Gsmith22
Active Member
Hoping the folks on here can guide me and/or critique my path forward to treating the water at my home. Title above gives some of the major issues.
Background: I purchased a home in central NJ in May 2018; moved in Aug 2018. We are a family of four - two adults and two kids. Home was built in 1991 and has well water with septic system. It is my understanding that the well was bored early on in the construction and possibly up to several years prior. NJ has online records about well drilling and I have searched but come up empty thus far for my well. I know from paperwork provided with the sale that the well has a submersible 5gpm, 3/4hp pump - so relatively low flow although flow rate hasn't been an issue for us. As part of the sale, NJ requires the seller to have a well test performed for a variety of contaminants all of which came back as either not found or well below MCL set by state and/or federal guidelines. Plumbing runs from well head to big pressure tank in basement to 2.5x10 cartridge sediment filter to a Water Boss 700 softener that then feeds the house plumbing. I have found and am in the process of fixing a variety of plumbing issues (leaky valves, clogged/frozen valves, DIY/handyman rigs to various plumbing fixtures, etc.) that all lead me to believe the house originally didn't have a softener with the first one being added initially about 12 years ago. I say that because I found paperwork from the first Water Boss 700 install from 2010 and then another Water Boss 700 install in 2017. At the time of sale, prior owner was using Morton Rust Defense salt leading me to believe that possibly an iron concern was present. My own water testing indicates the early failure of the softener may be due to radium (see below).
Current: While looking over the prior well testing paperwork recently, I realized they had done the testing from an internal tap - after the softener. This isn't how the test was supposed to be done by law but not alot I can do about that now. Looking to make sure everything was on the up and up, and knowing that some things weren't required to be tested as part of the sale, decided to have a comprehensive test done on the water. Results:
Coliform: absent
Iron: 0.065 mg/L
manganese: 0.007 mg/L
arsenic: 0.0026 mg/L
nitrate: 0.424 mg/L as N
Total Hardness 281 mg/L at CaCO3
Gross Alpha 31.3 pCi/L
Gross Alpha Final 40.9 pCi/L
Radon 1626.4 pCi/L
Organics/Pesticides/VOC: none detected
Test didn't include pH but I can supplement later - pH from sale testing a year ago was 6.67. Not surprised about the hardness being high (MCL of 250) but was taken aback by the Gross Alpha (MCL of 15). Our county doesn't require that testing (nor the Radon) for a house sale so this was new data. My own reading indicates a few states in the northeast (not NJ) have Radon limits of 2000 or 4000 pCi/L. So we are just under the lowest limit but higher than I would like considering all sources of radiation.
Following that testing, I had Uranium specifically tested and it came back as 12.6 pCi/L (or 0.0188 mg/L) with an Adjusted Gross Alpha of 29.1 pCi/L. So the Uranium just squeaks under the MCL of 0.02 mg/L and the Gross Alpha is still too high (MCL of 15). Again from reading, this basically means that Radium is making up the remainder of the gross alpha. I could test for Radium, but even if it happens to be below the MCL of 5 pCi/L, the gross alpha is still too high - guessing approximately half is coming from Radium and half from Uranium. So that leaves me with having to deal with hardness, radium, uranium, and a radon amount that is higher than I would like. I would really like to take care of all of these with a POE system and not have to worry about what I can drink from and what remains around the house from washing, dishes, etc. especially considering the multiple sources of alpha particles.
From research, Ion exchange looks more feasible/promising than RO for a POE system especially considering I am on low flowing well and septic. Being in solution, none of these things would seem to me to be filterable. Radium seems to get removed from typical cation softener (water softener) since it is positively changed like Ca and Mg, but uranium gets removed with anion media since it is negatively charged. Radon at my levels can be removed with activated carbon (or alternatively aeration). I have read that anion exchange has to be fed with softened water so I am guessing the order is pressure tank to cation (water) softener (for Radium, Iron at my low level, Ca, and Mg) to anion exchange (for Uranium and probably whatever arsenic and nitrates are present) to activated carbon (for radon and general taste) to house. I fully intend to use ion exchange media that is of the NaCl form but I have read that anion exchange can lower pH (or is that for the HCL form only?). Does this mean I need to run the water through calcite media following the anion exchange to raise the pH (adding hardness even though I already removed hardness)? Does this setup seem feasible or is there some better way to accomplish removal of these contaminants?
I am attempting to educate myself before moving forward. I don't have a problem with DIY but this seems a little more intricate than a typical water softener setup. I'm also concerned about my general impression of the water treatment business as a bunch of snake oil sales so if I do contract with someone, I would like to know what does/doesn't work before hand. I appreciate any help/guidance you can provide. If I go the DIY route, sizing the various media is a mystery to me. I have found various guidance on cation/water softener sizing but nothing specific to account for Radium along with calcium, magnesium, and low level iron.
