drunkstreetbum
New Member
Hi all,
We recently purchased a home that has been vacant for ~8 years, and the well has only been used a few times for water testing.The well is approximately 220 feet deep, with a 30' casing. Bedrock is approximately 8 feet (shale), where the static water level sits. At the time of drilling (~12 years ago) the well produced greater than 5gpm for 4 hours. Once we purchased, I elected to "turn over" the well a few times, following by a shock chlorination (sit for 16 hours), with another 1-2 turnovers after. With a garden house open full strength (I did not measure GPM, but it appears high), it took more than 5 hours to see a reduction in water flow rate, and when the "nasty" water came up. The well water has varied from dark grey w/ settable solids/silts that have accumulated in toilets, to the current condition where it is mostly clear, with some turbidity and a very faint gray tinge. There is a hydrogen sulfide smell present, which has also varied in strength. The toilet tanks all had lots of black/stringy growth in them; the problem is the house has been vacant so long, this may be attributed to several items. Water feels "slippery", more on that below.
I waited until I cleaned the water up through well flushing to send the water samples in for testing. While I'm still waiting for official results, I got some preliminary information back and followed it up with a "box store" test kit and a cheapo TDS meter this weekend.
Official Testing
Coliform: Negative
Turbidity: 24 (at time of testing)
pH: 8.9
Alkalinity (CaCO3): 362 mg/L
Hardness as CAC3): <2 mg/L
Nitrate: <0.01 mg/L
Iron: 0.68 mg/L
Manganese: <0.01 mg/L
Sodium: 173 mg/L
Lead: <0.001 mg/L
Sulfide: <0.10 mg/L
Nitrite: <0.01 mg/L
Home Test Kit:
TDS: ~350(multiple test samples)
pH: between 9 & 10 (will get a more accurate test kit now that I know it's high)
(Just bought my own pH meter, Apera PH60 - will be checking regularly)
Iron: Very low, per test strip
Hardness: Very low, per test strip
Alkalinity: Off charts, per test strip
Chlorine: 0/Very low
Based on the high pH, it makes sense the water is slippery as I have found basic solutions to feel this way. It appears this is more of a unique case to high high alkalinity/pH and naturally low hardness. There is no residual Chlorine that I can tell that contribute to the pH. Neighbors seem to have lots of different type of treatment systems; I have not talked to them much, but I don't believe any of them are using Acid Injection. (One of them mentioned using a softener, which either means very different water or they got ripped off). Either way, none of them are super happy with their treatment from what I gather.
I will be utilizing RO for drinking water, and I already purchased a 100 micron spindown filter, and a 3x Big Blue (20") filter setup that I planned to use as a "redundant" filter. I am still waiting for official results for Iron, Manganese, Turbidity, Sodium, Sulfide & pH, but I believe it's time to start looking into the primary treatment. I had initially expected hard water & iron removal so most of my research is centered around that. Since it seems both of these are very low, it does not make sense to invest in Katalox Light unless Manganese comes in high. What's the next best system for removing Hydrogen Sulfide, if no Manganese is present?
Since the pH is high, I believe I may need to utilize acid injection to bring it down to ~9 or less. I've read a bit about acids, but it's been awhile since my chemistry days. Would adding sulphuric acids help reduce hydrogen sulfide? I need to avoid any chloric acids, as the Cl ions have the potential to cause dezincification (more on that below...). I am leaning towards utilizing a carboxylic acid, as these seem to introduce the least amount of elemental byproducts. Any advice in this regard?
To add to all of the above, the house wastewater is treated through an on-site Eljen septic system. The system, is 12 years old, but has not been used for the last 8 of those years. The system is ALMOST undersized, but I plan to replace the primary tank and expand the field in a few years. Lastly, and this in important, the whole house is plumbed with Kitec piping and fittings. I've already purchased a bunch of aluminum replacement fittings from Veratek to plumb in the new bladder tank, hot water heater, etc. I don't plan to replumb the whole house at this juncture (no money!) so I need to do what I can to reduce the possibility of dezincification. Chlorine is about the worst thing for these fittings, as is low pH and highly oxidized water. I purchased a polyphosphate scale inhibitor (3M) to place downstream of the water treatment systems...not sure if this is necessary and am still researching, but some tests suggests it helps prevent zinc leaching (at least for a short time).
I will update this once I know more about the test results! Please let me know if anyone has advice...I am planning to install everything myself, as I consider myself handy and am a Civil Engineer at least somewhat familiar with water treatment. Information/guides on residential acid injection appear extremely limited or non-existent!
Update:
I just updated the official test results; had to wait 2 weeks for them to come back. pH is not as high as I thought (good!), but the tester suggests the turbidity is based on colloidal clay. This would make sense given the "slippery" feel of the water, the inconsistent gray character and the sodium levels contributing to the natural softness.
