Well water testing questions

[mikec35]

I just purchased a house with an established well. During the home inspection process the well was tested for e-coli and the test was negative. I've never had a well and am still concerned about drinking the water. The one thing I've noticed that kinda spooks me is the fact that I can leave water in the commode for a day and it looks like it has a film on top. I've checked with the local health department and they tell me someone can come out and run tests but I have to tell them what tests to do and many of them cost $50 to $75 each. Does anyone that has a well have any advice as to what I should test for? I drink a ton of water. I have a water filter on my refrigerator, I just want to make sure this water is safe to consume. Thank you

 

[mike93lx]

I test every year for bacteria, some Minerals and arsenic. Usually runs $125-175 depending on how comprehensive i want.

For your first test, i would go for everything. See what's in the water then determine treatment and a testing interval after.

My local lab, Nashoba Analytical, has a pretty good layout of their options and may be worth looking at for a point of reference.

 

[Bretny]

Does the property have a watet filter?

 

[mikec35]

There is a water filter under the house, a small housing that appears to have a sediment filter.

 

[toplessHO]

find a local testing company
some tests need to be done with hours of taking the samples,vs days by doing it by mail.
Ask if they can mail you the sample jars to save a trip.
plan this so you can take sample and immediately drop off and have tested. Friday afternoon isnt a good time.Call ahead to make sure they can get to it right away.

 

[RustFarmer]

Try to find test results for other wells in your area. The health dept or county should have these. Assuming all wells are punched into the same aquifer, this will give you an idea of what you have.

There are a thousand things you could test for. Are you near any mines, farms, coal ash dumps, former tanneries, or dry cleaning plants? How near? If you are, the county may have already done some of these tests.

How is your water when the softener and all filters are bypassed? Taste, color and smell? Fresh out of the tap, and after it sits exposed to air (oxidised) for a day?

Water can look, smell, and taste bad, and not be a health concern.

Water can look, smell and taste great and be bad for you.

Find out more info about your well (may be written on the tank, or may be in records kept by the well company (call them) that last worked on the system).

How old is the pump?
Drilled well or point well?
How deep is the well?
What depth is the pump at?

As to your film. Some wells and water systems get colonized with anaerobic iron eating bacteria. Not as dangerous as e-coli, but can make your water smell and taste funny. Fill a glass half full, put your hand over the top and shake it. Rotten egg smell? You may be able to shock your well and system with chlorine and clear this up. Don't chlorinate the system if you don't have to. In rare cases chlorine (especially if done improperly) will cause problems with pumps and wiring. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'm not a fan of filters. I think they cause more problems than they solve. If you do have filters, you MUST maintain them on a regular basis. Most systems can deliver good water with just a basic water softener. A water softener is a large back flushing filter that is automatically maintained by regular softening cycles. Softeners last a lot longer than most people think. Some can be brought back to life by cleaning with Super Iron Out, and removing and cleaning their inlet screens.

The water treatment industry will be happy to sell you a bunch of equipment that you don't need, and if not maintained will make your problems worse.

 

[yeldogt]

Call a local testing service -- they will know what should be tested for in your area ....discuss your concerns and they will recommend what to test for. In my area radon is always tested for.

Do yo have any information on the age of the well -- what was the land used for prior to the house?

Bacterial issues are always tested for because they are localized .. and obviously a problem. While you can have bacterial problems with deep wells -- it's less common and will affect others. It's often caused by surface issues at the well head.

You may need to get a test for petrochemicals.

There are many types of filters -- Just filtering is really meaningless -- people filter for things not found in the local water

 

[mikec35]

Thanks for all the advice. I’ll be calling a local testing company tomorrow.

 

[ishiboo]

Our state DNR determines what tests are required for water quality. The basic package runs $60 at the local university lab. You can add more tests if you feel like it.

My water tests fine every year, but I still use a 7-stage reverse osmosis filtering system with UV light to filter the drinking water.

 

[yeldogt]

Our state DNR determines what tests are required for water quality. The basic package runs $60 at the local university lab. You can add more tests if you feel like it.

My water tests fine every year, but I still use a 7-stage reverse osmosis filtering system with UV light to filter the drinking water.

RO strips water of many minerals that are beneficial to the body - The filters have also been known to degrade. It's like drinking water out of plastic bottles .... or anything out of plastic.

