Have Well Water Test Report - What Equipment Do I Need?

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Gustave

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Hello Folks,

I am about to hook up the output of my well to our in-home water supply. New Construction on the Central CA Coast (Paso Robles).

I have never lived on well water. I expect to need filters and a softening system at least. Plan on a booster pump and pressure accumulator also. I would like to use on-demand hot water heaters, though I have not bought them so I could change that if needed.

See what I think to be the important results from a water quality test of our well (attached)

I have been studying this issue online for a few days but am pretty confused. There are so many companies offering products now, that I am not sure what is best. Do I remove iron and manganese via filtration or softening? What softener? "Saltless" or salt/potassium based? What micron level prefiltration?

I plan to purchase and install everything myself so I know how it works and can troubleshoot it something goes wrong down the line.

House and Barn. Total of 6 bathrooms and two kitchens. Though it is very unlikely that all of these will be used at once.

If anyone is willing to offer some input I am listening...

Gustave
 

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ditttohead

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Do you have the full water report? That is not really enough information to make a proper determination.

NTLWATERTEST


Use this link, definitely worth spending a couple hundred bucks on a real test. Use the well standard.
 

Reach4

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Your test does not show pH or arsenic.

There are also tests for pesticides etc for shallower wells, but for deeper wells that is usually not done.

Do I remove iron and manganese via filtration or softening? What softener? "Saltless" or salt/potassium based? What micron level prefiltration?
Probably softening, with some extra cleaning and adding some acid treatment to the brine tank. That can remove manganese and your level of iron. However many iron filters can remove other things, such as H2S (which few water tests test for), and arsenic . Your nose knows H2S better than a lab test.

I have never lived on well water. I expect to need filters and a softening system at least. Plan on a booster pump and pressure accumulator also. I would like to use on-demand hot water heaters, though I have not bought them so I could change that if needed.
Filters depend on your well. You probably would want a filter before the softener, and maybe another after. You may want a filter for filtering sand in front of the cartridge filter if your well produces significant sand.

Saltless "softeners" don't soften. You can use regular (sodium chloride) salt, or you can pay 5x and haul 1.25x as much if you choose potassium.

Pipe your irrigation water from before your softener and cartridge filters.

How deep is your well? How far down is your water ("static level")?

Why do you think you need a booster pump? A poor-producing well is one reason. Usually IMO it is better to not use the above ground storage for your household water, and just keep those tanks for government-mandated (or personally wanted) fire fighting water. The fire department brings their own pumps for fighting fires. I am not a pro,

In choosing a softener, one consideration is how many people are going to use the softened water. Figure about 60 gallons per person typically, but it can run less or more, of course. Softeners don't require that much backwashing gpm... between 2.4 for most and up to 5 gpm for a big home softener. Iron+Mn+whaterver backwashing filters tend to use about twice that for backwashing.

So your well is in, and your pump is in. Can you produce 7 to 10 gpm for a while? That will generally support the house without a booster pump. Find out the well info from your well folks now, and keep a copy near your pressure tank and somewhere else.
 

Gustave

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Thank you folks for you responses.

I thought that uploading the entire test report might be too big a file. Which it is, I tried to upload it but failed. So here are a few more snapshots.

The well is 500 ft deep and the pump is set at 420 ft. The flow test showed a reliable 10 GPM, which is kind of marginal in my opinion. But it will have to do for now.

The well pumps water up a hill to a 10,000 gal storage tank. A separate 2" line feeds water in a different direction, downhill, to the house. Gravity head produces 36.5 psi at the house. That is why I want a booster pump.

My main concerns are preserving plumbing fixtures and water heaters from scaling and staining. And I figure some type of sediment filter would help extend the life of the booster pump.

We've been using the water to keep footing trenches wet and for compacting soil. I've not noticed any sulfur smell. But maybe you have to hold a glass of water right under your nose before it is noticeable.

I prefer standard "salt-based" softening as my wife and I like how it feels when we shower. Just was not sure if it was "good enough".
There are so many options these days...

Again, thank you for any advice.

Gustave
 

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Reach4

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Pretty nice water... the Fe and Mn are the big deals. pH 7.5 nice. Langelier Corrosivity Index 0.35, nice. Sulfate 27 (pretty low), so significant H2S unlikely. No arsenic, chromium or other nasties that I noticed.
Gravity head produces 36.5 psi at the house.
So close. I wonder what the PSI is when you draw 5gpm without a booster. Softener regen requires 30 psi at 2.4 gpm.

Do you have power at the tank? If so, you could put in a 1/2 hp 10 gpm pump to drive higher pressure water to the house. Or just have a booster to drive the high-pressure irrigation sprinklers.

I would lean toward a softener with 1.5 cuft of resin.

