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

[grsthegreat]

Oil and fracking wells are multiples deeper than a drinking well. It shouldn’t be an issue.

Ya, well ive seen the news shows that show how fracking affected house water, water became flammable. Whether or not thats true…..who knows.

 

[strantor]

Do your neighbors have the same issues? Maybe you need a relocated or deeper well. Being texas…..i just think about fracking and oil well waste products. I lived in lubbock for 2 years.

All the homes on my road were built in the late 80s and had surface well pumps. I think that necessarily means they were shallower than 30ft or so. The previous owner, along with several other people on my road, had new wells dug 15+ years ago I assume because of similar issues. I have a submersible pump and I have no idea how deep it actually is but the neighbor regaled me with tales of when the giant truck ruined his lawn in the process of drilling that well and he made it sound extremely deep. Like deeper than what is reasonable for any well to ever be, for any reason.

 

[grsthegreat]

Post 12 is your best avenue. Get the well water analyzed and treat accordingly. We have sulfur dioxide here as well and we treat our water accordingly. I just happen to inject H2O2 in the raw water which precipitates out the sulfur and turns it into a solid which I filter out but I don't ascribe to homeowner grade filtration either. I use an industrial sized Cumo filter that takes industrial sized elements I buy wholesale and one element lasts a couple months.

Neither here nor there as your situation may be different but the important thing is get the raw water tested, see exactly what is in it and proceed from there and IMO only, RO units are a waste of money. Easier to purchase bottled water and a heck of a lot cheaper to boot.

Ive had an ro filter under kit sink for 15+ years. I swap out filters every 2 years. The unit included a selftest indicator thattells when to change filters. There not that expensive. That water is only used for drinking. Bottled water in some cases simply comes out of a tap. Some out of artesian wells. Your guess is as good as anyones. And now look at microplastic issues with bottled water.

 

[strantor]

Don't use your pool water. It is not sanitary, and has a bunch of extra chemicals that you won't want in your drinking water.

I think first things first. Get your water tested, and then move onto what the next step is. In some counties, it is even free, but even if it isn't, it is cheap to test for coliform (generic standing for bacteria), TDS (total dissolved solids, e.g. hard water), metals (iron, manganese, lead...) and pH. Try to get a sample as close to the well as possible and let it run for a few minutes so your sample is accurate for your water, not whatever is sitting in the pipes.

I had some samples taken, one of them cost $300. I am going to see if the guy has the results yet. He told me TDS was like 1200 and pH was off and there was a lot of sodium and it was positive for bacteria. I know there is more data, I will get it.

Once you have that information, I think you are in a better position to plan out your water treatment needs, and technologies.

A few related questions, if I may;
How deep is your well?

Not sure but "really really deep" according to my neighbor was here when they drilled it.

What is your well casing made of?

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

What are your existing pipes? Galvanized?

No galvanized pipes. Everything was copper or PVC when I moved in and as the copper pipes start leaking I am replacing with PEX

Do you have any pretreatment on your well water that you are currently using?

water softener and filter are both bypassed.

All the best, Peter

thanks!

 

[strantor]

It shouldn't be, but it does happen. It is a very local issue due to local geology and practices, but definitely falls into my "trust, but verify" bin.

All the best,

Peter

There is a lot of oil operations going on the area for the past many decades and I have often wondered if it is related.

 

[ruffdog]

All the homes on my road were built in the late 80s and had surface well pumps. I think that necessarily means they were shallower than 30ft or so. The previous owner, along with several other people on my road, had new wells dug 15+ years ago I assume because of similar issues. I have a submersible pump and I have no idea how deep it actually is but the neighbor regaled me with tales of when the giant truck ruined his lawn in the process of drilling that well and he made it sound extremely deep. Like deeper than what is reasonable for any well to ever be, for any reason.

I think you need to get a well guy in there to tell you what you exactly have. Maybe send a camera down to see if your casing has been compromised. Find out how deep it is and have them test the water.

"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.

 

[strantor]

I wonder if the copper pipe getting eaten by the water is the result of steel pipe not being isolated from the copper pipe. Or does the sediment carry the sand which basically sandpapers the inside of the copper pipe?
David from jax

There is no steel pipe and the copper pipe is lined with a hard layer of the black stuff which I think it would actually protect the pipe from abrasives. If it were an abrasive process eating the pipes I would expect the leaks to occur in the middle of bends. But so far all the leaks have been just randomly in the middle of a 10ft straight section of pipe. When I go to cut the pipe with the pipe cutter, it won't even cut. It just compresses. it's like the pipe is a soda can. Just a little stronger than a soda can. You can pinch it closed by hand if you're strong.

 

[strantor]

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

That sure doesn't sound like a good well to drink from to me.

Why? What's wrong with that? Here's a picture in case my description was bad.

 

[ponytug]

All the homes on my road were built in the late 80s and had surface well pumps. I think that necessarily means they were shallower than 30ft or so. The previous owner, along with several other people on my road, had new wells dug 15+ years ago I assume because of similar issues. I have a submersible pump and I have no idea how deep it actually is but the neighbor regaled me with tales of when the giant truck ruined his lawn in the process of drilling that well and he made it sound extremely deep. Like deeper than what is reasonable for any well to ever be, for any reason.

You are probably on the Chicot aquifer. It is apparently rather variable in water quality and dissolved solids levels (chloride and carbonate), apparently quite well and depth dependent. (USGS water quality data). In your part of the state, it is generally deep, but not that deep. (300' +/-, in contrast to a neighbor here that had to go down 700').

What kind of pipes do you have now? Galvanized?

Based on the USGS reports above, a guess is that your water might have a fair amount of chloride in it causing metal corrosion. Sediment filters might help with sand, but if you have carbonate as well, you might need a water softener, and then RO for drinking water.

Bottom line, I would get it tested and then you know what the issues are in the water.

All the best,

Peter

 

[DarkBlack]

Your drinking water is one of your more important health concerns.
Don’t compromise by using pool water!
Pay to find out what exactly is eroding your copper pipes.
Pay to find out exactly what is causing your dark discharge stains.

You can only make an intelligent decision on your lifespan altering water consumption, by first getting to the facts of what you are actually dealing with.