona Pump Inc works on wells for homes, farms and businesses around Rimrock and holds ROC 146272, also active. Both checked against the Registrar of Contractors on the date above.

Two licensed well companies for a community this size is a reasonable showing, and it reflects the reality that out here a private well is normal rather than unusual.

Why this is not a niche trade in Rimrock

A great many properties around Rimrock, Lake Montezuma and Beaver Creek are not on a municipal water supply. The water comes from a well on the parcel, lifted by a pump, into a pressure tank. When the pump fails, there is no water at all: no taps, no shower, no toilet, and no mains to fall back on.

That makes this the one trade out here where knowing who to call before you need them is not over-planning. A pump failure in July with a house full of people is not the moment to start ringing round.

What to ask now, not later

Who answers out of hours, and what that actually means in practice.

Whether they hold common pump sizes in stock or order them in, because that is the difference between a day without water and a week.

Whether they will look at a well they did not drill, which most will, but it is worth confirming.

If you are buying a property on a well

This is the part that costs people money. Before you buy, get the well inspected and ask for the well registration number, which Arizona Department of Water Resources holds along with the drilling log: depth, casing, static water level and yield at the time it was drilled. That record tells you what you are buying.

Then ask for a current flow test and a water quality test. Yield falls over time, aquifers move, and neither a home inspection nor a septic inspection covers the well. Rimrock properties are also frequently on septic as well as a well, so that is two separate inspections, not one.

Shared wells, where several parcels draw from one, come with a written agreement that you want to read before signing anything.