Well water storage and treatment, where to begin?

[dieselfuelonly]

Hello all, hoping to get some information and suggestions on storing and treating well water. I've tried to do a fair bit of research myself but am finally getting ready to really start putting everything together and would like some more input.

I have an older well that produces a fair bit of sediment and extremely hard water. The well house, also home to many a spider and slugs, featured a rats nest (in both the figure of speech, and probably the real thing too) of years worth of DIY hackjob plumbing repairs from the previous owners as well as an old cartridge filter (the type with two tall, narrow filters stacked on top of each other with a plastic coupler in between) and a manual backwash sediment filter that I am pretty sure is solidly plugged and probably weighs enough that I'll have to lift it out with my tractor.

Here's the results of a cheapo water test kit:

So far my plan is to remove everything from the well house and demolish it, leaving basically just the well cap which I'll cover with a much smaller structure to shield it. I have a ton of space in a workshop area located between my garage and the house that I'd eventually like to relocate everything water related to. I'll trench and bury power and 3/4" black poly pipe from the well cap into the workshop area where the rest of the fun begins.

I purchased a 500 gallon Norwesco water tank to use as a storage tank. I want to get as much life out of the old deep submersible pump as possible, so I plan on using a float switch in the tank to power up the pump probably when the tank is around 50% to 75% capacity, negating the need for a large pressure tank and switch. I want to add a Dole valve (probably in the 1-2GPM range) to the setup as well to keep as little stress on the well as possible and allow it to work to slowly refill the storage tank as needed. Should I plan on using a relay setup for the float switch or just get a 240v switch that will support the appropriate amps and wire it straight in?

Next comes filtration and treatment. At some point I will add a water softener, but for now I at least need to plan on reducing the sediment. One of my biggest questions is do I treat it before or after the storage tank? I don't see why it would hurt to filter the water before it reaches the storage tank, however what about the water softener - would it be an issue to run the water through the softener and have it sit in the tank? Just curious about the effectiveness of the water softener if the water is left stagnant after treatment in the tank until it is used. I planned on starting with a Rusco 100 mesh sediment filter, should I go further with a 500 and 1000 mesh filter as well?

If possible I'd like to treat the water before the storage tank - come a hurricane or ice storm that knocks out power, the less I need to power the better - it'd be nice to only have to worry about powering the small 120v jet pump that sucks from the storage tank and not about the rest of the system.

Lastly comes pumping the water from the tank to the rest of my house. I figured I'd start with one of the cheapo HF jet pumps and see how it goes. It has a small bladder tank, I figure in the 2-3 gallon range, and I plan on adding a CSV between the pump and the little bladder tank(I feel like the CSV125-1 should work fine?) to the pump to keep it from cycling as little as possible. I've heard that drawing water from the middle of the tank is ideal, should I plan on coming up with some kind of a floating inlet valve for the jet pump?

Thanks for any and all advice, information, or experiences. Greatly appreciated.

 

[VAWellDriller]

Square D makes a nice float switch that is based on a standard pressure switch frame.....no need for separate relay for up to 2 hp....it keeps things real simple. If you choose to filter before the storage tank, that means it will be before the float, so make sure you put in a pressure relief valve in case the filter becomes plugged. I don't know how much sediment you have, but you may be able to skip that filtering all together and just let it settle in the big tank. If that's the case, you will have to clean the big tank periodically, and you will need to elevate the suction pipe on the jet pump to keep it out of the muck, which will reduce your available tank volume some. I'm not big into water treatment, but I think most of that equipment needs particular flow rates for regeneration and backwash, and it will probably be easier to do that if you store untreated water since you will have a low flow dole valve on the well pump.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Valveman]

The CSV1A would be best with that pump, because it is adjustable. Those pumps don't usually build much pressure, so you may have to turn the pressure switch and CSV down to get it to shut off. If you use the CSV125, make sure it is the -3, as the pump pressure is so low that one is needed to get even 1 GPM through the CSV125. Also, since the CSV125 only comes in 30, 40, 50, or 60. use the one that is 20 PSI lower than the max pressure of the pump you have.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Square D makes a nice float switch that is based on a standard pressure switch frame.....no need for separate relay for up to 2 hp....it keeps things real simple. If you choose to filter before the storage tank, that means it will be before the float, so make sure you put in a pressure relief valve in case the filter becomes plugged. I don't know how much sediment you have, but you may be able to skip that filtering all together and just let it settle in the big tank. If that's the case, you will have to clean the big tank periodically, and you will need to elevate the suction pipe on the jet pump to keep it out of the muck, which will reduce your available tank volume some. I'm not big into water treatment, but I think most of that equipment needs particular flow rates for regeneration and backwash, and it will probably be easier to do that if you store untreated water since you will have a low flow dole valve on the well pump.

Thanks for the input, I like those Square D float switches. And you make a good point about the possibility of the treatment equipment needing a certain flow rate so I'll have to look into that further down the line.

The CSV1A would be best with that pump, because it is adjustable. Those pumps don't usually build much pressure, so you may have to turn the pressure switch and CSV down to get it to shut off. If you use the CSV125, make sure it is the -3, as the pump pressure is so low that one is needed to get even 1 GPM through the CSV125. Also, since the CSV125 only comes in 30, 40, 50, or 60. use the one that is 20 PSI lower than the max pressure of the pump you have.