Here is how I might program a Fleck 5810SXT controller for your water:
System info (not programmed)
salt lb/cuft : 7.5 ; A choice ( efficiency vs capacity)
BLFC : 0.25 ; Brine Refill rate GPM (If yours is something else, that changes BF).
cubic ft resin : 1.5 ; Same as (nominal grains/32,000)
Raw hardness : 25.0 ; including iron etc
H comp factor ; 1.14
Hardness compensation
Estimated gal/day ; 120.0 ; 60 gal per person prediction (auto-tunes)
Est days/regen 10.1 ; presuming days each use estimated

Fleck 5810SXT Settings:
DF = Gal ; Units
VT = 5810 ; Valve type
RF = dF2b ; Downflow, Double Backwash
CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger
C = 34.6 ; capacity in 1000 grains
H = 29 ; Hardness grains after comp factor (iron, Mn, high hardness)
RS = cr ; Cr = base reserve on recent experience
DO = 21 ; Day Override (typ 30 if no iron/Mn)
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
B1 = 5 ; Backwash 1 (minutes) [3...10]
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
B2 = 4 ; Backwash 2 (minutes)[3...10]
RR = 6 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 15 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = t1.2 (usual) ; t1.2 is default flow meter

I would prefer a #0 Injector - Red

I would look to treat the salt with some citric acid. Not sure of the dose. You can buy salt intended to help with iron. It has some citric acid added in.
 
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Gustave

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Pretty nice water... the Fe and Mn are the big deals. pH 7.5 nice. Langelier Corrosivity Index 0.35, nice. Sulfate 27 (pretty low), so significant H2S unlikely. No arsenic, chromium or other nasties that I noticed.

So close. I wonder what the PSI is when you draw 5gpm without a booster. Softener regen requires 30 psi at 2.4 gpm.

Do you have power at the tank? If so, you could put in a 1/2 hp 10 gpm pump to drive higher pressure water to the house. Or just have a booster to drive the high-pressure irrigation sprinklers.

I would lean toward a softener with 1.5 cuft of resin.

Here is how I might program a Fleck 5810SXT controller for your water...

Thank you Reach4. That is great information. I had not heard of Fleck, but see that they sell complete systems from their website. I assume they are a reputable brand?

Regarding pre-filtration. I am still in the dark as to what micron level to filter down to, as a start at least. I'd prefer not to have to clear the filter too often, but want to preserve down-stream components.

My wife and I have run all the 2" PVC from the well to the 10,000 gal tank, and the 2" PVC from the tank to the house. About 1000 ft in all. We tried hard, but inevitably some dirt got in the pipes, which will take time to flush out completely. Not to mention any sediment in the well water itself. Any thoughts on this subject?

Also, would a booster pump right next to the house not work fine? I have a concrete equipment pad right next to the house, where the 2" line comes down from the water tank. I was going to place all of my water treatment equipment there. I would like to have more than 35'ish psi for showers and faucets. I was going to install a large X-Trol pressure tank with 40/60 set points. Some of the soft water has to be pushed all the way through the house and then underground out to the barn. There will be inevitable pressure losses down that run. There is a shower in the barn along with a kitchen.

There is another consideration. Our house is large, 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, in addition to a barn with one bathroom, and a camper trailer as a bedroom. But 75% of the time it will just be my wife and I as residents. We live in Central CA wine country. Prime vacation rental territory. So on the weekends there could be as many as 10 extra humans occupying our space. That would be extreme, but it has to be taken into account.

I have assumed I could simply oversize all water treatment equipment to deal with this. Not sure if that poses and concerns through...

Thank you,

Gustave
 

Reach4

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I had not heard of Fleck, but see that they sell complete systems from their website. I assume they are a reputable brand?
Fleck the manufacturer of the valves does not sell systems. Somehow that seller is misleading I think.
My wife and I have run all the 2" PVC from the well to the 10,000 gal tank, and the 2" PVC from the tank to the house. About 1000 ft in all. We tried hard, but inevitably some dirt got in the pipes, which will take time to flush out completely. Not to mention any sediment in the well water itself. Any thoughts on this subject?
I think a dual density cartridge that is 50/5 micron is good for many. I like the Pentek DGD-5005-20. Many 20x4.5 cartridges are available.

here is another consideration. Our house is large, 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, in addition to a barn with one bathroom, and a camper trailer as a bedroom. But 75% of the time it will just be my wife and I as residents. We live in Central CA wine country. Prime vacation rental territory. So on the weekends there could be as many as 10 extra humans occupying our space. That would be extreme, but it has to be taken into account.
In that case, you may want to go to a bigger softener with 2 or 2.5 or even 3 cuft of resin. Before the crowd is expected, you could consider a manual regen so that the softener is at full capacity.
 

Gustave

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Fleck the manufacturer of the valves does not sell systems. Somehow that seller is misleading I think.

I think a dual density cartridge that is 50/5 micron is good for many. I like the Pentek DGD-5005-20. Many 20x4.5 cartridges are available.


In that case, you may want to go to a bigger softener with 2 or 2.5 or even 3 cuft of resin. Before the crowd is expected, you could consider a manual regen so that the softener is at full capacity.

OK, thank you.
 
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