Background: I purchased a home in central NJ in May 2018; moved in Aug 2018. We are a family of four - two adults and two kids. Home was built in 1991 and has well water with septic system. It is my understanding that the well was bored early on in the construction and possibly up to several years prior. NJ has online records about well drilling and I have searched but come up empty thus far for my well. I know from paperwork provided with the sale that the well has a submersible 5gpm, 3/4hp pump - so relatively low flow although flow rate hasn't been an issue for us. As part of the sale, NJ requires the seller to have a well test performed for a variety of contaminants all of which came back as either not found or well below MCL set by state and/or federal guidelines. Plumbing runs from well head to big pressure tank in basement to 2.5x10 cartridge sediment filter to a Water Boss 700 softener that then feeds the house plumbing. I have found and am in the process of fixing a variety of plumbing issues (leaky valves, clogged/frozen valves, DIY/handyman rigs to various plumbing fixtures, etc.) that all lead me to believe the house originally didn't have a softener with the first one being added initially about 12 years ago. I say that because I found paperwork from the first Water Boss 700 install from 2010 and then another Water Boss 700 install in 2017. At the time of sale, prior owner was using Morton Rust Defense salt leading me to believe that possibly an iron concern was present. My own water testing indicates the early failure of the softener may be due to radium (see below).
Current: While looking over the prior well testing paperwork recently, I realized they had done the testing from an internal tap - after the softener. This isn't how the test was supposed to be done by law but not alot I can do about that now. Looking to make sure everything was on the up and up, and knowing that some things weren't required to be tested as part of the sale, decided to have a comprehensive test done on the water. Results:
Coliform: absent
Iron: 0.065 mg/L
manganese: 0.007 mg/L
arsenic: 0.0026 mg/L
nitrate: 0.424 mg/L as N
Total Hardness 281 mg/L at CaCO3
Gross Alpha 31.3 pCi/L
Gross Alpha Final 40.9 pCi/L
Radon 1626.4 pCi/L
Organics/Pesticides/VOC: none detected
Test didn't include pH but I can supplement later - pH from sale testing a year ago was 6.67. Not surprised about the hardness being high (MCL of 250) but was taken aback by the Gross Alpha (MCL of 15). Our county doesn't require that testing (nor the Radon) for a house sale so this was new data. My own reading indicates a few states in the northeast (not NJ) have Radon limits of 2000 or 4000 pCi/L. So we are just under the lowest limit but higher than I would like considering all sources of radiation.
Following that testing, I had Uranium specifically tested and it came back as 12.6 pCi/L (or 0.0188 mg/L) with an Adjusted Gross Alpha of 29.1 pCi/L. So the Uranium just squeaks under the MCL of 0.02 mg/L and the Gross Alpha is still too high (MCL of 15). Again from reading, this basically means that Radium is making up the remainder of the gross alpha. I could test for Radium, but even if it happens to be below the MCL of 5 pCi/L, the gross alpha is still too high - guessing approximately half is coming from Radium and half from Uranium. So that leaves me with having to deal with hardness, radium, uranium, and a radon amount that is higher than I would like. I would really like to take care of all of these with a POE system and not have to worry about what I can drink from and what remains around the house from washing, dishes, etc. especially considering the multiple sources of alpha particles.
From research, Ion exchange looks more feasible/promising than RO for a POE system especially considering I am on low flowing well and septic. Being in solution, none of these things would seem to me to be filterable. Radium seems to get removed from typical cation softener (water softener) since it is positively changed like Ca and Mg, but uranium gets removed with anion media since it is negatively charged. Radon at my levels can be removed with activated carbon (or alternatively aeration). I have read that anion exchange has to be fed with softened water so I am guessing the order is pressure tank to cation (water) softener (for Radium, Iron at my low level, Ca, and Mg) to anion exchange (for Uranium and probably whatever arsenic and nitrates are present) to activated carbon (for radon and general taste) to house. I fully intend to use ion exchange media that is of the NaCl form but I have read that anion exchange can lower pH (or is that for the HCL form only?). Does this mean I need to run the water through calcite media following the anion exchange to raise the pH (adding hardness even though I already removed hardness)? Does this setup seem feasible or is there some better way to accomplish removal of these contaminants?
I am attempting to educate myself before moving forward. I don't have a problem with DIY but this seems a little more intricate than a typical water softener setup. I'm also concerned about my general impression of the water treatment business as a bunch of snake oil sales so if I do contract with someone, I would like to know what does/doesn't work before hand. I appreciate any help/guidance you can provide. If I go the DIY route, sizing the various media is a mystery to me. I have found various guidance on cation/water softener sizing but nothing specific to account for Radium along with calcium, magnesium, and low level iron.