How to soften and filter well water?

9 years ago

We just moved to a house that has its own private well. The previous owners were renting a water softening system from Culligan that seems crazy expensive to us. Our last house was on public water so we just bought a simple water softener and added salt as needed. I know well water is harder but do we need a fancy system? Can we just buy another water softener?

Should we filter the water or just buy bottled water? I have young kids so I'm very cautious about making sure their drinking water is safe. Should we bother with filtering the well water to drink? Or just buy bottled water?

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Comments (9)

User
9 years ago
1st, you need to get your water tested by a certified lab. Test for: TDS, pH, hardness, iron, sulfur compounds, nitrates, bacteria and anything else your local labs typically test for in well waters. They will have a panel of "well water safety tests" that they do to ensure your water is safe to drink.

Once you have the analysis, then you will know if you need any treatment such as particulate filtration, carbon filtration, softening, etc. You may find that none of it is necessary - get the numbers and then we can go from there.
ElizabethCampos
9 years ago
Water filters are any systems that can filter and remove contaminants from the water. There include small RO drinking water system and large house water filter which treat water through the entire home.

Here is a link that might be useful: hiblow 80
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deedee, The size, type, and complexity of the equipment required will be dependent on... 1. What is in the water that needs to be treated. 2. Number of people in your home. 3. SFR and plumbing requirements. Without knowing all three variables there is no way to even ball park what you'll need. Could be as little as $500 or a few thousand. How about this... Get a water test from an independent lab. An independent lab has no agenda and won't be trying to sell you water treatment equipment. Go to http://www.epa.gov/safewater/labs/index.html to locate a certified lab near you. This is a MUST DO because without it everything is a guess. A quickie water test from Sears or a water softener company won't be as accurate (and possibly not as competent) as from a certified independent lab. Hit the Yellow Pages and call at least three local water treatment pros. Make sure you call at least one of the big dogs like Kinetico or Culligan for comparison and at least a couple independent pros. DON'T TELL THEM YOU HAD YOUR WATER TESTED. Give each an opportunity to offer suggestions and provide you with a quote to meet your water treatment needs. IGNORE ANY THAT DON'T TEST YOUR WATER THEMSELVES as they can't speak intelligently to water treatment without knowing what needs to be treated. Ask lots of questions. Softening the entire house or just the water heater (bad idea)? Warranty, parts & labor or just parts, how long and on exactly what? Install, permits required, licensed plumber? Routine maintenance and costs? Do they stock parts? Response time for emergency (water leak) calls? If they don't explain things to your satisfaction that is a good indicator of how you'll be treated after the sale. After they've gone use your water test to compare with theirs. Are all your treatment needs being addressed? Ask your neighbors if they have any water treatment experience. They might tell you who's good or who to avoid. Come back here and post the specific recommendations and hardware components with the costs and we'll give you our opinions.
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FixerUpper18
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for the replies! Unfortunately our water report is in a box somewhere (we just moved) but I know the water was really hard like 35+ if I'm remembering correctly. The last owners were renting a Culligan water softening system and it still left hard water marks on the glass in the showers and the washing machine. The filter Culligan recommend for about $4,500 my husband found at Amazon for $900. Anyone have any familiarity with it?
http://www.amazon.com/Combination-softener-Fleck-5600SXT-digital/dp/B004LUJ6L4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ARSP0ZRXYARXKXGYB48

Right now we are thinking of installing that, and these:
Whole house filter system
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E78XH6/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SY115&simLd=1
Reverse Osmosis
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003XELTTG/ref=s9_simh_gw_d0_g60_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=mobile-1&pf_rd_r=19BYWGQ76A8AKPP5ENE9&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1824974342&pf_rd_i=mobile

Is that a good combination? Are there better options? Again looking to filter the well water to remove heavy iron, the well sediment and have the water safe for drinking. Obviously soften the water too. Any feedback would be much appreciated, thank you!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
your well.. and associated information... should be on file in the county health department.. if i am not mistaken ...

they would also know of general water info in your county ...

talk also with a well guy ... they are a font of information .. i think that is a pun ...

and you said: I know well water is harder

is that a generalization... or do you have specific info in that regard??? ... presumptions can lead you down the wrong path ...

to my reading ..... you are throwing around a bunch of cliches .... and reading between the lines [which mind you.. is very dangerous for me] .... i am worried you are using 'terms of art' .. but might not fully understand the ramifications of what you are trying to communicate with us ...

if i were you.. i would make appointments with every water supply company... for miles around ... and interrogate each one ... by the time you are done.. you will have a lot better idea of what its all about ...

this is really something.. that the interweb could lead you far astray.. from what reality is.. in your locale ...

good luck

ken
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
your well.. and associated information... should be on file in the county health department.. if i am not mistaken ...

they would also know of general water info in your county ...

talk also with a well guy ... they are a font of information .. i think that is a pun ...

and you said: I know well water is harder

is that a generalization... or do you have specific info in that regard??? ... presumptions can lead you down the wrong path ...

to my reading ..... you are throwing around a bunch of cliches .... and reading between the lines [which mind you.. is very dangerous for me] .... i am worried you are using 'terms of art' .. but might not fully understand the ramifications of what you are trying to communicate with us ...

if i were you.. i would make appointments with every water supply company... for miles around ... and interrogate each one ... by the time you are done.. you will have a lot better idea of what its all about ...

this is really something.. that the interweb could lead you far astray.. from what reality is.. in your locale ...

good luck

ken
User
9 years ago
If you don't have actual analysis numbers to share with me, all I can do is guess. The softener you linked to may or may not be the right thing for your situation. I have no way of knowing yet. If your vague recollection of hardness numbers is correct, the one you linked is probably too small.

