Well water.. do You filter it ?

[Nutter]

Do any of you use a UV filter or reverse osmosis filter to catch any unwanted bacteria ? or just trust it to be okay ?

How often do you test it as well ?

Nut

[Heirloom Seed Shop]

Hey,
We have a water well and I have just always "assumed" that it was fine to drink it straight from the tap without any type of filter. To me, and I'm definately a water drinker, we have the best water that I've ever tasted(?). My grandmother and grandpa always had a water well and they both lived to be in their 80's and 90's. I know that doesn't really answer your question, but maybe someone else will respond. :) Sharon

[Lavandula Girl]

Nutter - we used a RO machine when we had a well, and also when we have city water. With the well, we had ours tested about every 2 years, but that was because where we were in WA State there was a lot of construction and industry within a one mile radius, which was affecting the water table. We don't use the RO as a water taste modifier here on city H2O, but as a filter. We get a copy of the water quality thing from the town, but their source is a spring, and there have been fish die offs going on here on the Shenandoah. Better safe than sorry, right?

[zebraman]

Hey Nutter;Who would want to drink water you cant taste,or breathe air you cannot See!-

[bluelacedredhead]

Been here 13 years. Never filtered the water nor had it tested. It has some rust in it...and since the horses have a paddock right beside the wellhouse where they go to get out of the sun sometimes, probably a few added nutrients :p, but it hasn't killed us yet. :rolleyes:

Nutt, remember Walkerton?
For the majority of members here who most likely have never heard of this tragic tale of tainted water killing 7 Canadians and making many other ill, read here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkerton_Tragedy

Even though Walkerton is about 6 hours or more from where I live, my Stepmother insisted that my father put a state of the art filter on their kitchen tap and demanded that I do the same. Since I refused to succumb to her rantings, she has refused to eat or drink anything in my house since...

I don't know. Maybe I should give it a shot of chlorine now and again??

[Nutter]

Yes I remember Walkerton quite well.. and would not want to succumb to anything like that.. I think I'm going to put a UV one on mine even though I got a clean bill from the water test I had done.. better safe than sorry.. I'd never want to see my critters suffer either.. and the units are not that expensive for a full house unit..

[johno]

Individual bacteria are microscopic. Only a microscopic tear in a reverse osmosis filter will let at least one through. One turns into two, turns into four, turns into eight, and so on. It is not uncommon for there to be a tear in a reverse osmosis filter...

Charcoal filters are very reliable, but the charcoal only lasts for about a month before it needs replaced. So, as long as you remember to replace it routinely...

I am unfamiliar with UV systems, but the theory sounds good.

[Nutter]

Check Trojan types or Sterilight.. RO & Charcoal are a waste of money

http://web.inetba.com/tgsaquatech/item130229.ctlg

[neria]

Hey,
We have a water well and I have just always "assumed" that it was fine to drink it straight from the tap without any type of filter. To me, and I'm definately a water drinker, we have the best water that I've ever tasted(?). My grandmother and grandpa always had a water well and they both lived to be in their 80's and 90's. I know that doesn't really answer your question, but maybe someone else will respond. :) Sharon


Hi sharon! We also have a great source of water! And we never tried to filter it. It taste really good. Im glad we are blessed with best water here in our place. :)

[flowerpower]

we've only had the water tested once. When we bought the house 8 yrs ago. We do not have any kind of filter. Our water is crystal clear and there is alot of it.

There are a ton of underground springs in this area. It is not uncommon to see a pipe coming out of a rock and people filling water jugs from it.

[SunflowerMeg]

We had our water tested when we moved here in Feb. The tests came out okay, but not sure what that meant. But, we still have a whole house filter, and an under-the sink filter at our drinking water faucet. Better safe than sorry. Not sure what kind of filter it is though...I think one of those kind that looks like a pressed white accordian. :confused: It's for certain bacteria, I think. Since I got it at Lowe's, it's probably ****.

[justdoit]

If I were going to do anything, it would be the UV type. I live on a lake and know people who use them to make lake water safe to drink..tests better than well water.

[Nutter]

Any clues how much the UV Systems cost what type is best.. I saw Trojan as one.. at about $600.

Nut

[Sandbar]

Hi Nutter,

A few years ago, I started a water treatment division for a large water well driller in Ohio. We sold (I left the company a couple of years ago to work full-time for my church ... left on very good terms ... company owners are personal friends, had dinner with them last Friday...) all the usual water treatment equipment: softeners, filters (iron, sulfur gas, RO, sediment, etc.), pH correction systems, chlorine injection systems, UV systems and more.

