Immigration Journal

Back in Blighty

Received an email from our Canadian realtor saying the well test had gone well and the report was good, just waiting for the quality test on the water itself. If that goes ok, then all our conditions will have been met and the contract will be released.

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Congratulations, where did you end up buying?

Water quality test is a formality, unless you were physically there to witness it and sniff the water to check the well wasnt shocked with clorine in advance its kind of pointless IMO.

When we bought our home the test was not surprisingly "zero, zero" but after a while out regular tests started to show coliform and ecoli. We ended up doing what all sensible well owners do and stumped up for the UV light & Charcoal filter system (reverse osmosis is fine too) Most houses benefit from a water softener too, the water can be pretty hard around here (18 grains). Sears or Culligan will do a free hardness assesment, and I think Culligan will test for iron etc, although I wouldnt get a softener from them, they seem overpriced.

The water quality test is just too simple to defeat by pre shocking a "bad" well. Its also easy to fail though if you happen to make contact with a dirty tap with the water bottle.

Did you know you can get free water potability testing done by the health unit, just get a test bottle from the health unit on Park St in Belleville (runs parallel to Front St, by Swiss Chalet) and return it for analysis Mon to Thurs. Worth doing regularly for piece of mind if you dont have a UV or RO system, especially if you are in the country with cows nearby (our ecoli is thanks to the farm behind us and run off into the groundwater.

Even flow rate is a bit of a waste of time, we have only about 2 gpm, but have never run the well dry. Our mortgage company could care less, and if it ever becomes an issue there are simple solutions like trickle tanks to solve the problem. We did get a substantial discount on our purchase price on waivers though thanks to that flow rate:)

Generally on a new home it would be astoninshing if there were any problems, especially if their realtor is on the ball. Unfortunatley you cant always count on your realtor to make sure the test is not fiddled either, as at this point they want the sale to go through in order to pick up their half of the commision...that one thing I learned buying here!
Posted by iaink

Reply

Thanks for this info.

You mentioned Culligan - the guy who did our house inspection told us to avoid them as they are cowboys and charge for work not carried out.

Our well was reported at 3.8gpm, so should be ok. The water test was 0 and 0, but as you suggest we will keep checking this. We now know where Swiss Chalet is, so will be able to find this place. We are also getting a UV light etc as this was recommended by both the reator and the house inspector.

Incidently Iain, do you know any good insurance companies in the area for car, house, personal insurance etc? We have 6 years no claims, but I suppose that will mean diddly squat over there!

Also, silly question but one we don't know the answer to. When you own a car, are they taxed each year like in the UK. Also are there MOT's or similar? We know how to buy one and that the insurance will kill us, but are unsure about the other aspects of car ownership. Also, do you know if you can have a personal number plate, we saw plenty whilst over there but in the UK it can proove a costly option, not sure if it is the same in Canada?

thanks, Jane
Posted by Canada Jane

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3.8 gpm is OK, some mortgage companies used to set a limit of 4 as a min. You should be OK unless you are trying to water the garden, fill the swimming pool, do the laundry and take a shower at the same time! Pop up lawn sprinklers might be off the agenda though.

Most of your questions are covered in the forum.

Locally all my insurance is done through McDougalls brokerage (9676 7001), with Pilot as the insurer. Thats car and house. They were able to do something with my UK record, at least it was a token gesture, and were the lowest quote around.If you need a brokers name let me know.

Cars need a license sticker every year. $78. There is no annual safety like the MOT but older vehicles have to do the "drive clean" emmisions test every other year. If you dont pass, then you have to spend up to ~$400 trying to get a clean test, and after that spending ceiling is reached you get a euphemistic "conditional pass" and can get your plate sticker. So dont spend any money trying to fix a car before taking the drive clean, as that wont count towards your $400 ceiling.

You cant sell an older used car without a proper full emmisions pass, and all used vehicles require a full safety (like MOT) before the new owner can register them.

The plate is the owners, not the cars, so you will need to get new plates as the ones on any used vehicle will stay with the current owner. If you want to spends the extra couple of hundred you can get ponce plates made up to your specifications (within certain parameters), the Ontario MTO website has details. Its much cheaper and easier than in the UK.

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/plates.htm

If theres anything else drop me a line, I tend to forget how diffferent some things seemed when I first arrived. LOL, I guess Ive gone native.
Posted by iaink