We recently purchased a home that has been vacant for ~8 years, and the well has only been used a few times for water testing.The well is approximately 220 feet deep, with a 30' casing. Bedrock is approximately 8 feet (shale), where the static water level sits. At the time of drilling (~12 years ago) the well produced greater than 5gpm for 4 hours. Once we purchased, I elected to "turn over" the well a few times, following by a shock chlorination (sit for 16 hours), with another 1-2 turnovers after. With a garden house open full strength (I did not measure GPM, but it appears high), it took more than 5 hours to see a reduction in water flow rate, and when the "nasty" water came up. The well water has varied from dark grey w/ settable solids/silts that have accumulated in toilets, to the current condition where it is mostly clear, with some turbidity and a very faint gray tinge. There is a hydrogen sulfide smell present, which has also varied in strength. The toilet tanks all had lots of black/stringy growth in them; the problem is the house has been vacant so long, this may be attributed to several items. Water feels "slippery", more on that below.
I waited until I cleaned the water up through well flushing to send the water samples in for testing. While I'm still waiting for official results, I got some preliminary information back and followed it up with a "box store" test kit and a cheapo TDS meter this weekend.
Official Testing
Coliform: Negative
Turbidity: 24 (at time of testing)
pH: 8.9
Alkalinity (CaCO3): 362 mg/L
Hardness as CAC3): <2 mg/L
Nitrate: <0.01 mg/L
Iron: 0.68 mg/L
Manganese: <0.01 mg/L
Sodium: 173 mg/L
Lead: <0.001 mg/L
Sulfide: <0.10 mg/L
Nitrite: <0.01 mg/L
Home Test Kit:
TDS: ~350(multiple test samples)
pH: between 9 & 10 (will get a more accurate test kit now that I know it's high)
(Just bought my own pH meter, Apera PH60 - will be checking regularly)
Iron: Very low, per test strip
Hardness: Very low, per test strip
Alkalinity: Off charts, per test strip
Chlorine: 0/Very low
Based on the high pH, it makes sense the water is slippery as I have found basic solutions to feel this way. It appears this is more of a unique case to high high alkalinity/pH and naturally low hardness. There is no residual Chlorine that I can tell that contribute to the pH. Neighbors seem to have lots of different type of treatment systems; I have not talked to them much, but I don't believe any of them are using Acid Injection. (One of them mentioned using a softener, which either means very different water or they got ripped off). Either way, none of them are super happy with their treatment from what I gather.
I will be utilizing RO for drinking water, and I already purchased a 100 micron spindown filter, and a 3x Big Blue (20") filter setup that I planned to use as a "redundant" filter. I am still waiting for official results for Iron, Manganese, Turbidity, Sodium, Sulfide & pH, but I believe it's time to start looking into the primary treatment. I had initially expected hard water & iron removal so most of my research is centered around that. Since it seems both of these are very low, it does not make sense to invest in Katalox Light unless Manganese comes in high. What's the next best system for removing Hydrogen Sulfide, if no Manganese is present?
Since the pH is high, I believe I may need to utilize acid injection to bring it down to ~9 or less. I've read a bit about acids, but it's been awhile since my chemistry days. Would adding sulphuric acids help reduce hydrogen sulfide? I need to avoid any chloric acids, as the Cl ions have the potential to cause dezincification (more on that below...). I am leaning towards utilizing a carboxylic acid, as these seem to introduce the least amount of elemental byproducts. Any advice in this regard?
To add to all of the above, the house wastewater is treated through an on-site Eljen septic system. The system, is 12 years old, but has not been used for the last 8 of those years. The system is ALMOST undersized, but I plan to replace the primary tank and expand the field in a few years. Lastly, and this in important, the whole house is plumbed with Kitec piping and fittings. I've already purchased a bunch of aluminum replacement fittings from Veratek to plumb in the new bladder tank, hot water heater, etc. I don't plan to replumb the whole house at this juncture (no money!) so I need to do what I can to reduce the possibility of dezincification. Chlorine is about the worst thing for these fittings, as is low pH and highly oxidized water. I purchased a polyphosphate scale inhibitor (3M) to place downstream of the water treatment systems...not sure if this is necessary and am still researching, but some tests suggests it helps prevent zinc leaching (at least for a short time).
I will update this once I know more about the test results! Please let me know if anyone has advice...I am planning to install everything myself, as I consider myself handy and am a Civil Engineer at least somewhat familiar with water treatment. Information/guides on residential acid injection appear extremely limited or non-existent!
Update:
I just updated the official test results; had to wait 2 weeks for them to come back. pH is not as high as I thought (good!), but the tester suggests the turbidity is based on colloidal clay. This would make sense given the "slippery" feel of the water, the inconsistent gray character and the sodium levels contributing to the natural softness.
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