Water Well Treatment – Is Your Family In Danger?

Why Is Water Well Treatment So Important?

Have you ever wondered, “Does my well water need to be treated?” If you haven’t had your water tested recently, you won’t be able to answer the question. Instead, think to yourself, “When was the last time I had my water tested?” It’s time to do it, or do it again, if the answer to this question is never or a long time ago.

The National Groundwater Association (NGWA) and many other organizations constantly encourage all private well owners to test their water quality on a regular basis to safeguard themselves and their families. Many private well owners, despite their best efforts, have never had their water tested. If so, it’s possible that it was due to the presence or lack of coliform bacteria. This test will not provide you with an accurate response to your first question. “What should I have my water tested for?” should be your next query.

The quantity of water testing water companies recommend varies, but it will never be as much as the EPA requires for public water systems. 

Most of us believe that, in the absence of rules or explicit direction from state or local governments, private well owners should test their water for coliform bacteria, total dissolved solids,  nitrate, pH, nitrite, and fluoride a minimum of once a year.

Also, test your water for uranium, arsenic,  radon, and mercury once every five to ten years, and in some places, a pesticide screen.

There is a slew of other things we’d recommend testing for in different parts of the country.

Keep in mind that no single treatment will be able to eliminate all toxins from your well water. You may need to eliminate more than one contaminant depending on the findings of your water quality test. You may need to integrate many therapy devices into a single treatment system if this is the case.

The following is a step-by-step question and answer approach to assist a well owner in determining whether or not they require water treatment and, if so, what type of treatment they require. A well owner can use the four-step question and response sequence to help them choose the most likely treatment techniques. If you’re not going to try to install the essential water treatment equipment yourself (which isn’t a smart thing to do), you’ll at least have a good idea of what methods the water treatment specialist should recommend.

1. Does the water appear cloudy, brown, or rusty?

Is there any silt visible in the water? Does the sediment settle fast to the bottom of the glass, or does it take hours? Is the sediment or color settling downward or upward? Is the hue of your water light milky, light brown, or rusty? Is it possible to say yes or no? If you responded yes to any of these questions, you should filter your water.

Depending on the content of what’s making the water appear less than crystal clear, the size and type of filtration will vary. Residual bentonite, natural clays, organic particles, and dissolved iron in the water are all possibilities. Filtration is the first thing to consider if your response is yes, no matter what it is.

If you answered no to question 1, move on to question 2.

2. Is there an excess of minerals or components in the water that has to be eliminated, according to the water chemistry report?

You would need to add chemical treatment, water softeners, or pH adjustment if the analysis revealed excessive hardness, pH, iron, or other metals. If your water has a foul odor or flavor, or is highly corrosive, it has to be treated.

If you answered yes, you’ll need to look for water treatment equipment to soften the water and make it easier to treat. If you answered no to question 2, move on to question 3.

3. Does the water treatment report show a high level of dissolved solids, hazardous metals like arsenic, or trace organics in the water?

If you answered yes, you’ll probably need to filter your water with reverse osmosis, iron filtration, and/or activated carbon. After reverse osmosis, activated carbon filtration is frequently used to “polish” the water and remove any leftover trace organics.

Keep in mind that higher water pressures make reverse osmosis treatment systems more effective. If your well system operates at a low pressure of 20-40 PSI, you could be wasting a lot of water by keeping the RO filter membrane cleansed.

If you answered no to the previous question, move on to question 4.

4. Is it necessary to disinfect the water?

After all of the needed water treatment procedures have been responded with a yes or no to one of the above processes, disinfection is the last treatment to consider.

Because water well treatment might be a slow or low-flow procedure, a container to keep the treated water for later use will almost certainly be present. When water is left to sit for an extended period of time, germs can thrive. As a result, water disinfection comes last. Chemical chlorination or ultraviolet light are the most common methods.

If your well water is treated and/or stored before usage, the answer to this question may always be yes.

Now you have to ask yourself another question: “How much water do I have to treat?”

Make sure you know how many gallons of water you’ll need in a day. Most water treatment equipment is rated in terms of how many gallons per day it can process, so getting this figure right is crucial. When putting together components of a water treatment system, it’s important to make sure their flow-through capacities are compatible.

When well water is utilized just for outdoor irrigation, there is usually no need to treat it. In rare circumstances, well water containing a pollutant like uranium, or some man-made toxins should not be used to irrigate food crops in a garden.

Under-the-sink RO devices can provide an adequate supply of purified water for household needs in some cases. I recommend that speak to water treatment professional like Jon Morin on this matter.

A whole-house water treatment system may be required in other cases. For convenience and protection, this type of system may be installed near the pressure tank, or it might be installed in the basement or an ante-room to the house. It is essential that you seek assistance from Jon’s Well and Pump Services before making this critical decision.

There is really nothing more important than safeguarding your family which is why this article is so important.

Contact Jon’s Well and Pump today for water well treatment and to get started protecting the health of your loved ones.