well water??

[Carabelli]

okay - here is my question -

i have a well that is in my yard (live in canton, texas - an hour east of dallas) - the well is used for watering the yard - shallow well as they go - the other day i decided to use it for ro/di water and hooked it up to my filters and the reading b/f the filters was 3 ppm and 0 ppm after, could i just use the water with running it through the ro/di system - sure it is not as good as 0 ppm, but, 3 is still really good??

also, there is an artesian well about 10 minutes that i could get water from -

i have just heard stories of the city putting something in the water to treat it sometimes and not telling us and it not getting taken out of the water and then the tank is fried, so, i thought it would be better to use well water?? any thoughts or comments?? thanks.

 

[melev]

I would test for metals if you can... but I know many people that use filtered well-water, so you should be okay.

My TDS is around 3 o 4 right now and I'm using it. That is a far cry from the 172 coming out of the faucet.

 

[Carabelli]

thanks marc -

that is my main concern is the metals - sometimes i get some nasty crud out of the system, but, i think it is more due to sand and corrosion in the pipes - will the ro/di pull out the metals?? should i just use the city water??

gm

 

[crash519]

@Marc wrote:

172 :shock: Try coming over here to the Dallas side where we consistently see 350+ :evil:

I would still run your well water through the sediment and carbon filters to try and contain any possible contaminants that might be in it. TDS only accounts for trace metals and salts basically. It doens't take into account different solutions (chlorine, flourine, etc...) Better safe than sorry :wink:

 

[Carabelli]

okay - i guess it is easy enough to just run it through the system - just would have been nice to fill the bucket in a couple of minutes instead of hours! thanks guys.
:lol:

 

[melev]

Oh, I totally agree. Definitely run it through the RO system. If the water is really as pure as you describe, the filters and DI will last a very long time.

I know you can buy test kits for copper and iron, but I don't know what else. Will your local water municipality test the water and give you a report of all contents perhaps?

 

[Carabelli]

well, i don't think so marc - with a population of 3500, the local municipality might think it strange! we will see though

 

[Rick]

If this is water coming out of your own well, they will not test it. But you can find places that will test your water for a fee. If the home is older, I would be more concerned about what is getting in the water from the old pipes, than form the well. That would make me run it through a ro unit at least.

 

[waterbeing]

Gee...I'd like to see my "normal" 350-400 again. Ours has been running 675-725 for awhile now. Even after the RO, it's still about 26 and the DI then 'tries' to get it back to 0 (but that doesn't last long). Wonder what companies make DI resins and it I can purchase stock there during the summer months. :idea:
At any rate, It might be a good idea to get it officially tested to see if there really is anything, but as everyone else has said, using the filter setup would just server as a safequard in any case. And I sure wouldn't think it would use much of any canister in that case. The only other advantage would be the bacterial reduction that might occur with the RO anyway.

 

[salty_75]

I can't talk much because I use tap water for water changes, but I would be concerned more about chemicals used that gets in the ground water such as fertilizers and herbicides. I don't know where you live, but groundwater near farms can actually be worse than around the city.

 

[melev]

FWIW, I've been told that TDS over 500 is unsafe for human consumption. If that is your reading, you may have a cause for complaint against your local water company. This may be hearsay, but that is what I've been told.