Had a few thoughts as I perused this thread (please know my knowledge is 2 years old in this area, however, I don't think much has changed in that time):

(Be forewarned, I am highly opinionated on this very subject. There is sooo much junk being peddled that it infuriates me. When I launched the division, I told the owners, "I won't sell a product that won't let me sleep at night, no matter how much money it might earn us." They never gave me a fuss over my product line selection, and the company is remarkably successful today.)

First off, almost all ground water has bacteria in it. Only a handful (primarily the E. Coli family) of bacteria strains are pathogenic and cause any concern.

RO filters are NOT to be used on microbiologically impure water. They are not designed to filter bacteria, and certain types of bacteria (those in the slime-forming families) will foul the membrane, necessitating premature replacement.

Almost all harmful bacteria enter water systems (i.e. wells) due to a failure in the water system (i.e. cracked casing, grout failure, etc.) from animal and human waste sources such as septic systems, cracked sewer lines and farmland waste.

UV is an excellent way to kill bacteria, HOWEVER, you need a high enough dose to effective sterilize (you don't kill the bacteria, you just ... well ... neuter it ... it can't reproduce after exposure to the proper dose of UV) the bacteria. If you don't have a high enough dose, you've wasted your money and given the bacteria a nice suntan. :D

Look for NSF 55A (National Sanitation Foundation) certification on the UV unit. Be prepared to spend in the neighborhood of $1500 and up. Anything that doesn't meet NSF 55A will pass certain bacteria and cysts (including Girardia and cryptosporidium), so why bother spending the money? Unless, of course, you want to reward the misguided marketing hype of the cheap UV vendors ...

Also, upstream of the UV unit, you must have a water softener and proper sediment filtration (an "Absolute" micron rating of 1) or a UV system that "wipes" the quartz sleeve clean to remove accumulated dirt and debris.

I have personally installed and serviced the Trojan UV Max Pro. I hate the unit. It is a run of the mill design that most manufacturers use today. It is constructed of a stainless tube with a "bulb-in-water" design, which causes two problems: 1) You have to drain the unit to clean the quartz tube and replace the bulb, thus creating a great mess. 2) Because the water flow provides the cooling for the UV bulb, the stupid thing overheats in the middle of the night and goes into alarm. It does have NSF 55A certification, however, accumulated debris on the quartz tube and overheating of the bulb (during low usage) will lower the UV output of the bulb. You can get one of these installed for around $1,500USD or so, depending on the gallon per minute (gpm) rating you choose. Most homes need at least 10gpm to handle typical household duties.

My personal favorite is the Hallet from UV Pure. It uses a dual, bulb design that is air cooled, so you don't need to drain the system to replace the bulbs. It has a "wiper" to clean the quartz tube, thus eliminating the need for upstream softening or pre-filtration (unless you have cloudy water) and a host of other great safety features. I believe it is the most technologically advanced UV system on the market today. I personally met with Ron Hallet a couple of times and spoke many times with him by telephone. I never actually sold any of the units (we rarely had a bacterial problem that couldn't be fixed by simply chlorinating the well properly ... something all well-owners should do once per year ... and something few well drillers ever do to their own wells ... :eek: ), primarily due to their cost. Expect to pay over $2,000USD just for the unit, plus someone to install it for you. Installation, however, is quite simple.

UV bulbs last 14 months and then you have to replace them (either with the Trojan or UV Pure units). Expect to pay $150-$200USD annually for bulbs. The systems will shut down and the UV Pure unit will not allow water to pass if the UV light level is too low. The Trojan unit will allow contaminated water to pass through it's unit.

Sorry for the long post, but the UV market is full of hype and scare-tactics. If you do not have a compromised immune system or have elderly or very young children living with you, I don't think it is a good use of your money. At the well drilling company, we drilled in 16 different counties. I had to install one UV system and one chlorination system to resolve a bacterial issue out of over 2,000 wells drilled during the time I was with them.

There are regions in our state where the aquifier has become contaminated because of poor well-sealing practices. It was in this one region that we installed both the Trojan UV and the chlorine injection system (same county, actually).

Bottom line: Unless a water test reveals a bacterial issue, save your money.

[Sandbar]

Not sure what kind of filter it is though...I think one of those kind that looks like a pressed white accordian. :confused: It's for certain bacteria, I think. Since I got it at Lowe's, it's probably ****.
It sounds like you purchased a "Dirt-Rust-Sediment" filter. It's not junk, as long as you only expect it to filter out physical particles such as dirt, rust (which is really oxidized iron particles) and sediment. It won't do a thing to remove bacteria, though.

[johno]

Sandbar, it's refreshing to see that there is someone out there who knows their stuff when it comes to water conditioning. There are SOOO many misconceptions in the general populace! You are a rare one, indeed.

Folks, listen to this one!