My well water is terrible. Should I just use pool water?

[Notforhire]

We have a similar problem in our area.
My neighbor changed from copper to PEX but used copper fittings. After they rotted out he replaced the copper fittings with plastic. So far so good.

I tested my water and found it to be acidic. After replacing my water heater and several plumbing fixtures I decided to install a calcite water treatment system.
We do have higher calcium levels in our drinking water which I'm told is not harmful. Backwash is automatic.
This is not a water softener, it only neutralizes the acid in the water.

You can test your water for acid with a simple water test kit. I bought mine at Lowes.

 

[MossRoad]

This is what they look like. The wires are in the conduit and the water exits the casing 4+ feet down. I think the casing is 6" and most wells are 130+ feet deep.

Wells | Wisconsin DNR

Ours is 4". I don't know how deep it is, but the water table is only 35-40' down. Pump is set about 60' down. Only 1 conduit for electrical above ground. The water line is connected 5' down here.

I was curious as to why the large casing with the smaller one cemented in at the top?

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Down here our well's have a tag, usually metal. It defines the well depth, gallons per minute and maybe more I forget. They have been doing that since the 70's for sure.

As for bacteria in your well, if I have to pull my pump (as I do about every 10-12 yrs) I was taught/told to put in about a quart of bleach down the well. Don't start drinking the water until the chlorine smell is gone. Usually takes a couple of days. Oh and don't wash clothes other than whites.

 

[ponytug]

Ours is 4". I don't know how deep it is, but the water table is only 35-40' down. Pump is set about 60' down. Only 1 conduit for electrical above ground. The water line is connected 5' down here.

I was curious as to why the large casing with the smaller one cemented in at the top?

Usually there is the bore diameter (say 6"), then there is a casing that goes down far enough to prevent surface water and soil intrusion, then inside the casing there is power for the submersible pump, usually fastened to the water pipe, and a pipe from the pump to the surface along with a torque reducer to prevent the pump start up from torquing the water pipe. Here, the cap is an insert plate with holes for the water pipe, electrical conduit, and a breather finger to let air in and out of the well. (The little finger on the right in @strantor's photo above.) In @strantor's case, it looks like they used cement.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

"no idea. 6" PVC comes out of the ground."

That sure doesn't sound like a good well to drink from to me. You owe it to your family.....money spent on clean water is well worth it.

I just had to have a new pump and tank installed.

180' of PVC piping up to the controls and then PVC to the tank and PVC from the tank. What exactly is the alternative? Black iron, copper, PEX (Cross-linked polyethylene)?

I have one of the more shallow wells. I'm told that you can get water at ~ 50' to 75', but that's not the "good" water which is why they go deeper.

As far as the OP goes, I'd either go deeper, or put in a holding (clarifying) tank, and maybe try a solar still. But definatly not pool water.

 

[strantor]

I equate people not frequently draining the hot water heaters to not maintaining their tractors as well. I drain our HWH once a month to rid it of any solids or sediment that collects in the bottom and eventually leads to tank failure.

Just now while reading your post, is when I learned that draining the hot water tank is a thing you're supposed to do. I've never done it once in my life. I've never heard anyone else mention that it's something they do either. I did not receive any handbook for being an adult and I'm just making this stuff up as I go along .

Thanks for pointing out the obvious (only obvious now that you mention it) reason for why my water heater is half full of minerals and likely beyond recovery. As soon as I get a new water heater, monthly draining will be on the calendar.

 

[strantor]

When you write the softener is not effective, what do you mean?

I tested TDS with it in the loop and out of the loop. I don't remember the exact numbers but the difference was not impressive. Maybe it dropped from 1500 to 1100 or something (made up nunbers, for example). It didn't change the smell. It didn't change the feel of the water while showering. There was still black sediment in the water. The only tangible difference between in loop and out of loop was the water pressure. With it in the loop there was way less pressure.

Despite Apparently not doing anything whatsoever, it did still eat salt. So there was chore I was doing, and this expense I was paying every few weeks that after a while I could not convince myself was worth the time or money.

Maybe the softener simply wasn't working and I wrote off a whole technology when I should have actually gotten professional help. I just decided water softeners are dumb without much data.

 

[strantor]

Once the water has been softened, and with a sediment pre-filter, an RO filter should be able to clean things up. Our RO unit goes through a membrane every seven or eight years, just in case, and the pre-filters every six months or so. I do monitor the TDS going into and out of the RO u it to ensure that everything is working well. I would comment that we have a sediment filter at the well, store it in a tank, and then run it over a softener before the water gets to the RO, so particles/sediment are basically nonexistent.

What kind of prefilter? Does it backwash? That is one of the issues I have with the solutions that have been quoted to me by local well guys. I already have a filter. I have it bypassed just like the softener because it fully clogs in under a week. 4-6 days and it's done. $40 to replace and it's a pain. That is not right. That is not the right kind of filter. They tell me based on my water test results that's all I need, or a larger version of it. Well that makes me question the water test results. Can they be different at different times of the year? Is it seasonal? Maybe it's in a permanent state of random flux? IMO the system should be spec'd based on the worst case, and the samples they took, obviously aren't worst case. I do not want to pay for a 1:1 replacement of what I have, just to be equally unsatisfied with it.

Anyways sorry I ranted there but I think that the first filter in the system should be a backwashing filter. AUTO backwashing preferred. Because if I'm replacing the 16" filters every 5 days then I'll be replacing the 36" ones every what... 12 days? And they're telling me "nah they should last months" - respectfully, no way in hell.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Maybe your pump is too close to the bottom and sucking up junk?

 

[MossRoad]

Just now while reading your post, is when I learned that draining the hot water tank is a thing you're supposed to do. I've never done it once in my life. I've never heard anyone else mention that it's something they do either. I did not receive any handbook for being an adult and I'm just making this stuff up as I go along .

Thanks for pointing out the obvious (only obvious now that you mention it) reason for why my water heater is half full of minerals and likely beyond recovery. As soon as I get a new water heater, monthly draining will be on the calendar.

Don't feel bad. Many of us learned that you are supposed to flush the water heater of sediments on a regular basis AFTER our first water heater failure incident.