It one fate reasons I'm not sure about PEX .... but then most service lines are plastic ???

 

[ZX3ST]

OP, just got done dealing with something similar on mine. 125ft deep, just replaced the pump, but old one about 23yrs old. Not exactly sure on the age of the well.

The film you're seeing after a couple days is due to coliform. Does your hot water stink too?

Anyways, had mine tested. Tested positive for coliform, but I was advised it's not harmful and just a nuisance.

 

[rwilly]

I bought a home test kit at Home Depot that tests for a bunch of stuff. I dont know how accurate it is.

I’ve sanitized my well with bleach. Seemed to work pretty good.

 

[biggziff]

You can do the sampling yourself and avoid paying someone to come out and turn on a faucet. This isn't brain surgery. Follow the guidelines here and you'll be fine.

https://inspectapedia.com/water/Water_Test_Guide.php

If you don't have a local lab, try one like Assured Bio in TN or any MicroBac facility.

 

[ishiboo]

RO strips water of many minerals that are beneficial to the body - The filters have also been known to degrade. It's like drinking water out of plastic bottles .... or anything out of plastic.

It one fate reasons I'm not sure about PEX .... but then most service lines are plastic ???

The 7th stage is a mineral replacement stage that puts the good minerals back into the water, supposedly. It tastes very good.

Most service lines are PE or HDPE these days. Works for me. Seems to have much less taste issues than cheap plastic water bottles.

 

[steveo1o9]

OP, just got done dealing with something similar on mine. 125ft deep, just replaced the pump, but old one about 23yrs old. Not exactly sure on the age of the well.

The film you're seeing after a couple days is due to coliform. Does your hot water stink too?

Anyways, had mine tested. Tested positive for coliform, but I was advised it's not harmful and just a nuisance.

This in completely incorrect and you may want to have another conversation with the person who told you that ASAP. Coliform does not cause film and can be harmful to your health.

Most commonly in well water the film is caused by iron bacteria which is not considered to be harmful. Is your water hard? Is there red staining in the toilets? Do you have a softener? I bought a foreclosed house that sat vacant for a year or so and the water is very hard and had the film when we moved in. After having the softener serviced and enough water run through the house it went away. Do a search in your area for water testing labs, or even Culligan if you have one, they should have a few options of testing packages available aside from the basic bacteria test required.

 

[biggziff]

This in completely incorrect and you may want to have another conversation with the person who told you that ASAP. Coliform does not cause film and can be harmful to your health.

Most commonly in well water the film is caused by iron bacteria which is not considered to be harmful. Is your water hard? Is there red staining in the toilets? Do you have a softener? I bought a foreclosed house that sat vacant for a year or so and the water is very hard and had the film when we moved in. After having the softener serviced and enough water run through the house it went away. Do a search in your area for water testing labs, or even Culligan if you have one, they should have a few options of testing packages available aside from the basic bacteria test required.

Correct! Coliform is ***** bacteria and yes, it's very harmful! Iron bacteria causes the film and sulphur dioxide smell.

 

[snickers muncher]

Correct! Coliform is ***** bacteria and yes, it's very harmful! Iron bacteria causes the film and sulphur dioxide smell.

Incorrect. ***** bacteria are often coliforms, but all coliform are not harmful or *****. A positive test for coliform is definitely a cause for concern though.

 

[steveo1o9]

Incorrect. ***** bacteria are often coliforms, but all coliform are not harmful or *****. A positive test for coliform is definitely a cause for concern though.

Correct, coliform is a broad range of bacteria that is used as an indicator for water quality. Coliform bacteria itself will not likely cause illness, however their presence in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms could be in the water system.

 

[flat tire]

how long did the well set UNDISTURBED.
I had a well that sat for 15 years without a pump and when I went to use it the water was black. I ran the pump for 24 hours and the water became crystal clear. no problems with the test

 

[ZX3ST]

This in completely incorrect and you may want to have another conversation with the person who told you that ASAP. Coliform does not cause film and can be harmful to your health.

Most commonly in well water the film is caused by iron bacteria which is not considered to be harmful. Is your water hard? Is there red staining in the toilets? Do you have a softener? I bought a foreclosed house that sat vacant for a year or so and the water is very hard and had the film when we moved in. After having the softener serviced and enough water run through the house it went away. Do a search in your area for water testing labs, or even Culligan if you have one, they should have a few options of testing packages available aside from the basic bacteria test required.

