The well: test the water, and the flow
Most country homes here draw water from a private well, and the owner is responsible for it. Public Health Ontario tests private well water for bacteria (E. coli and total coliforms) free of charge. In Elgin and Oxford counties, Southwestern Public Health hands out the sample kits at its offices (including 1230 Talbot Street in St. Thomas) and at pickup points such as the Township of Malahide office at 87 John Street South in Aylmer and several other township offices.
The free test covers bacteria only. Chemical tests, such as nitrates, are done by private licensed labs for a fee, and on farmland they are worth doing. Ask for a flow test too, so you know the well keeps up with a household.
Ontario keeps well records back to 1899, searchable on a map at ontario.ca, which can tell you the well's depth and construction. Under Ontario's Wells Regulation (Regulation 903), owners must maintain a well so surface water and other material cannot get into it.
The septic system: age, records and an inspection
Household septic systems (up to 10,000 litres a day) are regulated under Part 8 of the Ontario Building Code. The local municipality usually issues septic permits and keeps the records; sometimes it is the health unit or a conservation authority. In our area, Malahide and Bayham's building departments issue septic permits, and in Norfolk County it is the county's building department.
Ask the seller for the permit, the pump-out receipts and the tank's location, and ask the municipality what records it holds. The province's SepticSmart booklet suggests having a licensed professional inspect the system every three to five years, and says systems last roughly 15 to 40 years. Make the offer conditional on a septic inspection by a qualified contractor.
Farm neighbours: setbacks and normal farm practices
Elgin is working farm country. Ontario's Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) formulae set distances between livestock barns or manure storage and houses, and municipalities apply them through zoning and building permits. That can limit where you build or add a dwelling near a barn, and it works both ways: a neighbour's new barn has to respect your house.
The Farming and Food Production Protection Act protects farmers from nuisance complaints about odour, dust, flies, light, smoke, noise and vibration as long as they follow normal farm practices. Visit a property at different times, including when fields are being spread or harvested, before you decide.
Severing a lot, or adding a house
Buyers often ask whether they can split off a building lot. In Elgin County, rarely. The County's Official Plan (approved in 2025) says the primary use of rural land is agriculture, that new farm lots should generally be 40 hectares or more (both parts), and that no new residential lots are allowed in an agricultural designation except a surplus farm dwelling after a farm consolidation. The same plan allows up to two additional dwelling units on a property but does not support severing them.
Severance applications go to the Elgin County Land Division Committee. If a future lot is part of your plan, talk to the municipality's planner before you make an offer, not after.
Everything else a town buyer forgets
A few more things to ask about on any rural listing:
- Heating fuel: propane or oil, and whether the tank is owned or rented. An unused buried oil tank must be removed by a TSSA-registered contractor, at the owner's cost.
- Outbuildings: what the barn or shop is permitted to be used for, and its condition.
- Drainage: wet corners, sump pumps and where the tile drains run.
- Internet and cell coverage at the house itself, not just in town.
- The zoning, and whether it matches how you plan to use the land (horses, a home business, a second dwelling).
Before you move ahead
- Offer conditional on a water potability test (and a flow test)
- Private-lab chemical test (nitrates) on farm properties
- Offer conditional on a septic inspection
- Septic permit and pump-out records from the seller and the municipality
- Well record from ontario.ca's well records map
- Zoning and permitted uses confirmed with the municipality
- Nearby barns and manure storage noted (MDS)
- Fuel tank: owned or rented, above ground or buried
- Insurance quote before you firm up
General information for Ontario buyers and sellers, current as of September 26, 2026. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change, so confirm the details for your own purchase or sale with your lawyer, lender or accountant.
Sources
- Public Health Ontario: well water testing
- Ontario: testing and treating private water wells
- Southwestern Public Health: well water testing
- Grand Erie Public Health: environmental hazards
- Ontario: well records
- Ontario: regulatory roles for construction (septic systems)
- SepticSmart! booklet (ontario.ca)
- Township of Malahide: building and construction
- Municipality of Bayham: building permits
- Norfolk County: septic systems
- Ontario: Minimum Distance Separation formulae
- Ontario: Farming and Food Production Protection Act and nuisance complaints
- County of Elgin Official Plan
- County of Elgin: land division (severances)
- TSSA: storage tank FAQs