Well Water Treatment Scenarios
| Example #1 | Analysis | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Customer notes white deposits around sinks and shower stalls.
Water supply has a hardness of 20 grains per gallon, pH of 7.4, no iron, no bacteria, no objectionable smells. |
The main treatment consideration is to reduce the hardness level for household use. This will protect the pipes, fittings and fixtures, improve laundry cleaning and soap rinsing. A softener is the ideal solution. Drinking water is further treated to remove the sodium from the softener as well as other impurities. | Softener installed directly after pressure tank and after outside watering (sillcock) lines. Reverse osmosis unit installed under kitchen sink for drinking water. |
| Example #2 | Analysis | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Customer's family has had unusual, intermittent gastrointestinal symptoms for several months. They have lived with
white scale deposits on sink and bath fixtures for years.
Tests reveal hardness of 25 grains per gallon, and presence of fecal coliform bacteria. |
Like the example above, the hardness level needs to be reduced for household use. Additionally, and more importantly, the fecal coliform bacteria must be eliminated to ensure the health of the family members. | Softener installed directly after pressure tank and after outside watering (sillcock) lines. The softener is followed by a 5-micron cartridge filter and finally by an ultraviolet purifier. Reverse osmosis unit installed under kitchen sink for drinking water. |
| Example #3 | Analysis | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Customer complains about brown stains in toilets and around the bathtub.
Her laundry gets stained with brown spots. When she fills up her dog water
dish, the water is clear but after some hours, it gets cloudy and brown.
Tests reveal hardness of 7 grains per gallon and iron at 2ppm (parts per million), no bacteria, no sulfide smells. |
The iron is the big issue here and although the hardness level isn't as high as the above examples, the best treatment is a softener to remove both iron and hardness. | Softener installed directly after pressure tank and after outside watering (sillcock) lines. This needs to be a softener specially designed to handle the iron. Reverse osmosis unit installed under kitchen sink for drinking water. |
| Example #4 | Analysis | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Customer complains of iron staining and rotten egg odor in the water.
Tests reveal hardness of 3 grains per gallon, pH of 6.3, iron of 5ppm,
hydrogen sulfide of 3ppm. |
This is truly a nuisance water which is very unpleasant to live with. To remove the iron and hydrogen sulfide which causes the bad smell and to raise the pH at the same time, a chemical feed system will do the best job. | Chemical feed pump feeding a solution of soda ash and chlorine bleach. The water then passes through a large "retention" tank and finally through a granular carbon backwashing filter. Reverse osmosis unit installed under kitchen sink for drinking water. |
| Example #5 | Analysis | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Customer is curious about whether his well water is good for his family
to drink. He notes no particular problems with the water in terms of staining,
odors, etc. Tests reveal water-born radon at 25,000pCi/L and uranium at 75pCi/L, and no other parameters of note. |
Though invisible, odorless, and tasteless, these radiological contaminants can cause long-term health effects. Radon is an issue for the whole house water because it is breathed while showering or bathing. This level of radon is too high for a granular carbon filter to treat. The uranium is a problem for drinking water, not for bathing. | Aeration unit to remove radon for the whole house and a reverse osmosis unit to remove uranium installed under the kitchen sink for drinking water. |
