Question about well water

[Vernitta]

For those that have a well... Do you drink your water straight or do you filter it? Do you use a water softener?

The house we are buying has a well and there are rust stains in the tubs. To be honest this makes me not want to drink the water. I've never had well water, though.

[logbuilder]

The rust stains probably mean you have a high iron content. I do too. I use a water softener to remove the iron.

When you can, get a sample and take it to be analyzed. Then you will know what you are dealing with. The water softener folks can tell you what you need to correct it.

[Raymond James]

2nd having the water tested. Contact local health department and ask about Bacteria testing and Nitrates . Many states will do this for 5 to 10 dollars. If you have high bacteria counts and nitrates you have problems and may need to replace or at least repair the well. Most banks will not write the mortgage if it will not pass a Bac-T test.


Companies that sell water softeners will do test for iron, sulfur and hard water,

After you have results you can figure out what if anything you need to do. unfortunately some wells have water that has a strong sulfur smell or high mineral content. With the right treatment it can be made useable but it cost.

In my area I tell people to plan on having the well pump to a cistern that is vented and has a air bubbler to off gas the sulfur and natural gas that is often in our water. Then a shallow pump ( 2nd pump) to pressurize the water going into the house. Some wells have a need for two cisterns with a chlorinator on the last cistern.

If I were buying I would besides the test want to meet with the installer on site to have them walk me thru how the well and water system is set up prior to making an offer on the place.

Generally if your well is a new modern well you can drink it without any health concerns without treating it. However being safe to drink , odor and taste are not the same.

[Ramblin Wreck]

Yes, do get the water tested, and don't worry too much about the stains. Well water is "funny" in that wells very close together might produce different water in terms of mineral content and taste. I have three siblings as neighbors. My older brother and I don't filter our water, because it is fine as is. A younger brother and sister have to filter theirs due to iron content.

[logbuilder]

Washing clothes in high iron water will discolor them over time. Your whites will look a bit orange.

[HappyYooper]

If will also affect your hair color...

[Delion]

Originally Posted by HappyYooper

If will also affect your hair color...

Really?

[Nimrod]

Will it give you grey hair before your time?

When you make a purchase offer include a stipulation that the well passes tests for coliform bacteria, nitrates, arsenic, iron, and whatever else is prevalent in your area before closing. You can have too much iron in the water so you would ingest too much from drinking it.

The neighbor has a lot of iron and the tub and toilet got rust stains. A cleaner called "The Works" got it off with some elbow grease.

[joebill]

Mine comes from 200' down and I use it untreated. Most folks around here do, too. I'd suggest if you get it tested, use a lab that does not sell any kind of treatment devices, because in many areas water treatment stuff is tied in with labs and as corrupt as anything you ever saw.....Joe

[secuono]

I've drank it straight on a hot day, but there's sooooo much dirt in the water, ugh. We have a big filter that cleans out itself. No softener or anything fancy. It can still taste a bit like dirt, but it sure is better than tap water! And so nice and cold!

[Callieslamb]

We have high iron water. I hate it. We also have a whole house softener and we still get rust stains in the sinks. It's easy to get off with the right remover. Yes, it will yellow your clothes but there's stuff to get that out too.

[Ravenlost]

I grew up drinking well water that had a lot of iron in it. We just thought that was how water was supposed to taste. I actually miss it now that my parents' house is on city water.

Hubby and I have a well and drink water straight from the faucet. Been ten years and we ain't dead yet!

[Zapthycat]

One of the first things you should do would be get it tested, before you even drink it. Once you know, you can figure out what to do with it.

I suggest getting a "Berkey" water filter for your water too, just in case. Those are handy to have around, and it may help get some of the solids out.

[gwfarmstead]

It is very cheap and easy to throw a couple big blue filters in line coming out of your pump. Big blue are cartridge filter holders. The cartridge filters can take out most anything sold depending on the cartridge you put in. Also a uv light will handle all the bacteria. A set up is not that expensive and I feel it is a must today. You don't 100% know where exactly your water cane from. Just my 2 cents.