Thanks, got a CSV1A from you online tonight. Hopefully it won't be too much trouble finding the right fittings to plumb it into the HF pump, so far it appears the pressure tank uses the same threads as a garden hose and on the pump end I was able to thread in a 3/4" PVC fitting, so it doesn't appear that it will be too much trouble.

Here is a picture of the sediment that I am dealing with. Last time I changed out the old filter cartridges it felt very slimy - I'm wondering if the Rusco spin-down sediment filters might not be the way to go - I've heard they do great with harder sediment like sand, but I'm worried this slimy stuff might just plug them up and won't flush out. Any recommendations?

 

[Valveman]

The slimy stuff is hard to filter. I don't think the screen will catch it. You might need to chlorinate the well to get rid of the slime, then the filter will catch what is left. I am moving this to the softener forum, where you may get more help with this.

 

[Reach4]

Lastly comes pumping the water from the tank to the rest of my house. I figured I'd start with one of the cheapo HF jet pumps and see how it goes.

A 1/2 HP pump is easier to power from a generator than a 1 HP pump is. A pump with a start capacitor will be easier to start from a generator than one with no start cap.

Here is a picture of the sediment that I am dealing with. Last time I changed out the old filter cartridges it felt very slimy

Slimy sounds like something growing. I would sanitize the well and plumbing. That might help a lot. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my write up on sanitizing bottom-feeding wells that have submersible pumps.

You will want to protect the storage tank from light to discourage algae from growing there.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/recommended-water-testing-lab.75253/ has some lab water test info.

 

[ditttohead]

Before any water treatment recommendations can be made a real water test needs to be done.

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

As to the rest of your design... I will defer to the pump guys on your ideas of regulating flow form a pump. I don't think it is a good idea but this is simply not my area of expertise. As to the booster pump for your house... HF... no comment. Personally I would not recommend it, who knows how much heavy metal, lead and other contaminants are in it considering it was made by the lowest bidder in China...

Once we have a real water test, we can definitely guide you in the correct direction.

As to the Rusco… I definitely prefer the Hydra, it is a great design. it is a few dollars more but definitely worth it.

You can use your atmospheric tank as a settling tank, aeration tank, etc. This will require that the atmospheric tank be cleaned more often. Putting a softener or other backwashing system ahead of the atmospheric tank may require that you use a separate source for the regeneration.

Lots to consider but... lets see a water test first.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Thanks for the help everyone. I ordered the water test kit from SimpleWater Tap Score, we'll see how that goes. I ended up getting to that site from one of the links above. It was $104 I believe including shipping both ways. That was for just the basic "Essential" test, but it's a start.

I am probably describing what I see on the cartridge filter wrong by calling it slimy - it's whatever was caught by the cartridge filter when I changed them out, but of course the filters are wet and well no matter what is on there it's gonna feel slimy. Basically the same as the buildup on the section of PVC I cut out and took a picture of. Once it dries out it feels and looks quite a bit like typical NC clay, although I doubt that's what it is - if I had to guess I'd say it's related to the extremely hard water.

Anyway, the lab test should provide more info than the little home test kits I've been using or my poor descriptions.

I like that Hydra filter - will definitely consider that. I'll hold off until I get the water test back before I start ordering filters.

I know the HF pump is a coin toss so who knows how long it will last. Had to use that 20% discount coupon on something though, right? Wouldn't be hard to replace it with something better in the future if need be. Will be interesting to see what kind of frankensteined contraption it becomes when I try to add the CSV to it.

Question regarding the water test - should I sample as close to the well head as possible, or just use the kitchen faucet? My one concern with using the kitchen faucet is since I recently bypassed the filters in the well house and now have quite a bit more water pressure, buildup in the plumbing was dislodged and I had to open basically every valve in the house and let it run for about 10 minutes until the water finally came out clear and not looking like mud. Of course by the time the test kit gets here it'll have been a week or so, but I worry that if something in the plumbing were to become dislodged and enter the sample it could mess with my test results? I have some extra black poly pipe and could easily disconnect the water line to the house right at the top of the well cap and connect a temporary piece, let it flush for a while and then fill the sample jugs.

Eventually I want to replumb the whole house - it's a late 80s Champion manufactured home with the (unfortunately) grey polybutylene pipe, but that's a job for another time. Most of the fixtures have only 3/8" pipe, I'd like to go with 1/2" to each fixture with a main 3/4" supply run the length of the home. Now if only it would dry out enough so I could at least work on running the new poly water line to the well house along with electrical. Last time I tried to drive my Kioti across the yard I sank it to the backhoe subframe and had to claw my way out.

 

[Reach4]

Question regarding the water test - should I sample as close to the well head as possible, or just use the kitchen faucet?

Depends, but since you are looking for an assessment of the well water, then closer to the well makes sense to me if you have that option.

If you want the bacteria test to be useful, proper sampling techniques are needed.

Now if only it would dry out enough so I could at least work on running the new poly water line to the well house along with electrical. Last time I tried to drive my Kioti across the yard I sank it to the backhoe subframe and had to claw my way out.

That is weird. I hope that is just a wet valley rather than typical of the yard.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Finally, I have lab test results!