AboutSteve Young Expertise I will answer questions on residential water treatment, i.e. use of softeners, filters, reverse osmosis systems, disinfection, iron and/or sediment removal and other issues facing the homeowner.
Experience I have worked in the water treatment area for 15 years. I have specialized in the design of reverse osmosis, deionization, and water softening units. I have also done work in water quality and stream and river remediation as it relates to the Clean Water Act.
Organizations I am currently serving as an Expert for Home Improvement, Travel (New Mexico) and Travel (North Carolina)
Expert: Steve Young Date: 7/18/2008 Subject: Water Quality Issue
Question QUESTION: Hi Steve, We recently had to redrill our well...we basically went dry. Prior to going dry, we had no water quality issues. We had to go pretty deep (about~1,000 feet). We hit water with a great flow rate, basically enough to supply our neighborhood! Unfortunately, the water is now hard and we have rust issues in laundry. We also had lots of air, which we noticed right away and the well company put in a separate tank to reduce the air, which has improved the issue drastically coming out of the faucets. We called a company in to test the water due to hardness and rust. We received the bad news today. Our results are:
From talking to the Water Quality firm, most of these levels are extremely high. And it looks like we are looking at a system (I think term is reverse osmosis) costs thousands of dollars... I have heard of one neighbor having similar issues--air, hardness-- but I'm still trying to verify if they've had a test done yet.
I'm wondering your overall thoughts on our situation? Could something have gone wrong with drilling or did we just run into very bad luck?
Would adjusting our pump level help us at all?
Also, we are still waiting on results of health related (e.g. arsenic) tests to come back. Should I assume that these will also be bad due to above?
Why would we have so much air in our water? We literally had a water in the toilet tank bubbling due to air before they put separate tank in.
Any input is appreciated. Thanks, Maureen
ANSWER: Hi Maureen,
Boy, you did have to go deep for your water! That's the reason that your TDS and hardness are so high - as the water percolates through the earth it dissolves a portion of the earth that it contacts. These dissolved minerals are what comprises the TDS and also, to some extent, the calcium and magnesium hardness. Generally, the deeper the well, the higher the hardness and TDS. However, you shouldn't assume that you will have excessively high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals because of the high concentrations of TDS and hardness. They are not necessarily related. I do not believe that adjusting the pump level would do anything to correct any of the issues with your water.
I would think twice about a reverse osmosis (RO) system if I were you. Because of the high level of TDS in the water, and the way that a reverse osmosis system works, you will have a large amount of waste water that is produced by the RO system. If you have a septic system for treating your sewage, etc. you may have to increase the size of your leach field to handle this excess water.
I would consider a sodium zeolite water softener instead. The water softener will remove all of the hardness as well as the iron and manganese. The major pitfall to a water softener is that it replaces the calcium, magnesium, iron and manganese with sodium. So, if anyone in your family is on a sodium restricted diet, this may be an issue. It would only mean, however, that they would have to drink bottled water. The softened water could be used for everything else.
Now, for the air issue. I believe that, as deep as your well is, that it is possible that this is actually methane gas. It isn't unheard of and you could check by putting a flame to the "air" to see if it lights. There won't be enough to cause an explosion so don't worry about that!
If it is just air it could be caused by a number of things. The most likely is that you have a bad check valve (sometimes called a foot valve). You could also have a leak in the well casing, although this seems unlikely since it is a new well. I would recommend having the well water company check and rule out any of these potential mechanical problems. If it turns out that it is just air in the aquifer or methane gas then the treatment is the same and is what you already have in place.
If I were you I would talk to as many different water treatment companies as there are in your area and get estimates and opinions from all of them. They will be more familiar with your specific water and aquifer than I am. I would definitely not rely on the recommendations of one firm. As I mentioned, I think a RO system would not be the system that I would recommend.
I hope this helps and I will be glad to continue to advise you if you will keep me apprised of your findings. I have several readers who are regular "customers" :-)
Let me know if I can help out in any way. Good luck and take care,
Steve
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QUESTION: Thanks Steve for the information. This is very helpful. when I seek out other firms, should I have them test the water themselves as well? Or should I give them the results?
In general, are there significant price differences between the two approaches to solving the problem?
ANSWER: Hi Maureen,
No, do not give them the results that you already have. They should do their own testing. That is one way you can compare companies - see how their results compare to the others.
As far as price differences go, yes there are significant differences. The RO system for your home would be considerably more expensive than a water softener. There are also other potential expenses involved, as I mentioned. The RO system may very well require a new septic system addition which could run into the thousands by itself. This is assuming you have a septic system. If you use city sewer service then there will be an increase in your monthly water bill. A RO system will use approximately between 3 and 10 gallons of water to produce one gallon of filtered water.
This should answer your questions. Let me know how else I can help.
Take care,
Steve
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QUESTION: One last one...This is a home that we don't use full time, but want to use it this summer for some weekends and about 2 weeks vacation. I understand that our water situation can cause damage to our pipes. We have had limited use of the house since the problem began (about 2 straight weeks and a few weekends) since the new drilling occurred. Will we be OK using the water in the house based on the limited use mentioned above with out causing a lot of damage?
I will definitely keep you posted on our progress!
Answer Hi Maureen,
Yes, it would be fine to use the house for those periods without causing much damage at all. The worst thing about the high hardness will be in the hot water heater. It will probably have to be replaced sooner than normal because of the scale buildup. I would suggest draining it once or twice during the 2 weeks you are there. Just put a hose on the bottom valve and run it outside. That will help control the buildup to some extent.
You are actually fortunate that your pH is slightly acidic (pH scale is 1-14 with 7 being neutral. Any pH less than 7 is acidic and over 7 is basic). Your pH will actually keep the scale from building up as much as it would if the pH was over 7.
I hope this answers your question. Please let me know how else I can help and keep me posted.
Take care,
Steve
