1st, you need to get your water tested by a certified lab. Test for: TDS, pH, hardness, iron, sulfur compounds, nitrates, bacteria and anything else your local labs typically test for in well waters. They will have a panel of "well water safety tests" that they do to ensure your water is safe to drink.

Once you have the analysis, then you will know if you need any treatment such as particulate filtration, carbon filtration, softening, etc. You may find that none of it is necessary - get the numbers and then we can go from there.

Water filters are any systems that can filter and remove contaminants from the water. There include small RO drinking water system and large house water filter which treat water through the entire home.

Here is a link that might be useful: hiblow 80

Thank you for the replies! Unfortunately our water report is in a box somewhere (we just moved) but I know the water was really hard like 35+ if I'm remembering correctly. The last owners were renting a Culligan water softening system and it still left hard water marks on the glass in the showers and the washing machine. The filter Culligan recommend for about $4,500 my husband found at Amazon for $900. Anyone have any familiarity with it?
http://www.amazon.com/Combination-softener-Fleck-5600SXT-digital/dp/B004LUJ6L4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ARSP0ZRXYARXKXGYB48

Right now we are thinking of installing that, and these:
Whole house filter system
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E78XH6/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SY115&simLd=1
Reverse Osmosis
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003XELTTG/ref=s9_simh_gw_d0_g60_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=mobile-1&pf_rd_r=19BYWGQ76A8AKPP5ENE9&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1824974342&pf_rd_i=mobile

Is that a good combination? Are there better options? Again looking to filter the well water to remove heavy iron, the well sediment and have the water safe for drinking. Obviously soften the water too. Any feedback would be much appreciated, thank you!

your well.. and associated information... should be on file in the county health department.. if i am not mistaken ...

they would also know of general water info in your county ...

talk also with a well guy ... they are a font of information .. i think that is a pun ...

and you said: I know well water is harder

is that a generalization... or do you have specific info in that regard??? ... presumptions can lead you down the wrong path ...

to my reading ..... you are throwing around a bunch of cliches .... and reading between the lines [which mind you.. is very dangerous for me] .... i am worried you are using 'terms of art' .. but might not fully understand the ramifications of what you are trying to communicate with us ...

if i were you.. i would make appointments with every water supply company... for miles around ... and interrogate each one ... by the time you are done.. you will have a lot better idea of what its all about ...

this is really something.. that the interweb could lead you far astray.. from what reality is.. in your locale ...

good luck

ken

your well.. and associated information... should be on file in the county health department.. if i am not mistaken ...

they would also know of general water info in your county ...

talk also with a well guy ... they are a font of information .. i think that is a pun ...

and you said: I know well water is harder

is that a generalization... or do you have specific info in that regard??? ... presumptions can lead you down the wrong path ...

to my reading ..... you are throwing around a bunch of cliches .... and reading between the lines [which mind you.. is very dangerous for me] .... i am worried you are using 'terms of art' .. but might not fully understand the ramifications of what you are trying to communicate with us ...

if i were you.. i would make appointments with every water supply company... for miles around ... and interrogate each one ... by the time you are done.. you will have a lot better idea of what its all about ...

this is really something.. that the interweb could lead you far astray.. from what reality is.. in your locale ...

good luck

ken

If you don't have actual analysis numbers to share with me, all I can do is guess. The softener you linked to may or may not be the right thing for your situation. I have no way of knowing yet. If your vague recollection of hardness numbers is correct, the one you linked is probably too small.

The whole house filter you linked is simply a sediment filter. Do you have a sediment problem? If so, I would NOT install the filter you linked. Rather, install one that uses 4" diameter fitlers, preferably two in parallel.

The RO may be necessary to filter out contaminants, but more likely not. You may want one purely for water taste reasons, in which case you would run softened water to the RO.

Again, all of this absolutely, positively must start with water analysis.

