Three Characteristics Of Your Well Water That Can Affect Which Treatment You Select

When diagnosing and treating a well water problems, the nature of the problem itself is only one of the things you need to consider. Often, you'll find that several treatment options are available for the problem, and which one you ultimately decide on should be based on other aspects of your situation. Here are three of the aspects you should consider in addition to the type and severity of the problem you're dealing with.

1. Hardness 

"Hard" water is a common type of water that may include many types of minerals but most often is defined by magnesium and calcium, which can cause scale buildup and discoloration of plumbing fixtures as well as an odd mineral flavor. Although it's generally not considered a health issue in itself, hard water can affect the effectiveness of a treatment for some other water problem. For example, if you're using reverse osmosis to treat an arsenic problem, hard water can greatly reduce the lifespan of the membrane used to purify the water. This means that you'd need to replace the membrane much more often than if you had soft water or risk declining effectiveness. So if you have hard water, you may wish to use an alternative treatment for the problem, such as an ion exchange treatment for arsenic or chlorine treatment if your water needs to be sanitized.

2. Particulate inclusion

Different wells have different levels of particulate inclusion, and if you have a higher level of particulate inclusion, it could make de-ionizing treatments less effective. This may be more important in some situations than others. For example, if you're considering a de-ionizing treatment to replace arsenic components with harmless ions, the effectiveness of the treatment is essential to your health and difficult to monitor (since you can't detect arsenic in your water except by testing it), whereas if you're using a de-ionizing treatment to soften hard water, it's unlikely to harm your health if its effectiveness diminishes more rapidly than expected and you'll be able to tell anyway because your water will start leaving deposits and discolorations again.  

3. Source of the contamination

If you're considering a treatment system for lead, make sure that you've checked all pump and plumbing components for lead content first. If your lead contamination is coming from your pipes, they'll need to be replaced, and buying a treatment system is unnecessary. Or if you've discovered a contaminant that could come from an outside source, you should have your well checked for integrity and safety. It could be too close to a source of contamination, such as a badly placed septic tank, the removal of which could solve the problem without any further treatment necessary (or, more likely, could mean you only have to treat your water until the bacteria that have infiltrated the well die off naturally).

These three considerations can all play a large part in which treatment is ideal for your situation. Be sure to enlist the help of an expert to ensure the maximum safety of your drinking water and continue to have your water tested more frequently until its quality stabilizes. 

For more information, contact Bay Lakes Ecowater Systems or a similar company.