Well water treatment? Please help.

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Gary Slusser

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leejosepho said:
Yes, I heard that, and I am asking about any negative effects from ozone such as with chlorine. My desire and intention is to first apply whatever treatment I need outside the house to protect the mechanical components of my well -- sumbersible pump, screen, etc. -- from whatever might be there to harm it, and to then do anything additional that might be desired/required on the inside of the house in relation to ultimate water quality.

Do you get involved with well-water testing?

AFAIK there is no way to introduce ozone into a well and if there were, it probably would harm drop pipe, pumps etc. as chalorine pellet droppers can.

You can't protect the casing of a well or the pump, the cable etc. anymore than you can protect your motor vehicle from the environment it is used in; recalling they all wear out and need replacement simply due to being used. And if tried, most if not all that are applied will cause other problems for the casing, pump etc..

And pressure tanks don't need or require protection from anything found naturally in groundwater. So the best place for treatment equipment is after the pressure tank.

So find a knowledgeable water treament dealer and go for it.

I do not test water although I did for 18 years.

MaxBlack, you're right, trouble-and-maintenance-free water treatment doesn't exist. But some types take a lot less baby sitting than others. You can't get more trouble and maintenance free than my inline pellet chlorinator and mixing tank.
 

Speedbump

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Gary is correct about putting o-zone into the well. I have a very good customer. A fish farmer who was talked into putting o-zone down his well by means of a 1/4" plastic tube. They injected it right on top of the pump. Well after the pump fell off the pipe and the pipe was full of holes, hot to mention what damage was done to the casing, he removed it. Of course, we had to fish all this half eaten stuff from his well. Same goes with dropping chlorine tablets down a well. Just don't do it, is the best advice I have.

bob...
 

Leejosepho

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Gary Slusser said:
You can't protect the casing of a well or the pump, the cable etc. anymore than you can protect your motor vehicle from the environment it is used in; recalling they all wear out and need replacement simply due to being used. And if tried, most if not all that are applied will cause other problems for the casing, pump etc...

So find a knowledgeable water treament dealer and go for it.

speedbump said:
.... dropping chlorine tablets down a well. Just don't do it, is the best advice I have.

As far as "knowledgeable" is concerned, I cannot imagine doing better anywhere else than with you folks right here on this forum.

The man who put in my well for the previous homeowner about 15 years ago has kinda-sorta implied/suggested I might be better off going back to a shallow well, and I might soon drive one on my own and use a pitcher pump just to see what is actually there. But for now, I need to do *something* to keep my submersible pump from being from destroyed by whatever was restricting it and had possibly caused it to trip its breaker last week.

Could an in-line chlorinator (rather than a pellet dropper) be used to feed a re-circulation line back to the well with a minimal and "just enough" chlorine dose to keep the IRB in check without destroying the PVC well casing, drop pipe and/or my pump for at least a year or two? If so, I would be far ahead of where I am right now with a four-month-old pump I might have just nearly lost, and with possibly my only other option being monthly or bi-monthly shock treatments of chlorine that I can imagine could be even more destructive than a minimal level of continuous chlorination.

Any thoughts on any of that?

Note: Last week's shock treatment relieved whatever had been restricting my pump's flow.
 
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Daisy

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I have contacted the company

leejosepho said:
Here is something I just found:

www.berrysystemsinc.com/products/halovac.html

Overall, this company claims its system will eliminate/control bacteria within a well as well as to eliminate/reduce slime and scale buildup. If this system does not have any drawbacks similar to those of chlorine injectors, maybe this is the solution here ...
It is a pellet chlorinator that goes on top of the well itself and sells for $1300.00. What do you think of it now?
 

Daisy

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To sam

sammyhydro11 said:
The first step is get a full chemical analysis of the water.Usualy to properly treat iron bacteria you need a chemical feed chlorinator,carbon backwash filter,and a water softener. The size of the unit will be determined by your analysis.

SAM
I have been told by my County water lab that they do not do the kind of analysis that I need and that it will cost appr. $500.00 to have it done by someone else. After a long conversation with them they say that it sounds as if I have Giardia in the well which is very difficult to get rid of. This sounds very pricey to me.
 

Leejosepho

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Daisy said:
It is a pellet chlorinator that goes on top of the well ... What do you think of it now?

I could be wrong, but if Rancher is correct, it does not dispense chlorine ... but either way, I will ultimately have something inside the house to go back out to the well rather than out on the well, itself.
 

Sammyhydro11

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Daisy,
i haven't a clue as to why they are aiming towards Giardia.Did they tell you why they thought that? You said you had a bacterial iron clogging your pump. I suggested getting a full analysis and starting from there. If its an iron bacteria problem and there is nothing else wrong with the water,go with the chemical feed pump chlorinator,carbon backwash filter,post softener. That is what i have used in the past and it works great. If the ph is low you can always mix some soda ash in the chemical feed tank to raise it. The down side to the system is having to mix chemicals every so often. Maybe Gary can help you out with some equipment once you get your analysis or give you some other ideas. Hes the water treatment guru,i'm slowly getting there.

SAM
 

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Daisy said:
..... and that it will cost appr. $500.00 to have it done by someone else. .....This sounds very pricey to me.

That sounds like a normal price for an extensive water test. They test for all kinds of contaminants that you wouldn't think of, but it is well worth it to know what is in your water....at least when the water sample was taken.
 

Gary Slusser

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Only labs think $500 is OK for a water test....