Depends on your location. Well water will have varying degrees of hardness. You cannot make a blanket statement that it is always hard. Yes it is not treated like city water. Our city softens the water to 6 grains of hardness. It's up to homeowners to install softener if we choose. A well can have high levels of iron or not. Some homeowners choose to use softener as iron filter. Though it's not designed to do that.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Collection Date/Time:

10/14/2014

5:00

Sample Collector:

Submittal Date/Time:
10/14/2014
17:01
Sample ID

Co

liform Designation:
Sample Description: Well
Analyte
Method
Unit
Result
Qual
PQL
MCL
Date Analyzed

Aggressivity Index
Calculation

12.2

10/16/2014

Alkalinity, Total (as CaCO3)
SM2320B
mg/L
323

2

10/16/2014

Arsenic, Total
EPA200.8
õg/L
9

1
10
10/16/2014

Bicarbonate (as HCO3-)
SM2320B
mg/L
394

10

10/16/2014

Boron
EPA200.7
mg/L
0.11

0.05

10/15/2014

Cadmium, Total
EPA200.8
õg/L
Not Detected

0.5
5 10/16/2014

Calcium
EPA200.7
mg/L
183

0.5

10/15/2014

Chloride
EPA300.0
mg/L
199

1
250
10/15/2014

Copper
EPA200.7
õg/L
42

10

10/15/2014

Fluoride
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.3

0.1
2.0
10/15/2014

Hardness (as CaCO3)
SM2340B/Calc
mg/L
622

10

10/16/2014

Iron
EPA200.7
õg/L
1940

10
300
10/15/2014

Langlier Index, Corrosion potential 15
SM2330B

0.15

10/17/2014

Langlier Index, Corrosion potential 60
SM2330B
õg/L
0.73

1

10/17/2014

Lead, Total
EPA200.8
õg/L
12

5
15
10/16/2014

Magnesium
EPA200.7
mg/L
40

0.5

10/15/2014

Manganese, Total
EPA200.7
õg/L
76

10
50
10/15/2014

Nitrate as NO3
EPA300.0
mg/L
1

1
45
10/15/2014

Nitrate as NO3-N
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.2

0.1
10
10/15/2014

Nitrate+Nitrite as N
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.4

0.1

10/15/2014

Nitrite as NO2-N
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.3

0.1
1.0
10/15/2014

o-Phosphate-P
EPA300.0
mg/L
Not Detected

0.1

10/15/2014

pH (Laboratory)
SM4500-H+B
pH (H)
7.0

10/14/2014

Potassium
EPA200.7
mg/L
11

0.5

10/15/2014

QC Anion Sum x 100
Calculation
% 108%

10/17/2014

QC Anion-Cation Balance
Calculation
% -1

10/17/2014

QC Cation Sum x 100
Calculation
% 105%

10/17/2014

QC Ratio TDS/SEC
Calculation

0.66

10/17/2014

SAR (Sodium Adsorption Ratio)
Suarez, 1981

2.5

10/17/2014

SAR, Adjusted
Suarez, 1981

3.5

10/17/2014

Silica as SiO2, Total
EPA200.7
mg/L
44

0.5

10/15/2014

Sodium
EPA200.7
mg/L
142

0.5

10/15/2014

Specific Conductance (E.C)
SM2510B
õmhos/cm
1799

1
900
10/17/2014

Sulfate
EPA300.0
mg/L
350

1
250
10/15/2014

Total Diss. Solids
SM2540C
mg/L
1184

10
500
10/15/2014

Zinc
EPA200.7
õg/L
65

10

10/15/2014

Sample Comments:

The above is a copy of our new lab test. Also we had plumbing work to fix the pipes coming into the house (apparently previous owners actually had it coming in through a garden house instead of pipes!) and we had a whole house filter put on the line (simple off the shelf GE one from Home Depot. While the water was off for about 8 hours and when the plumber turned back on the filter was full of mud. After running the water again no more mud but clearly we also have to filter the sediment. Ideally we would like to drink the water unless it's too expensive to make it safe for drinking. At minimum we want to make the water safe for the appliances and add a softener for showering. Any recommendations on what we should buy? Thank you so much!