mm- I don't know whether your numbers are good, bad, or indifferent, but e coli exists in virtually all topsoil for a simple reason: worms, bugs, birds, and other critturs poop there. A certain amount of topsoil is almost unavoidably carried down into the depths of the well during drilling. Your well will probably test positive for e coli until it is shocked enough. One or two treatments usually does the trick. E coli is a scary term, but remember that there are many, many different kinds of it, and only rarely do virulent forms bother us. We probably are unaware of most of the times we cross paths with it. If your well casing was properly sealed with bentonite clay when the casing was driven, as it must have been, you likely won't be bothered from that cause again, but there's no guarantee against infiltration from poorly designed septic systems (yours or your neighbors')and so on. Ask your local authorities how often they would recommend testing if you want to take precaustions. It will vary from area to area. Good luck, Mark

BIRM is an acronym for Best Iron Removal Media. It is very good for removing iron, but has it's limitations. You can not have any h2s or oil in the water. It is also limited to the amount of iron. 5ppm is the max. The active media is only 1% manganese dioxide. Which makes it light weight. Other media, Pyrolox, Filox and Greensand uses alot more which make the media heavier and if the flow rate is not there for proper backwash, the media packs down and fouls quickly. I don't recommend converting the softener to a BIRM filter. I sell for about the same price as a Kenmore. Get a water test for iron, hardness and hs2. Let me know the results and I can advise the best option.

The tests you want are: 1. pH 2. TDS 3. iron (more on this below) 4. bacteria 5. sulfates 6. Nitrates 7. Hardness 8. Manganese 9. turbidity anything else that tends to be a problem in your area - a local lab will know what these items are. A little more about iron: When you run water from the tap, does it have noticeable color, odor or particulates? If so, you may have ferric (particulate) iron. Is the water clear as it comes from the tap? If you fill a glass and let it sit for a few hours, does it develop color or particulates? If so, you may have ferrous (clear-water, dissolved) iron. Look on your state's website and search for water labs. There should be a number of certified labs available. A local lab is your best option because they will know if there are any issues in your area that you need to be aware of, and the testing will happen more quickly which will vastly improve ferrous iron and volatiles (if applicable) accuracy.

Overall, this isn't a bad test at all. There are some things that require fixing, some that should be adjusted, and many that are just fine. It's good you used the starter on her lawn; she needed it! I'll account for the usage in my calculations and recommendations, assuming you went at bag rate (1 pound of P2O5 equivalent). Sample Depth 3: Four is the normal sampling depth, but that's no big deal. I'll adjust your answers to match a 4" horizon. Exchange Capacity 7.5: Silty sand, probably. The soil holds a tolerable level of resources and testing every other year will be sufficient to make sure nothing's going awry once it's adjusted. pH 6.4: Right where it should be, which is because most of the resources that generate pH are right where they should be. I'll want to adjust a few of them a little bit, but will do so in a relatively pH neutral manner. Organic Matter 4.8%: Nicely in the Good range. Certainly mulch mow, mow all fall leaves, and feed organically if you want, but this is not an emergency. The EC of the soil is high enough that there's no reason to specifically work on organic matter to raise the EC. Sulfur 11: A nice answer, with plenty of margin for adding sulfate-based chemistry to adjust things. I don't need much margin. Phosphorus 77 (103 adjusted): Low, and definitely impacting lawn quality. Target here will be 200. To adjust this, we use starter fertilizer, and my recommendations are below. Calcium 64.6%: Right in optimal range, although with a lower EC soil I'd like to adjust this a tiny bit (that 50 pound [67 pound adjusted] shortage is minor, but...) For this, we use gypsum, which is available at many big box stores, landscape shops, and garden stores. Get the pelletized, it's much easier to handle, if available (and it usually is). My goal here is to nudge the calcium levels closer to 70%. Magnesium 15.4%: Perfect. No magnesium is required or desired. Potassium 5.0%: Perfect (the previous test was wrong on this, I think). No potassium is required or desired, and this is absolutely optimal. Sodium 1.0%: Perfect. Sodium does nothing for a lawn, so very low levels are desirable. The gypsum might reduce this a tiny bit and, if so, great. If not, no problem. Minor Elements: Boron is deficient. The rest are fine, although if you wish to use Milorganite (high iron), that would probably improve the lawn color a little bit over time. Boron <0.2: Deficient. We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 12.5 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. Recommendations: Seeding Time: Starter fertilizer at bag rate (you already did this). October 15: Starter fertilizer at bag rate. November 1: Apply 5 tablespoons (not a misprint) of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet. April 1, 2016: Apply 5 to 10 pounds of gypsum per thousand square feet (I'd prefer 7, actually, but anything in that range is just fine). Memorial Day 2016: Starter fertilizer at bag rate. Labor Day 2016: Starter fertilizer at bag rate.