Well Water Quality - Tests - Readings

[toddwulf]

Recently had my well tested for Iron, Hard Water, bacteria etc...Readings indicate hardness is 4 Grains Per Gallon, which from what I've read, is barely hard. Course the tester wanted to sell me $5,300 worth of softners, filters, Iron removeal stuff. Also treating the well with Bleach to kill of Coliform bacteria. Won't occupy house until June so I've got a couple months to figure this out but here are the readings. How should I treat the water, if at all?

Hardness 4 Grains Per Gallon
PH 6.6
Iron (point).6 PPM
Manganese 0
Total Dissolved Solids 113 PPM
No Hydrogen Sulfide, Clear Color, no Iron Bacteria.
The Bacteria Test indicated 41.9 MPN for Colirom Bacteria - No E Coli.

 

[Egon]

Todd:

The Coliforms should be addressed. Anything else can be done at any future date if you are unhappy with the water. IE: Washing not comming out white.

Another check should be made in the future as there are coliforms present.

Egon

 

[Devildog]

Todd,
Coliforms need to be disinfected. But here is a page from the epa that shows you the perameters.Contaminant Secondary MCL Noticeable Effects above the



Secondary MCL
Aluminum 0.05 to 0.2 mg/L* colored water
Chloride 250 mg/L salty taste
Color 15 color units visible tint
Copper 1.0 mg/L metallic taste; blue-green staining
Corrosivity Non-corrosive metallic taste; corroded pipes/ fixtures staining
Fluoride 2.0 mg/L tooth discoloration
Foaming agents 0.5 mg/L frothy, cloudy; bitter taste; odor
Iron 0.3 mg/L rusty color; sediment; metallic taste; reddish or orange staining
Manganese 0.05 mg/L black to brown color; black staining; bitter metallic taste
Odor 3 TON (threshold odor number) "rotten-egg", musty or chemical smell
pH 6.5 - 8.5 low pH: bitter metallic taste; corrosion
high pH: slippery feel; soda taste; deposits
Silver 0.1 mg/L skin discoloration; graying of the white part of the eye
Sulfate 250 mg/L salty taste
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 500 mg/L hardness; deposits; colored water; staining; salty taste
Zinc 5 mg/L metallic taste

Everything looks great except for the iron and that is not that bad, I have seen worse. I think the salesman is selling more than you need. And if you want more iron removel you can pick up good ones pretty cheap at any chain like lowes, home depot and so on. And heres the page where my info came from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/consumer/2ndstandards.html>EPA Safewater</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pwells1.html>Well Site EPA</A>

Also here is a good page with disinfecting instructions <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/Publicinfo/how_to_disinfect_your_well.htm>Click Here</A>

On Edit: Todd if you follow the disinfecting procedure it will knock out the Coliform Bacteria.

Hope this helps Take care, Jim

 

[toddwulf]

Jim, Thanks for confirming my suspicions. The site for dissinfecting will help. This is the second time I've tested for Coliform and the first time I added a gallon of bleach but it sat there for a 3 months before the pump was hooked up so I could test again.

The only real concern I have is the Iron starting to leave rust stains in water use areas - So I may consider a filter after the pressure tank and prior to touching the copper coming under slab.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[JoeR]

I had clear water iron in my well water. I purchased a Sears water softener for around $550. Nice compact unit. The brine tank is inside the salt tank. Only required one input and one output for plumbing. Of course, it has a drain for backwash. That took care of my iron, and softened the water.

Joe R.

 

[mikim]

Didn't I read on TBN somewhere that the salt in water softners will kill your septic field? You might want to check on it - and maybe go with a sand filter of some sort to fix your water. I know my well water destroys fixtures in 2 - 3 years and I was considering a softner til I heard about the salt plugging up a leech field.
mike

 

[toddwulf]

Yes, the salt from the softner will do damage to the septic filed setup. Based on this, I plan to dump the backflushed salty water (if I get a softner) elsewhere. Thanks for the input.

Last night, I added 4 Gallons of Bleach to thw well head as part of the Coliform treatment and will test again in a few eeks.

 

[Devildog]

Todd,
Just make sure you open up each and every spigot until you smell bleach. You dont want no dead ends not getting any.
________________________________________
Take care, Jim

 

[mikim]

So if I understand that correctly - the only damage that would occur to the field is the backflush? the water that goes down the drain won't hurt it? I guess I figured the treated water that goes down the drain would have damaging effects.
mike

 

[JJT]

toddwulf, Do you have any evidence to back this up? Water Softeners plugging up drain fields? My water softener backflushes every 3 days into a dedicated drain field/dry well, (1 - 20 foot lateral with about 5 yards of #2 stone), it's been that way for 10 years without a problem. The drain field for my house has 15 - 50 ft laterals with 400 yards of stone and 600 yards of sand, I'm not going to worry about my drain field filling up with salt.

 

[Inspector507]

mikim,
The back wash is high in sodium (or salt) and if you have a concrete septic tank it will eventually eat through it, destroy it, whatever. The sodium will also kill bacteria to some extent. Bacteria is good for the septic system. My back wash goes into the sump to be pumped elsewhere.

 

[toddwulf]

I think Jerry answered the Septic Field Questions for me. Thanks Jerry. Jim, got it on the dead ends - Septic is a tank with leech field - I didn't ask WHY it wasn't good, just took their word on it. Understand it's just during the backflush phase - Couldn't imagine a softner would force a salt water shower!

 

[toddwulf]

JJT, twasn't I that suggested plugging up a field - It was mikim. Ask him! But I think Jerry answered all our questions.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I design industrial water purification systems for a living. Softening removes dissolved calcium, magnesium, and low levels of iron from water, but in turn increases dissolved sodium levels, which comes from the salt used for regeneration. Too much sodium can be bad for you, but your water is not very hard, so the amount of sodium will be small in relation to that present in food.

Eventually you may have to chemically clean the softener resin if it becomes iron fouled.

There are filters which use natural or synthetic geensands and remove most forms of iron and manganese (even at much higher levels) without softening. They typically use potassium permanganate (or sometimes bleach) for regeneration. I prefer the type of iron filter which regenerates intermittently instead of continuously, as it is less likely to put residual chemical in your water. Mechanically, they are very similar to a softener and cost about the same.

Softener resin has a softening capacity of about 30,000 grains of hardness per cubic foot. At 4 grains per gallon hardness level, you will be able to soften 7,500 gallons of water (per cu. ft. of resin) between regenerations. It takes about 15 pounds of salt to regenerate one cubic foot of softener resin.

Whichever way you go, triggering regeneration with a water meter (vs. a timeclock) is more expensive to buy up front, but more efficient in the long run, as it saves both chemical and regeneration water.