Buying a house with well water problems

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Froggertwenty

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So I'm currently in the process of buying a house but this is the first time I'm dealing with well water. The system appears to have been neglected for many years and was probably a DIY install and bandaids along the way. The system is in a low yield well and consists of storage tanks which have never been cleaned and are full of iron bacteria, a pressure tank with a perforated bladder, a chlorinator and contact tank, and then 2 "ionizer" tanks from the 70's that are backed up and leaking, and then a water softener that hasn't been touched in a while.

I did my due diligence and had the company who drilled the well out to look at it as well as a water treatment company. I'm a little lost because they had 2 very different opinions on how to attack this. I'll save the storage questions for the other part of the forum but basically....

The water treatment guy tested the water and came up with 21 grains of hardness, 10ppm of Iron, Ph of 7.2, and claimed to smell a bit of sulfur but we hadn't been able to smell any ourselves. The backs of the toilets also have a lot of iron bacteria in them. This house has not been maintained in a while though and has been sitting vacant for a couple months it seems.

The well driller who does most of the wells in the area did not test the water but said in the area, all the wells are low yield, high in iron, very little sulfur. He recommended getting rid of everything and simplifying it down to some sort of carbon filter tank (he didn't give specifics as the was just a quick evaluation for buying the house).

The water treatment guy on the other hand recommended an

Evolve EVS-1354 (https://www.evolveseries.com/products/filtration/evs.html)

Which appears to be a Sulfur filter?

Then an Evolve EV2 (https://www.evolveseries.com/products/conditioners/ev2.html)

Which appears to be a zeolite water conditioner. Followed up by a UV Filter and optional RO system for drinking water.

I have no idea which option makes more sense. The water treatment estimate was obviously significantly higher but it seemed he wanted to sell more treatment equipment since he had no idea about the storage side and never found the perforated pressure tank and thought the leaking pump was fine. The well guy on the other hand seemed to want to sell us more on drilling the pump casing from 6"-12" for storage instead which comes at a cost so a cheap treatment in the house makes that more likely.
 

Bannerman

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It is advisable to have a comprehensive lab test performed on the raw water. With a private well, you become your own municipality as you are fully responsible for the water's safety and treatment methods.

A comprehensive test will allow you to consider all water conditions so appropriate treatment methods maybe identified and considered before anything is decided.

National Labs WaterCheck is a lab that is frequently recommended on this forum. If you haven't yet made an offer to purchase the property, the inclusion of a full lab test & report could possibly be a requirement as a condition of purchase.

http://watercheck.myshopify.com/?aff=5
 

Froggertwenty

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Unfortunately we ended up in a position of multiple offers going in on the house so we had to put ours in as well. There is a requirement by the county for a lab test on the water and everything must fall within a certain range for the house to sell. I'm also going FHA so they have their own set of requirements on the water system. We're working on the assumption this system will fail and then we will negotiate some split on the system to replace it how we want it done. I'm just not sure what direction to go or who is being truthful on what is best vs selling me their services.
 

Bannerman

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10 ppm Iron is excessive. Various treatment methods can be utilized but the appropriateness for each will need to take into consideration various other water conditions. Treatment methods for iron will typically be also effective for sulfer odor, but this filtration should occur prior to softening.

An independent lab test will provide comprehensive results so as to identify all conditions which will assist to identify which treatment options will be more effective than others, without pressure from equipment vendors who have an interest in selling whatever they offer. When a vendor offers preconfigured products, then they will typically attempt to limit you within the equipment's capabilities as opposed to configuring the treatment method to suit your conditions and requirements.
 

Froggertwenty

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10 ppm of Iron did seem excessive but that is what the little instant test he used showed. I'm not sure how easily those things are swayed or if he was trying to make it seem worse. Assuming that is correct is typical iron treatment methods effective in reducing those levels to something reasonable?

If I am able to get in there to get a water test soon which test would you recommend with respect to cost and my concerns? I obviously want to have the system configured properly from the start and not waste money on things that I don't need (which the sulfur reducing one seemed to be based on low/no smell and the well driller saying theres very little sulfur in the area)
 

Reach4

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The system is in a low yield well and consists of storage tanks which have never been cleaned and are full of iron bacteria, a pressure tank with a perforated bladder, a chlorinator and contact tank, and then 2 "ionizer" tanks from the 70's that are backed up and leaking, and then a water softener that hasn't been touched in a while.
Usually after the contact tank, there would be a carbon (GAC) tank to remove the chlorine.

Does the contact tank have a blow down valve to let you remove the settled sediment.

Hydrogen peroxide can be a good alternative to chlorine for iron treatment. You still use a GAC tank to remove the surplus. I am not a pro, and have not used H2O2 for water treatment.
 
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Taylorjm

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The iron bacteria your referring to is harmless and you really only get it in things like the toilet tanks where the water can sit for awhile. If you are using the water there will probably not be any iron bacteria in it. We get the slimy mess in the toilet tanks because ours is a vacation home and only used mainly in summer. We get a sulfur smell occasionally too when the water isn't used for a week or so. Once people are in the house in the summer consistently, there is no iron bacteria or sulfur smell. I would recommend a lab test as well and not the little test strips. Also finding out what kind of iron it is will be a big factor. If it's the ferric iron that makes water look orange, that can be filtered out with an inline whole house filter. If it's the ferrous iron, which is clear water iron, then you need a specific iron filter to convert it to the ferric iron so it can be filtered out. Unfortunately, I don't think many lab tests will tell you what kind of iron it is, just the total iron. The lab test will also tell you if there's a hydrogen sulfide issue too, since the salesperson is trying to sell you a hydrogen sulfide filter system.
 
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ditttohead

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Agree with Bannerman, get a real water test. It is very difficult to design a proper system based on a couple of parameters. Many water treatment companies like to install 2-3 years systems. These are simplified units that will work for a few years prior to needing major renovation or replacement.
 

Froggertwenty

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After this feedback I'm definitely in the process of getting a Lab test done. I just also found out our offer has been accepted so the issue is 2 fold. Should I test the raw water before the treatment system or should i test it after the system? I believe before the system would be most useful in determining what I need to fix it but we are also trying to have some leverage in the closing to get the water system fixed correctly so the post treatment would probably be all they care about. I'm new to well water and this is the only scary part about this house. I'm also an engineer so all of this is also just quite interesting to learn
 

Reach4

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Should I test the raw water before the treatment system
Yes. Before. You are planning your treatment system.

Let the well run for a while.

If you will do a coliform test, there are procedures needed to avoid contaminating the sample.
 
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