Hi,
I am 7 miles form the ocean front so nobody does the basement thing around here. We hit water at 10-15 feet easily. My well that I use for the yard is okay...high in iron, like every other well around here. The smell is a dirty swampy smell you speak of. The development is 30 years old and there is a drainage canal right behind my yard. My dogs are 2 shar pei, no gigantic breed.