Questions from a well water newbie

11 years ago

We recently moved into a house that has well water, which is new to me. I'm very ignorant about the subject, but I know that the previous owner/builder had no type of treatment because, they said, it tested ok. The well passed all pre-sale tests, but I'm leery about its safety, and the water seems too hard. There's no odor or discoloration, but the water leaves white droplet stains inside the glass shower door, the (new) stainless-steel dishwasher interior, and there are places on the granite counter tops that feel rough, as if from water that sat for a while, e.g., where they let dishes drain.

A further complication for me: We're getting ready to redo the kitchen, and I thought it would be wise to get a water filter for drinking. They're expensive, so I'm wondering, if I get some type of whole-house filter for the water, would I still need the filter?

I've read a little about wells and different types of treatment, but they just confused me further. They all seem to have downsides.

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Comments (9)

brickeyee
11 years ago
First step is to have an independent lab test the water (or get a copy of the sale report).

It should have hardness and just about every thing else you want to know to plan a treatment system.

You can then decide if you need/want to treat all the water, or just some of the water (like for consumption).

You can even treat water for different uses (drinking, heating) different ways if you want/need.
ionized_gw
11 years ago
Hard water is hard on plumbing fixtures and hot water heaters of some types, requires higher levels of detergent consumption and increases maintenance (soap scum). I am a booster of water softening when it will be beneficial.

Land Grant universities are a good source of unbiased well advice, like here:

http://waterquality.cce.cornell.edu/supply.htm
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User
11 years ago
Ask the certified lab to provide:

TDS
pH
Calcium
Magnesium
Hardness
Iron
Manganese
Sulfates
Nitrates
VOCs
e-coli
copper
lead

Those results will determine whether or not you need to treat you water and how to treat it.
rococogurl
11 years ago
We have well water about 14 grains of hardness. Our plumber tested it for us as it had pretty much destroyed the plumbing fixtures in the house with white deposits coming out everywhere. So we installed a whole house softener, which has worked very well. It requires the addition of a bag of softener salt per month for us.

Additionally, the well pump has a white filter which needs to be changed about every other month. That collected so much stuff I didn't trust the drinking water to be clean enough and got sick of plastic bottle recycling and paying for bottled water.

So i also installed an Ews under sink water filter. Not cheap but it gives excellent results.

I'm no expert but that's all we needed to do. The filter faucet can go on the kitchen sink though I have it in the mudroom, where I just removed a soap dispenser.
ionized_gw
11 years ago
"Additionally, the well pump has a white filter which needs to be changed about every other month. That collected so much stuff I didn't trust the drinking water to be clean enough "

The "stuff" in the filter could be quite harmless and the filter caught it anyway. Dealing with well water, for the uninitiated, can be pretty overwhelming. One thing to remember is that animals have been drinking water for a long, long time and have means to deal with most common problems that are not related to modern technology.
User
11 years ago
Just get your water tested. Without test results, any advice you get is just guessing.
helsharmar
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks all for the advice. What's an ews? For the immediate term, I just didn't want to waste money if I wouldn't need an undersink filter, but I do need to get the water tested anyway.
brickeyee
11 years ago
" That collected so much stuff I didn't trust the drinking water to be clean enough"

Most likely harmless.

Remember the old saw that 'you are gong to eat t pound of dirt in your life'?

A little at a time is easier.

Wells occasionally get 'cloudy' after a heavy draw down.
It rarely is anything harmful.

A well that gets cloudy after rainfall IS more significant.
It can indicate surface water contamination, and that is an issue to be addressed.

Surface water is 'dirty' in almost the entire country to one degree or another without treatment (like chlorination).
rococogurl
11 years ago
Sorry. An "ews" referred to a brand of under-sink water filter I purchased. They used to have several models that were less expensive than the current two. However, I've had two of these now and my brother purchased one as well (they sometimes send out email discount coupons around holidays) and we've been pleased. There are other brands.

Necessary or not, it makes the water tastes better and I feel it's insurance our water will be consistent.

Here is a link that might be useful: EWS