[JoePa]

I have well water - drink it straight out of the faucet most times but - I also have a reverse osmosis tank under the sink from which I drink the water half the time - I put the fiter in years ago because my wife wanted it - it suppose to take everything out of the water except bacteria- for that you need a ultraviolet light incorporated into your water pipes - sometimes when I clean out the drain from the reverse osmosis system I see a lot of curd collected in the drain tube - so if I do drink staright from the faucet I am ingesting this stuff - it ain't very nice looking to say the least - if you are worried about your water I would get a reverse osmosis tank and put it under your sink - I got mine at Sears many years ago - I change the filters in it once each year - they cost a little over a hundred bucks -

[Waterwheel Farm]

I had a well for many years that was high in iron. The toilets would start staining after just a few days, yet the water was crystal clear. First, as people have said, you should have it tested to see what form of iron it is. Water softeners aren't designed to remove iron, but they will help somewhat. However, some types of iron foul the resin in the softner really quickly and the salt regeneration doesn't remove it. It requires acid cleaning which is beyond what most homeowners want to deal with. For softner folks that's a good them for them, not so good for you. If you have a deep well (not a shallow hand-dug one) you really shouldn't have a bacteria problem. In most cases of that it's because of the well drillers themselves infecting it or groundwater leaking into your well casing. But health wise, iron in the water isn't a big deal. Esthetics and taste do come into the picture though. I installed a filter on just the kitchen faucet (like Brita, etc) because I didn't really like the iron taste for drinking. For normal use like washing dishes, you just flip a switch and bypass the filter so you don't use up the filter too quickly. For whites in laundry, I used a product like Iron-out and some other ones. They worked great at keeping whites really nice. I'd also occasion put a little in the toilet tanks and it really extended how often the toilets would get dingy. To me, it's way more cost effective to treat any iron issues at your house instead of at the well. The iron occurs naturally and no matter how much money your throw at it, you're not going to win. Just accept the fact that you have your own independent water system, but with that comes the price of a little bit of hassle. A chemical spill in the river like the one in the news recently had no affect on me whatsoever. I wouldn't worry about it. Do get you water tested at least annually though, that's a good practice. By the way, I worked in an industrial water treatment plant for a long time with huge charcoal filters, multiple monster size water softners, demineralizers, chlorine treatment facilities, lime and acid treatment facilities, state of the art computerized controls and tons of money to throw at iron issues. We never won.

[rambler]

The rust stains mean the water - after testing for other things - will be great for drink king, but likely too hard for anything else.

Set up the water softener to soften most of your house water, but not the outdoor spigots nor the draining water. Nothing as pewtred as softened water to drink, and the hardness won't hurt you for drinking at all.

Paul

[Waterwheel Farm]

Actually, water hardness is a measure of the concentration of mostly calcium and magnesium, which ion exchangers (softners) are designed to removed, not iron. Simply put, the resins in a softner captures calcium in exchange for sodium. That's why soft water is high in sodium. When the resin is regenerated with salt, it reattaches sodium to the resin and waits to be put back in service waiting to do the catch/release game all over. Unfortunately, the resin never completely detaches ALL of the calcium during the regeneration cycle and over time it becomes ineffective. Other stuff "clogs" it up too, such as some forms of iron. Not to dispute Rambler, whose opinions here I highly respect.

[logbuilder]

I have a good bit of iron in our water. If it has been off for a few days, it first comes out looking like orange coolaid. Have to let it run to clear. That was before getting a water softener that was good at removing iron. The salt pellets I get are specifically for cleaning the iron out of the resin. It automatically back flushes based on how much water has been run thru it. All I do is add two bags of salt about every two months. Nice clean water with no iron.

I grew up in the south and it was pretty common for iron and sulfur to be together. After a bath, your towel would get dirty from the iron and you smelled pretty bad too. I hope now days they have a way to remove the smell.

[rambler]

You have good info there waterwheel. Iron and hardness don't go hand in hand, and you have it right.

Our toilets got stained with red and with a blue shade. The iron, and the magnesium. Two seperate things.

Well died last September, had to abandon the 265 foot one, dug a new one 350 feet, and no more red stains! But I think we have a few other things a little different/worse. Bit of an odor now. It tested good and safe, they don't test for every little problem, just if it is safe or not....

Paul