Help with salty cistern

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FCJ

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Moved into a house recently with a good producing well that is running through a very good filter system and both the well water and the water from from the filter system to the 3000 gallon cistern are measuring about 100-150ppm TDS/Salt. The crazy thing is that the water being pumped FROM the cistern to the house is measuring about 400ppm. What would be causing that?

Previous owners had local water delivered because they didn't want to deal with the high TDS but I'm confident I can find a solution and appreciate any help.
 

FCJ

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There's no water softener. There's a 5-20 micron bag filter, then an iron filter and then a 1-5micron filter cartridge plus a UV system down in the cistern.
 

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TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids. Because TDS is a number indicating a total amount of dissolved solids, it is not specific on what the solids are comprised of.

While Sodium will represent one type of dissolved solid, so will calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, chloride, and a broad range of other minerals and metals.

The way to identify what is contained in the water, will be to have a lab test performed by a qualified water testing lab.

Since TDS is lower from the well but is elevated after the cistern, leads me to question, what materials were utilized to construct the cistern? If concrete, perhaps some concrete leaching is occuring which maybe causing the TDS increase?

When was the last time the cistern was completely drained, cleaned and sanitized?

What pipe material is utilized between the cistern and house?

What type of pump is utilized to pump water from the cistern?

You mention a filter system. Was the higher TDS measured before the filter, or after?

If after, is this a backwashing type filter system, or an upflow or cartridge type filter?

What filtration media is installed?
 
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FCJ

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Thank you for the help, answers below.

TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids. Because TDS is a number indicating a total amount of dissolved solids, it is not specific on what the solids are comprised of.

While Sodium will represent one type of dissolved solid, so will calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, chloride, and a broad range of other minerals and metals.
I understand this and I should've said that detailed testing showed high salt content so I'm using a digital salt meter to test the numbers I've stated above.

The way to identify what is contained in the water, will be to have a lab test performed by a qualified water testing lab.

Since TDS is lower from the well but is elevated after the cistern, leads me to question, what materials were utilized to construct the cistern? If concrete, perhaps some concrete leaching is occuring which maybe causing the TDS increase?
It's a concrete cistern, installed in 2021. Is leaching common in new cisterns and if so, does the leeching wane over time or is leaching an unusual occurance?
When was the last time the cistern was completely drained, cleaned and sanitized?
To my knowledge never since it's only 3 years old
What pipe material is utilized between the cistern and house?
Unsure, only pipe I see so far is pic heading into the ground but unsure between the well house and the house.
What type of pump is utilized to pump water from the cistern?
I don't have that information and not sure how to obtain it. There's some kind of weirdness surrounding this well and system because the company that installed it (who are reportedly one of the best in the area) won't return any calls and I've tried repeatedly. ‍♂️
You mention a filter system. Was the higher TDS measured before the filter, or after?
I've measured incoming well water pre-filter and salt measures around 100-150ppm and it stays about the same exiting the system before going into the cistern. There's no jump in salt until it gets pumped out.
If after, is this a backwashing type filter system, or an upflow or cartridge type filter?
The only backwashing is the iron filter
What filtration media is installed?
Prior to the iron filter it's a 25 micron bag filter and after the iron filter is a 1-5 micron cartridge.
MODEL BP-420-25 bag and DGD-2501-20 cartridge

I should also add that there's a Tripple O ozone system (not a UV system that I said above). It's 3 years old and my understanding is the bulbs need changing every 18 months. Could there be some negative effect from this delay in replacing bulbs and also, if you're familiar with this ozone system, the cistern may have been empty for a period of time while the previous owner had city water delivered to the lower house cistern leaving the upper cistern empty. I can't confirm if or for how long but figured I'd cross every possibility.
 
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Reach4

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Moved into a house recently with a good producing well that is running through a very good filter system and both the well water and the water from from the filter system to the 3000 gallon cistern are measuring about 100-150ppm TDS/Salt. The crazy thing is that the water being pumped FROM the cistern to the house is measuring about 400ppm. What would be causing that?

Previous owners had local water delivered because they didn't want to deal with the high TDS but I'm confident I can find a solution and appreciate any help.
Evaporation? Evaporation increases TDS and salt concentration.

Are you using both a cheap TDS meter and a refractometer or other method to measure TDS and salt?
 

FCJ

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Evaporation? Evaporation increases TDS and salt concentration.

Are you using both a cheap TDS meter and a refractometer or other method to measure TDS and salt?
This is what I'm currently using, I'm not aware of anything else besides test strips I should be trying.
61KPuRaOWlL._SL1500_.jpg
 

Reach4

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That's fine. I thought maybe you had something extra/fancier.

So anyway, if the well can refill the higher-TDS cistern, I would suggest that you wet vac the last inches of that cistern empty, removing sediment at the same time.

Rather than emptying the water by lifting the tub, I would just turn off the vac. Then open the drain.
 

FCJ

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That's fine. I thought maybe you had something extra/fancier.

So anyway, if the well can refill the higher-TDS cistern, I would suggest that you wet vac the last inches of that cistern empty, removing sediment at the same time.

Rather than emptying the water by lifting the tub, I would just turn off the vac. Then open the drain.
Not to sound dense, but are saying I should turn off the well, run the cistern down and then clean it out? It's 3,000 gallons and I'm assuming I'd have to climb inside to wet vac it?
 

Reach4

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Not to sound dense, but are saying I should turn off the well, run the cistern down and then clean it out? It's 3,000 gallons and I'm assuming I'd have to climb inside to wet vac it?
That is what I had in mind, although I had not presumed it was full. I am not a pro. Do you have a good place to dump water? That high TDS water has probably gotten pretty stale. Also, maybe sanitize to kill off any growth, while you are at it.

I don't have a mental picture of your cistern, and I suspected it might be open. In that case, you could have just used the extension on the vacuum.

There are various devices made to clean the bottom of swimming pools. Maybe you could even borrow one.

When refilling the cistern, you would want to take action to prevent the well from being sucked dry. Maybe put the well pump on a timer, or get a device that shuts down the well pump if the well runs dry, if running dry is a possibility during normal use.
 

FCJ

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Thank you for the help. My responses below.
That is what I had in mind, although I had not presumed it was full. I am not a pro. Do you have a good place to dump water? That high TDS water has probably gotten pretty stale. Also, maybe sanitize to kill off any growth, while you are at it.
I know that is was pretty low (maybe a foot or two of water in it) when I moved in and fired up the system so the water in there is as fresh and I imagine it can be short of what was in there already which I'm sure at this point has diluted out.
I don't have a mental picture of your cistern, and I suspected it might be open. In that case, you could have just used the extension on the vacuum.
It's concrete buried cistern and the well house is over it. It has two manholes.
There are various devices made to clean the bottom of swimming pools. Maybe you could even borrow one.
Good idea
When refilling the cistern, you would want to take action to prevent the well from being sucked dry. Maybe put the well pump on a timer, or get a device that shuts down the well pump if the well runs dry, if running dry is a possibility during normal use.
It currently has a wiz bang thing on it that does exactly that. I want to say it took several days to fill the cistern as it went on and off to be as gentle on the well as possible.
 
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