Daisy, all Class A UV lights treat Giardia cysts. There are class A and B UV lights. Class A cost more but for a say 2.5 bathroom house, you don't need mre than a 15 gpm, so the price is up $750 delivered depending on any options like an intensity monitor but including a prefilter housing, flow control etc..
 

Sammyhydro11

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I think that this water testing thing is being blown out of proportion.The question you have to ask is what is the reason for the extensive water testing? There are thousands of different things you can test for. Its obvious when you have iron bacteria in your well. What is the reason why you are going to test for giardia?? Is someone getting sick after drinking the water? I think its a waist of money unless you have reason to test for it. If someone came to me with asking for advice with an iron bacteria problem and i told them to test for giardia, i think theire first question would be,why? The right approach would be to do a standard analysis wich would include ecoli and coliform. If the test comes back positive for those bacterias then there might be a reason to test for giardia.Even then when those bacterias are killed by chlorinating the well the problem is resolved. If the lab is telling you that the substance that is plugging up the pump is giardia,then that well needs to be decommissioned until the source has been found and resolved because you have a serious waste problem.I cant believe that they are just assuming that you have giardia in the water without any testing. Id say go to a different lab and a do standard analysis which would include a bacteria test,find out your iron level,ph,hardness,tds,etc.

SAM
 

Leejosepho

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sammyhydro11 said:
What is the reason why you are going to test for giardia?? Is someone getting sick after drinking the water?

Daisy said:
Right now I have bottled drinking water delivered since the well water makes me sick ...

I have been told by my County water lab that they do not do the kind of analysis that I need ...
After a long conversation with them they say that it sounds as if I have Giardia in the well ...

Ultimately being helpful to others first requires paying attention as we go along.
 

Sammyhydro11

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Lee,
you're right,i apologize daisy,i guess i did miss that. I would still just get a standard analysis which would indicate bacteria and waste contamination.

SAM
 
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Rancher

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sammyhydro11 said:
I would still just get a standard analysis which would indicate bacteria and waste contamination.
You probably would, however that will not detect the Giardia, which is not a bacteria, it is a parasite. And your a certified well guy, you should know that.

Rancher
 

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Rancher,
giardia,your right,it is a parasite and is found in animal and human waste.If you knew what to look for in a standard analysis there would be no argument. This is another classic example why you shouldn't try to question professional advice. In a standard water analysis they test for ecoli bacteria which is also found in human and animal waste also. If that is found in your well water its an indication of waste which might also mean that there could and most likely is giardia present. Both ecoli and giardia can be killed with bleach. Chlorination of the well needs to be done and then retest the water to make sure the ecoli is killed. I suggest retesting every so often to make sure that the bacteria is gone. If it returns the source of the of the problem needs to be found and rectified. So i guess once again its water well 101 for rancher.

SAM
 

Sammyhydro11

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Is it just me,or does anyone else see how rancher turns almost every thread into an argument because of his ignorance and lack of knowledge?? Am i missing something here??

SAM
 
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Rancher

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Sonny Giardia can live in water in the absense of feces... you should know that.

Here you go from the CDC:

"During the past 2 decades, Giardia infection has become recognized as one of the most common causes of waterborne disease (found in both drinking and recreational water) in humans in the United States . Giardia are found worldwide and within every region of the United States"

Rancher
 

Sammyhydro11

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So rancher what is your point??Giardia is found in the intestinal track of humans and animals.So If your water is contaminated with feces that has giardia in it you probably have giardia in your drinking water. Rancher you seem like a disfunctional student that keeps thinking that he is ahead of his teachers. I think you better stop now because once again you are hanging from a thread.

SAM
 

Leejosepho

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sammyhydro11 said:
Is it just me,or does anyone else see how rancher turns almost every thread into an argument ... (editorial comment deleted)?? Am i missing something here??

In my own opinion, yes: If I thought I might have a deadly or at least sickening-me parasite in my well, I would want to know about that specifically, and to then have a second test done to verify its absence after my well had been treated.

This is only a guess on my own part here, but maybe Rancher and Daisy and I and even still others might happen to think alike along that particular line.
 

Sammyhydro11

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Ok lee, go and find out what it takes and cost just to test for gardia and then come back and tell me if you would like to spend the 75.00 on a standard analysis that would include a test for ecoli and coliform.That is standard procedure that is recommended before spending more money than you have to. Find out the cost to take the sample,the delivery fee,and the laboratory testing. Ok i found some info on the topic. So read it your self.

Giardia and Cryptosporidium
If there is a problem concerning Giardia or Cryptosporidium, the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory is not certified to test for these organisms. Infection by Giardia is usually associated with surface waters. Most people do not drink the surface water in Kansas. It has been found that in Kansas; the focus of the majority of cases of Giardia are daycare centers, senior care centers and persons returning from other states having drank untreated surface water. Cryptosporidium is yet an unresolved problem of contamination. When testing drinking water for these protozoan organisms one must go to an out of state laboratory approved by the EPA. There are about 15 of these laboratories. It is possible, but unusual, to find a well which is positive for these parasites, but coliform negative. If there is a decision that testing is needed for either of these organisms or enteric viruses, one must consider these items:

The cost of testing will include:

rental and shipment of collection equipment,
collecting between one liter to 2000 liters depending on the type of water,
the shipment of the equipment and specimen back to the laboratory, and
then the analysis of the sample. The cost may be around $700.00.
 
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