Well Water? Any1 ever have problems?
- Thread starter michael
- Start date
no idea on the geology you are going to be in so I will generalize a little. all well water is not created equal, so its worthwhile to do a little homework. typically, well water is not some giant underground lake, it is water trapped between relatively impervious layers in a porous layer. to drill a well, the drillers will drill until they can tap a suitable clear water aquifer, usually this means going through a few aquifer layers that are either mud, contamineted (unacceptably high in minerlas like arsenic) or insufficient in volume. very seldom will you have a well that is in a surface recharged aquifer (which does have very fast recharge, but also has very high leaching of contaminants), which means under natural conditions you will not have to worry about fertilizer or pesticides (recharge rate for these aquifers is literly measured in centuries and millenia). the exception to this is abandoned or improperly sealed well heads that may become contaminated. with the house, you should get some indication of well depth, it may even be painted or etched on the well head. with this, you can try talking to neighbors or doing some more hardcore research to determine your aquifers region and see whats tapping into it. university geology departments and well drillers may have some information on medium and larger aquifers. your aquifer may be a small one with only a few wells on it, or you may be on a deep well that may span hundreds of square miles. these days, theres so many abandoned wells, its pretty easy to get contamination though, so its no gurentee even a small aquifer won't have an abandoened well, but its good to know who else may be on your water source.
which brings me to the secound point. order a water test. you'll send in a water sample and get back an analysis. this will give you an idea of pollutants and it will also give you an idea of natrual water conditions. well water frequently comes from limestone layers with high iron, magnesium and calcium. it also frequently contains less friendly minerals such as sulphur and arsenic, even trace radiactive metals. really its good to have a report even just for your own health. also, depending on the age of the well, you may have pipe degradation which may result in extra iron etc. Chances are you'll have trace amounts of a lot of things, don't worry about those, its the high readings you need to worry about. you should be able to find a lab by callign around, and if theres a university extension office or farm bureue in your county, they may be able to help.
most water softners use salt to replace calcium, actually raising TDS and not really being healthy for fish. to truly remove contaminats, you'll need a reverse osmosis unit (RO) to actually filter out the water. if you have hard water with lots of calcium, not bad for africans, but not as good for true softwater species. to be honest, i'd be a lot more concerned about other stuff like arsnic and lead, and if your on a shallow aquifer I'd be damn sure i had my well tested.
which brings me to the secound point. order a water test. you'll send in a water sample and get back an analysis. this will give you an idea of pollutants and it will also give you an idea of natrual water conditions. well water frequently comes from limestone layers with high iron, magnesium and calcium. it also frequently contains less friendly minerals such as sulphur and arsenic, even trace radiactive metals. really its good to have a report even just for your own health. also, depending on the age of the well, you may have pipe degradation which may result in extra iron etc. Chances are you'll have trace amounts of a lot of things, don't worry about those, its the high readings you need to worry about. you should be able to find a lab by callign around, and if theres a university extension office or farm bureue in your county, they may be able to help.
most water softners use salt to replace calcium, actually raising TDS and not really being healthy for fish. to truly remove contaminats, you'll need a reverse osmosis unit (RO) to actually filter out the water. if you have hard water with lots of calcium, not bad for africans, but not as good for true softwater species. to be honest, i'd be a lot more concerned about other stuff like arsnic and lead, and if your on a shallow aquifer I'd be damn sure i had my well tested.
I haven't lived on municipal water for twenty years and I'm glad for it. I've been pretty lucky, the three places I've lived have all had fairly neutral (pH around 7.2) slightly hard water. I love making water changes without any chemicals.
I wouldn't use softened water for fish, nor would I drink it. Soft water is great for washing, but not for consumption. The following information comes from the CDC:
First, soft water is more likely to dissolve certain metals from pipes than hard water. These metals include cadmium and lead, which are potentially toxic. Second, soft water may be a significant source of sodium for those who need to restrict their sodium intake for health reasons. Approximately 75 milligrams of sodium is added to each quart of water per 10 g.p.g. (grains per gallon) hardness. Finally, there is epidemiological evidence to suggest a lower incidence of heart disease in communities with hard water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn't set a mandatory upper limit for sodium in water, but suggests an upper limit of 20 milligrams per liter (quart) to protect individuals on sodium-restricted diets.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/NASD/docs/d000001-d000100/d000009/d000009.html
I wouldn't use softened water for fish, nor would I drink it. Soft water is great for washing, but not for consumption. The following information comes from the CDC:
First, soft water is more likely to dissolve certain metals from pipes than hard water. These metals include cadmium and lead, which are potentially toxic. Second, soft water may be a significant source of sodium for those who need to restrict their sodium intake for health reasons. Approximately 75 milligrams of sodium is added to each quart of water per 10 g.p.g. (grains per gallon) hardness. Finally, there is epidemiological evidence to suggest a lower incidence of heart disease in communities with hard water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn't set a mandatory upper limit for sodium in water, but suggests an upper limit of 20 milligrams per liter (quart) to protect individuals on sodium-restricted diets.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/NASD/docs/d000001-d000100/d000009/d000009.html
