Well water treatment advice and questions are answered here. And our goal is to provide the public with the information they need. So they can successfully purchase the correct water treatment equipment. Because too many people are being scammed by “slick willy” sales people. And are over-paying for equipment they may not need. Because many water treatment companies purposely sell marginal equipment on purpose. It is designed to create expensive service calls.
This leads to ongoing residual income for that company. Often leading to a shortened life span of the equipment. And your water problems are never properly resolved. So before you buy any water treatment equipment. Please read this page. We have many facts that will make your search for a water treatment system an inexpensive and safe one.
Well Water Advice
THREE IMPORTANT STEPS BEFORE FILTERING WELLS
(1) Test your water. How can you fix it unless you know exactly what is in it? We can tell you how to get it tested for free. The most common way is to do one of the two things below.
*Send us a sample for free basic testing.
Just get a plastic bottle with a plastic lid. It does not need to be a sterile container. A soda bottle or water bottle with a plastic lid is fine. DO NOT use any soaps or cleaners to clean the bottle. Just rinse it with raw water that has not run through any water softeners or water filters. Rinse it well, and fill to the very top of the bottle so that there is no air in it. If this is water from a private well, run the water until you hear the well pump come on. Then wait 2 minutes before drawing the sample. We want to test the water in the well. We don’t want the water from the pressure tank. Once the pumps kicks on, the water passes the pressure tank and goes straight to the faucet. Simple.
Then overnight it to one of our labs. We will test it for free right away. No waiting. For example, if you overnight a sample on Monday, we will have the results for you on Tuesday. Simple. This is the process for private well water basics, and city water basics both. If you want to take advantage of our FREE WATER TESTING, Email Us with your location and we will send you the address of the lab closest to you.
*Or take it to the local swimming pool/hot tub store for testing.
If you need to test for serious issues such as arsenic, heavy metals, or harmful bacteria, etc. you will need a test from a professional laboratory.
(2) Determine your flow rate. This lets you know what SIZE filter can be placed on the water line. Get the wrong size and there will be trouble down the road. The flow rate is easy to determine in a couple of minutes.
To determine your flow rate please follow these simple steps.
Open the NEAREST faucet or tap AFTER the pressure tank (But NOT the one ON the pressure tank). And let the water run until the well pump turns on. Immediately turn off the tap and time how many seconds the well pump runs from the time it came on until it shuts off. Then write down the number of seconds the pump ran.
Now get a container you can measure water in, such as an empty gallon milk container. Open the tap or faucet and fill the container. Then close the tap and dump the water down the drain. Fill the container again, and then pour it out again. Continue doing this and counting each gallon until the pump starts again.
Once the pump starts, shut off the tap and stop drawing water. Write down the number of gallons you counted until the pump started. If there are any partial gallons left over count those as well. Such as a total of 1.5 gallons, or 4.25 gallons. You now have the information to calculate the well pump flow rate. Just give one of our techs a call and tell him how many seconds you calculated on the first step. Then tell him how many gallons you were able to draw after that. And that is it.
(3) Visual inspection for iron bacteria. It is simple to look in the storage tank of one of your toilets for signs of organics or iron bacteria. Things that indicate if stuff will grow in your filters over time. It is easy to do.
Just take the lid off of the storage tank on the back of your toilet. Look on the bottom in the corners, if you can see through the water. If you cannot see through the water, flush it to see the bottom of the tank. If you see sediment and/or iron and/or dirt smooth or settled across the bottom of the storage tank, that is NOT a sign of bacteria.
But if you see clumps in the corners on the bottom of the tank, it is most likely iron bacteria. Any time you see anything clumpy, or slimy, or apparently growing inside that toilet storage tank, you should probably lightly chlorinate the water. You can also run your finger along the inside wall of the tank UNDERNEATH the waterline. If it feels slimy or slippery that is a strong sign of bacteria or organics.
Iron bacteria in well water is commonly found in private water wells. And also many other non-chlorinated water supplies. Iron bacteria is not harmful to humans and you can easily remove iron bacteria. So don’t worry.
WHO SHOULD YOU TEST YOUR WATER?
We recommend you NEVER let a company that sells water equipment test your water. You should get an INDEPENDENT test from a laboratory, health department, local university or your municipal water provider. We find the overwhelming majority of water testing performed by many well known companies to be inaccurate. Also, we caution you to never buy on the first night from an in-home sales company no matter how many free soaps or gimmicks that they offer you. We can even show you how to get FREE water testing. Email Us for instructions.
WHY TEST YOUR WATER?
It is essential that you get your water tested before you begin looking for water treatment equipment. The wrong information or lack of information about your water may lead to a misapplication. Make sure your results are accurate and from someone you trust.
If you haven’t had your water tested yet. That should be the very first step. You may be giving your family water with impurities and not even realizing it. Water goes through a lot of changes before it reaches your home. It collects impurities in the air as it falls as rain or snow. Additionally, it picks up sediments, minerals and contaminant’s as it seeps through the soil. Then it is treated by municipalities with various chemical disinfectants. But never have someone who sells water equipment come into your home to test. They can alter the results. There are plenty of easy and inexpensive ways to test. Several are FREE.
The critical factor is that water is a natural solvent and it dissolves and collects whatever it touches. That leads to plenty of natural water problems. Ultimately, the water is being contaminated faster than nature can clean it!
DOES A WATER SOFTENER TAKE OUT IRON?
If there is iron present in your water, we never recommend a softener to take care of that issue. Some companies are notorious for selling softeners when there are iron problems. They know full well this will work for a short amount of time, but it will eventually damage the softener. And it will start using way more salt. And eventually all lead to expensive and profitable service calls for that dealer. If the levels of iron in well water are very low, sometimes it is ok to use a softener.
But if it is enough iron to stain (0.3 ppm or higher). You don’t want that running to ANY water softener. Regardless of what the salesman tells you. Learn about how a water softener works and read our water softener installation tips for the do-it-yourself homeowner. Also check out the anatomy of an iron filter and see how iron filters actually work.
WHAT IF I HAVE BACTERIA IN MY WELL?
Most wells have some bacteria in them. Most bacteria are harmless. But if you have had a water test result that says you have e-coli bacteria, or coliform bacteria. Then you simply MUST get rid of it. The good news is that it is usually pretty easy and inexpensive to get rid off. Email Us for instructions.
QUESTIONS? Email Us