I do have a softener and yes, water in my area is pretty hard. I do get staining, but more blackish than red.

I don't claim to be an expert, but can only offer the words of someone I had hired. He showed me a similar picture to this, and said presence of coliform is not necessarily bad. But certainly something to check into more detail. In my case, it was harmless.

 

[Falcon67]

I bought a home test kit at Home Depot that tests for a bunch of stuff. I dont know how accurate it is.

I’ve sanitized my well with bleach. Seemed to work pretty good.

Same - we don't use ours for drinking though. Ours here is high in nitrates, which is hard to get out without a reverse osmosis type filter. I test it once in a while. When we did live on a well, I sent a sample into the state to be tested for hardness and other things. That water was hard as rocks and we had sulfer smell issues/black in the pipes that was solved by a big water softener. We also did the shock thing with bleach. Worked well.

 

[jayoldschool]

Softeners last a lot longer than most people think. Some can be brought back to life by cleaning with Super Iron Out, and removing and cleaning their inlet screens.

Can you elaborate on how to do both of these? I have iron, and the previous owner left Super Iron Out, but I have no idea what to do with it. Additionally, two of my softening units have quit working, so I have them on bypass. I have three units, the external salt tank, and a separate iron filter unit. I can take pics if needed.

 

[RustFarmer]

Can you elaborate on how to do both of these? I have iron, and the previous owner left Super Iron Out, but I have no idea what to do with it. Additionally, two of my softening units have quit working, so I have them on bypass. I have three units, the external salt tank, and a separate iron filter unit. I can take pics if needed.

Lets get your softener going first. Keep the other units (iron, etc) on bypass and unplugged for now. Please post a pic of the head unit (w/o cover) of your softener, and start a new thread. The pics of the head unit will help identify if there are inlet screens that can be cleaned.

Stock up on some bottled water, or if water is drinkable now, fill up some bottles or pitchers.

Start with manual regeneration for now. You want to keep an eye on things during the regen. Does the brine level go down and then back up during the regen cycle? Wouldn't want leaks at 2AM from an old unit to cause problems while you are sleeping.

Glad to hear you have a external salt tank. How full of salt is it? Eventually you will want to clean it out. If it is full of salt, you can use up most of the salt with some manual regens, and clean it later.

Super Iron Out: Follow the directions, dissolve 1 cup in 1/2 bucket of cold water, and dump in brine tank. Run a manual regen.

Good Luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[biggziff]

Can you elaborate on how to do both of these? I have iron, and the previous owner left Super Iron Out, but I have no idea what to do with it. Additionally, two of my softening units have quit working, so I have them on bypass. I have three units, the external salt tank, and a separate iron filter unit. I can take pics if needed.

Be very careful using products like Iron Out in a softener. They can easily ruin the media bed. If the softener is more than 10 years old and you have iron, etc in the water you should consider re-bedding the resin tank or replacing the softener.

 

[jayoldschool]

Thanks gents. I will take some pics and start a new thread (and PM you when I do).

 

[BD1]

What type of well tank do you have ? It may have something to do with it. The old style galvanized ones use a air volume control . If your tank is old replacing it will also help with pressure.
The newer style have a bladder that is independent from the tank. This is definitely the way to go.

https://www.menards.com/main/plumbi...re-charged-well-tank/ht44/p-1533623337851.htm

 

[cretin]

I just bought a house with a well, and am new to having a well also. I had these guys test the water.

https://watercheck.com/collections/well-water-tests

Their most comprehensive test was $230. They send you a box with bottles and an ice pack. You put the ice pack in the freezer for at least 8 hours I think, and then you fill the bottles in the order in the instructions, and overnight the samples back. If you contact them after getting your kit, they will send you a shipping label. It worked well for me.

Same - we don't use ours for drinking though. Ours here is high in nitrates, which is hard to get out without a reverse osmosis type filter. I test it once in a while. When we did live on a well, I sent a sample into the state to be tested for hardness and other things. That water was hard as rocks and we had sulfer smell issues/black in the pipes that was solved by a big water softener. We also did the shock thing with bleach. Worked well.

Do you have any info on the shocking with bleach thing? I was just about to look that up.