Town sewer is coming down our road and the hookup quote is 18k - do we keep the septic?

Before you compare anything, ring the town and ask two questions. One, is there a mandatory connection ordinance, because plenty of places give you a window of a few years and then you connect whether you like it or not. Two, is there a betterment or frontage assessment on your tax bill regardless of connection, because in our town everyone on the route paid the assessment and the people who declined the hookup paid it and got nothing. That single phone call changes the whole calculation.

Do the twenty year arithmetic before the feelings. Our version: 18k hookup, sewer charge that worked out to about 55 a month and has gone up twice since, so call it fifteen grand of charges over twenty years on top. Against that, pumping every three years, one riser and lid replacement, and a field that statistically has maybe fifteen good years left on a twelve year old system. It came out close enough that the deciding factor was that I did not want to be the one deciding, at 70, whether to spend 25k on a new field.

Keep the well. Sewer and water are separate decisions and towns love to bundle them in conversation. Connecting to sewer while staying on your own water is common and it keeps your monthly bill to one line item.

One practical thing: ask whether the connection is gravity or whether you need a grinder pump. A grinder pump changes the answer completely. It is another thing with a motor in your basement, it needs power, and replacing one is not a small bill. Our neighbour found out at the quote stage that his lot was below the main.

Connected three years ago and would do it again, mostly for a reason that is not on any spreadsheet: I stopped thinking about it. No more counting guests at Christmas, no more wondering about the washing machine, no more standing on the lawn after heavy rain looking for the bright green patch. The old tank got crushed and filled per the permit, which was about 1200 of the total.

Mild disagreement with the resale argument people will make. In our market, buyers looking at rural properties expected septic and did not pay a premium for sewer, the appraiser did not adjust for it either. If you are somewhere that people commute from and lots are being subdivided, sure. Where we are it moved nothing, so decide on running cost and risk, not on an imagined future buyer.