Query for you rural well users.....

[Retiredguy2]

We live in a suburban area that does not yet provide water service, so our source comes from a 220' deep well drilled 14 years ago. The water supplied from the well is fairly good quality and although we use a filter/softener/filter before the water gets to the faucets (aside from the outside faucets) we never drink it. For the coffeemakers and our personal consumption, plus the drinking water supplied to out 4 cats we have always used purchased water in gallon jugs. At 2-2.5 gallons per week, the yearly cost comes to about $110 per year. To us that expense is well worth it. Sometimes I wonder if others with well water do the same thing we do...by the way, I was purchasing bottled water to use here LONG before the incident with contaminated water happened in Flint, Michigan...60 miles away. Even if our water supply was from a municipal source I would still want to use bottled water for drinking. Any comments?

 

[sseelhoff]

We have a 140 foot well. We also use a filter (Carbon, not pleated) and water softener, but use ours for drinking and cooking. Never had a problem.

 

[bigdeano]

We have great tasting well water here. We use it for everything.

 

[RPW]

If you're concerned about the quality of your water have it tested. We'll be on well water in a a couple of months and I'm looking forward to it. I'll also be using a filter system more to eliminate particulates than anything else.

 

[wawoodwa]

We use well here in Tennessee. For drinking (including cats), we run it through a R/O filter system. We love it. Our water is slightly acidic, so it can ruin a copper pipe distribution system, so the majority is CPVC in the house.

 

[Retiredguy2]

If you're concerned about the quality of your water have it tested. We'll be on well water in a a couple of months and I'm looking forward to it. I'll also be using a filter system more to eliminate particulates than anything else.

Good point on your part but respectfully saying what with the costs involved in a good commercial water testing, it is not that much more costly for us to simply pay up front for drinking water. AND: I should have mentioned in the OP that there is farming involved on 3 sides of us, and they use a LOT of chemicals during the process. Perhaps I worry too much....? And that is the main reason we use a filter/softener, water here is quite hard, with lime being the worst particulate.

 

[M5farms]

Have drank well water all my life, I do not filter it. Its always been a farming area and never had any issues with Deep well getting contaminated, the shallow wells that were put down in the 40s and 50s do test higher levels of nitrates. every part of the country is different , have it tested if your concerned every county health dept ive ever known will test a sample if you want.

 

[Looking4new]

I, too am on a well and have no problem drinking the water. We cook with it, the animals drink it. Ours is 176' deep and runs through a softener.

 

[roadhunter]

It's odd how some people are afraid of drinking well water. We have a RO filter in the kitchen for drinking water and ice maker but my wife is the one who uses it. I just drink the regular well water, no problem. I can't imagine bringing in water in jugs for drinking, what a nightmare buying hundreds of jugs. Plus most bottled water is not from a spring, it's actually city water.
Is your bottled water coming from a faucet? - TODAY.com

The funniest part of this whole story is that you bring in jugs of filtered water for the cats. LOL.

Only a city slicker would buy bottled water for cats. Just sayin.

 

[JimRB]

I have a shallow bored well. I added a calcite bed to bring up the PH. This summer I added a UV filter to kill any nasties that might be in the water. My wife drinks spring water in plastic gallons from the store. 3 gallons a week. I use the well water.

A normal adult human is supposed to drink about a half gallon a day. If they do work like muck stalls, mow the lawn, ride bicycles, run the dogs, a person might use a gallon or more a day. At 92 cents a gallon that adds up. Of course if you only have one human in your house buying water might be economical. We have 2 dogs and 7 horses. The horses would drink cases of water each. Maybe more than 5 galllons a day for each horse.

Yes I did have the well water tested twice for common contaminates.

 

[Thomas]

We have our well...drill...tested every 5 years since 1980,still taste great.

 

[dickfoster]

We live in a suburban area that does not yet provide water service, so our source comes from a 220' deep well drilled 14 years ago. The water supplied from the well is fairly good quality and although we use a filter/softener/filter before the water gets to the faucets (aside from the outside faucets) we never drink it. For the coffeemakers and our personal consumption, plus the drinking water supplied to out 4 cats we have always used purchased water in gallon jugs. At 2-2.5 gallons per week, the yearly cost comes to about $110 per year. To us that expense is well worth it. Sometimes I wonder if others with well water do the same thing we do...by the way, I was purchasing bottled water to use here LONG before the incident with contaminated water happened in Flint, Michigan...60 miles away. Even if our water supply was from a municipal source I would still want to use bottled water for drinking. Any comments?

My well is 325" deep and we use it for everything. I do have to run a calcite filter on mine because the water is a little too soft right out of the well plus a cartridge type particulate filter. Because of the drought I installed 5000 gallons worth of holding tanks summer before last to keep from fretting about it. So far so good. Some of my neighbors have had well problems due to the drought.

 

[dickfoster]

We use well here in Tennessee. For drinking (including cats), we run it through a R/O filter system. We love it. Our water is slightly acidic, so it can ruin a copper pipe distribution system, so the majority is CPVC in the house.

You can get by the mild acid condition with a calcite filter.

 

[scdeerslayer]

Drank well water my entire life, no filter or anything. It's the recycled sewage with chemicals added that is commonly called municipal water that scares me. Take a jug of my well water to drink at work. Tough to drink iced tea at my sister's house because of the nasty city water used to make it. Most bottled water comes from a municipal source also.

As far as chemicals sprayed near you, I don't see that it would matter, because water doesn't necessarily seep straight down, what's in your well could have originated from many miles away.

 

[Oaktree]

Another one here for drinking well water. Never had it tested, never felt the need to. Just a shallow (8') surface-water well, nothing but woods for a good mile in any direction. Nice part is that it sits on a hillside about 25' higher than the house, so gravity gives all the pressure we need. No pump!
We do have one of those in-line cartridge filters, mostly for sediment. Maybe needs replacing every 9 mo or so.

The water at my previous house (also a surface-water well) kind of had a swampy taste to it sometimes. Towards the end I'd avoid drinking it. There are quite a few roadside springs around here, that's what I'd do for drinking water when I lived there.

As a rule, well water here in northern New England is pretty good.

 

[nikdfish]

Get it tested & know what you are working with. If concerned about bacterial issues, be sure to follow the relevant protocol to hyper-chlorinate both the well and house system followed by flushing the system prior to sampling. Unless there are unusual conditions in your area or particular well, you are probably fine with what your system produces.

Nick

 

[wmonroe]

My well is about 170' deep and we had it tested about 6 years ago when it was drilled. All we have is one of the yarn looking canister filters (can't remember how many micron) for sediment. The water has been very good and I have no problem drinking it straight out of the tap.

 

[Travelover]

I have used a reverse osmosis filter for years. Water tastes better and it filters out chemicals and bacteria that might show up without you knowing it.

And you can top off your batteries with it. :laughing:

What Does Reverse Osmosis Remove? – Pure Water Products, LLC

 

[Retiredguy2]

I have used a reverse osmosis filter for years. Water tastes better and it filters out chemicals and bacteria that might show up without you knowing it.

And you can top off your batteries with it. :laughing:

What Does Reverse Osmosis Remove? Pure Water Products, LLC

Respectfully asking here how many of the members here have topped off a battery recently? I have always had 4-5 vehicles and sometimes more during the last 20 years but have never needed to top off a battery on any of them....:laughing: :laughing:

 

[Alien]

Our bore water filters through sandstone. It is 120 feet deep but the water is usually above that level.
TDS reading is 52 while our nearest city is 650 TDS. We have a gravity trap on it but no filters. It doesn't leave any residue on the car if we wash it. Couldn't get better I reckon.