What a Well and Septic System Actually Cost on a Washoe County Lot
If your lot has no water line and no sewer at the street, you are looking at two separate systems, two separate permits, and two separate sets of unknowns. Most people find out the real number a long way into the process. Here is what to expect before you get there.
We build in these foothills, and this is the question we field more than any other.
Can you even drill a well?
Not always — and this surprises people. Nevada generally does not allow a domestic well on a parcel that can be physically and legally served by a public water supply. If a main runs past your lot, the expectation is that you connect to it, whatever a well might cost by comparison.
So the first question isn't what a well costs. It's whether you're permitted to have one. That gets answered by Northern Nevada Public Health, which regulates well construction in Washoe County, together with the Nevada Division of Water Resources.
Two things worth knowing if you are allowed to drill:
- The driller has to be licensed by the Nevada Division of Water Resources. This is not a job you or a handy neighbor can take on.
- A state Notice of Intent has to be approved before the local permit issues. It's a sequencing step that catches people who assume the county permit is the only one.
On water rights: under NRS 534.180, a domestic well serving a single home does not require a separate water right so long as use stays at or under two acre-feet per year. For an ordinary household that is a comfortable ceiling — it is not the constraint people expect it to be.
What a well costs
Plan on the low-to-mid twenties for a complete, working system, not just the hole.
Statewide, a typical residential well in Nevada runs around 300 feet deep, with drilling priced roughly by the foot. But drilling is only part of it. A complete system — casing, pump, pressure tank, wiring, and the connection into the house — commonly lands in the low twenties to high thirties depending on depth and what the drill finds.
The number moves on things nobody can see from the road:
| What drives it | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Depth to water | The single biggest variable. Two lots on the same street can differ by hundreds of feet. |
| What you drill through | Decomposed granite and hard rock are slower and harder on equipment than alluvium. |
| Yield | A low-producing well may need storage, which is added cost the original quote didn't include. |
| Distance to the house | Trenching, wire, and line from wellhead to structure. |
| Power at the wellhead | If the site has no service yet, that's its own line item. |
Anyone who quotes you a firm well price before drilling is guessing. Honest drillers price by the foot and tell you the range.
What septic costs — and the step that gates everything
The permit alone is $1,848 in Washoe County, as of the most recent published fee schedule. That is the fee, not the system.
But the number isn't the important part of this section. This is:
The test trench comes first
Before Northern Nevada Public Health will approve a septic design, a test trench has to be dug on your lot and inspected. They are looking at what the soil actually does with water — how it percolates, where groundwater sits, whether effluent can be discharged without reaching it.
That inspection determines what kind of system your lot can take. A conventional gravity system on well-draining soil is one number. A parcel with shallow groundwater, tight soils, or too little usable area may require an engineered or alternative system, which can be multiples of the conventional cost.
So the honest sequence is: dig the trench, get the letter, then price the system. Not the other way around. Every quote you get before that inspection is a builder guessing along with you.
A few other things that catch people:
- The septic design has to be prepared by a Nevada licensed or registered design professional. It's an engineered document, not a sketch.
- A septic construction permit is issued only in conjunction with a building permit for the structure it serves. You cannot fully permit your septic system in isolation, months ahead, to de-risk the lot.
- Well and septic have to be sited with required separation from each other, from property lines, and from any drainage. On a small or awkwardly shaped parcel, that geometry — not the cost — is sometimes what limits where the house can sit.
Putting the two together
For a lot with neither service, both systems together commonly land somewhere in the $40,000 to $70,000 range before the house is priced — with real potential to go higher if the trench comes back poorly or the well goes deep.
That is a wide range, and we'd rather give you a wide honest one than a narrow invented one. It narrows quickly once two facts are known: how deep the water is, and what the test trench says.
Worth keeping in perspective: this is a fraction of a custom home budget, and it's a one-time cost that comes with independence from a utility. Plenty of the best lots in this region have no services, which is part of why they're quiet and have the view. The mistake isn't buying a lot without utilities. The mistake is not knowing the number until you're emotionally committed to a floor plan.
Who to call
| For | Who | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Septic permits, test trench inspections, well construction permits | Northern Nevada Public Health, Environmental Health Services | (775) 328-2434 |
| Well driller licensing, notice of intent, water rights | Nevada Division of Water Resources | water.nv.gov |
| Permit applications | OneNV.us | — |
Frequently asked
Can I drill a well if there's city water on my street? Usually not. Nevada generally requires connection where a public supply can physically and legally serve the parcel. Confirm with Northern Nevada Public Health for your specific APN before you assume either way.
Do I need a water right for a domestic well? Not for an ordinary single-family home. Under NRS 534.180, domestic use at or under two acre-feet per year doesn't require a separate water right.
How long does the permitting take? Initial plan review at Northern Nevada Public Health has run about ten business days. That's review time, not total project time — the test trench, the design work, and scheduling all sit around it.
Can I get a firm price before I own the lot? You can get an informed range. You cannot get a firm number, because the test trench and the drilling both have to actually happen. If someone gives you a firm number sight-unseen, ask what happens when they're wrong.
What if my lot turns out to be a hard one? Then it's better to know now. Difficult lots still get built on all the time — they just need the budget built around what the ground actually is, rather than around what a per-square-foot average says.
If you own a lot in the Reno-Tahoe region
We'll walk it with you. Free, about an hour, no obligation. We'll tell you what we see — where the house wants to sit, whether you're drilling or tying in, what the grade means, and what the whole thing realistically runs. Then we'll leave you with it, whether you build with us or not.
Send us your parcel number at daoustdc.com/walk-your-lot, or call 775-833-8686.