The whole house filter you linked is simply a sediment filter. Do you have a sediment problem? If so, I would NOT install the filter you linked. Rather, install one that uses 4" diameter fitlers, preferably two in parallel.

The RO may be necessary to filter out contaminants, but more likely not. You may want one purely for water taste reasons, in which case you would run softened water to the RO.

Again, all of this absolutely, positively must start with water analysis.
stoveguyy
9 years ago
Depends on your location. Well water will have varying degrees of hardness. You cannot make a blanket statement that it is always hard. Yes it is not treated like city water. Our city softens the water to 6 grains of hardness. It's up to homeowners to install softener if we choose. A well can have high levels of iron or not. Some homeowners choose to use softener as iron filter. Though it's not designed to do that.
FixerUpper18
Original Author
9 years ago
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Collection Date/Time:

10/14/2014

5:00

Sample Collector:

Submittal Date/Time:
10/14/2014
17:01
Sample ID

Co

liform Designation:
Sample Description: Well
Analyte
Method
Unit
Result
Qual
PQL
MCL
Date Analyzed

Aggressivity Index
Calculation

12.2

10/16/2014

Alkalinity, Total (as CaCO3)
SM2320B
mg/L
323

2

10/16/2014

Arsenic, Total
EPA200.8
ÃÂµg/L
9

1
10
10/16/2014

Bicarbonate (as HCO3-)
SM2320B
mg/L
394

10

10/16/2014

Boron
EPA200.7
mg/L
0.11

0.05

10/15/2014

Cadmium, Total
EPA200.8
ÃÂµg/L
Not Detected

0.5
5 10/16/2014

Calcium
EPA200.7
mg/L
183

0.5

10/15/2014

Chloride
EPA300.0
mg/L
199

1
250
10/15/2014

Copper
EPA200.7
ÃÂµg/L
42

10

10/15/2014

Fluoride
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.3

0.1
2.0
10/15/2014

Hardness (as CaCO3)
SM2340B/Calc
mg/L
622

10

10/16/2014

Iron
EPA200.7
ÃÂµg/L
1940

10
300
10/15/2014

Langlier Index, Corrosion potential 15
SM2330B

0.15

10/17/2014

Langlier Index, Corrosion potential 60
SM2330B
ÃÂµg/L
0.73

1

10/17/2014

Lead, Total
EPA200.8
ÃÂµg/L
12

5
15
10/16/2014

Magnesium
EPA200.7
mg/L
40

0.5

10/15/2014

Manganese, Total
EPA200.7
ÃÂµg/L
76

10
50
10/15/2014

Nitrate as NO3
EPA300.0
mg/L
1

1
45
10/15/2014

Nitrate as NO3-N
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.2

0.1
10
10/15/2014

Nitrate+Nitrite as N
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.4

0.1

10/15/2014

Nitrite as NO2-N
EPA300.0
mg/L
0.3

0.1
1.0
10/15/2014

o-Phosphate-P
EPA300.0
mg/L
Not Detected

0.1

10/15/2014

pH (Laboratory)
SM4500-H+B
pH (H)
7.0

10/14/2014

Potassium
EPA200.7
mg/L
11

0.5

10/15/2014

QC Anion Sum x 100
Calculation
% 108%

10/17/2014

QC Anion-Cation Balance
Calculation
% -1

10/17/2014

QC Cation Sum x 100
Calculation
% 105%

10/17/2014

QC Ratio TDS/SEC
Calculation

0.66

10/17/2014

SAR (Sodium Adsorption Ratio)
Suarez, 1981

2.5

10/17/2014

SAR, Adjusted
Suarez, 1981

3.5

10/17/2014

Silica as SiO2, Total
EPA200.7
mg/L
44

0.5

10/15/2014

Sodium
EPA200.7
mg/L
142

0.5

10/15/2014

Specific Conductance (E.C)
SM2510B
ÃÂµmhos/cm
1799

1
900
10/17/2014

Sulfate
EPA300.0
mg/L
350

1
250
10/15/2014

Total Diss. Solids
SM2540C
mg/L
1184

10
500
10/15/2014

Zinc
EPA200.7
ÃÂµg/L
65

10

10/15/2014

Sample Comments:
FixerUpper18
Original Author
9 years ago
The above is a copy of our new lab test. Also we had plumbing work to fix the pipes coming into the house (apparently previous owners actually had it coming in through a garden house instead of pipes!) and we had a whole house filter put on the line (simple off the shelf GE one from Home Depot. While the water was off for about 8 hours and when the plumber turned back on the filter was full of mud. After running the water again no more mud but clearly we also have to filter the sediment. Ideally we would like to drink the water unless it's too expensive to make it safe for drinking. At minimum we want to make the water safe for the appliances and add a softener for showering. Any recommendations on what we should buy? Thank you so much!

How to soften and filter well water?

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