Well Water??

[reeferman00]

i am new to saltwater i have my tank and need to know if well water will be okay to put in there. if not what should i do???
any help i would greatly appreciate it.
thanks

[PJSEA]

I would use tapwater before well water. You should be using a RO/DI system on your tap water as a source.

Well water could contain any number of contaminants from farming or industrial pollution(oil, paint solvents, pesticides, fertilizer, chemicals) in addition to the naturally occuring elements and compounds. The EPA web site has info that anyone using wells may find useful.
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/privatewells/index2.html

[AZDesertRat]

Well water is tap water. Most municipalities in the US still use wells as their main source of water.
You still want to use RO/DI if possible though for the reasons already stated.

[Boomer]

Rat you are waaaay off on that Most municipalities in the US use surface water 62 % and most of the rest is from ground via Aquifers, which are not wells in most peoples minds. "Well" water is by far the most contaminated.

[whosurcaddie]

Well water is fine I use well water with my reef tank and it is thriving. All you need is a good ro/di unit.

[jdr8271]

I use well water. As long as you have a good filtration system installed in your house, its much better than tap actually, since there are far fewer chemicals in it. I always use an RO unit for any water to purify the water further as well just to be safe.

[Boomer]

Granted there is nothing wrong with well water if run through a RO/DI.

its much better than tap actually, since there are far fewer chemicals in it


Thait is not often the case if taking it right from the tap. Some well waters are very clean, it is the general trend in question here and wells produce the worst water there is in general.

[reeferman00]

i have this stuff that removes chemicals it says for fresh and saltwater aquariums would that solve my problem?

[Mental1]

My well water goes through a softener (bleach, rust remover, etc) and then I put it through the RO/DI. My TDS are 56 is after the softener but before the RO/DI. You can purchase water from your LFS rather than the stuff that removes chemicals. Using chemicals to remove chemicals can work in some situations but I think you may be heading for some lovely algae growth if you use that. Maybe someone here as used it with success?

[AZDesertRat]

In the Southwestern US the majority of water is still deep wells. For the most part only municipalities close to rivers and surface impoundments use treated surface water. The majority of the projects I work on are still well systems and that includes cities with populations in excess of 250,000 or more. Several in AZ southern CA are now sending well water to RO plants to reduce TDS and nitrates to levels that are acceptable. It keeps my busy as well as a pretty large portion of my engineering firm. I am travelling to Oxnard CA next week to begin an RO project in fact that is fed mostly by well water.

Often cities get credit for "treated water" so they inject or percolate their wastewater effluent and get paper "credit" for recharge and treatment even though the injection point may be dozens of miles from the well field. I have done this for almost 34 years so know all the ins and outs of the way municipalities and regulators think.

[bertoni]

Well water quality can vary enormous from one well to another, and vary throughout the year. I wouldn't trust it without an RO-DI unit, personally, but some people have access to high-quality well water year-round.

[Boomer]

"Well " Rat that may be in your area but in the US 62 % is from surface water. And most above that are Aquifers, which again most do not consider as "wells" when that word is used. Although technically speaking wells are drilled in many Aquifers. And that Colorado River feeds an awful lot of water to the Southwestern states.

[AZDesertRat]

All wells pump out of aquifers not rock. You may drill a well in rock formations and frecture it to bring water in but is still an aquifer. Ours just happens to be an aluvial basin with sands and gravels, others may be clay or sandstone but they still can contain water.
I can debate this subject all day since I started my career as a well driller in 1973 and water is all I have ever done!

[PJSEA]

I answered the question assuming Reeferman00 had a choice between a municipal water supply and his own private well. I'm also thinking that he was considering using it without treatment. I would answer it the same way.

Don't use the well water, especially if it's untreated. Use tap water, preferably with an RO/DI unit.

Reeferman, exactly what is this stuff you mentioned?

[Boomer]

You need to be careful Rat when using the term "Always"

All wells pump out of aquifers

Not all groundwater is in the from of an aquifer and not all wells pump only from aquifers. Karst systems are known for there "underground streams" which are not aquifers and wells are used to pump water out

[Gem Tang Rider]

Originally posted by Mental1
My well water goes through a softener and then I put it through the RO/DI.

Ditto.

RO/DI filters will last a lot longer removing the salts from the softened water than the minerals from your well water.

[AZDesertRat]

OK lets use the proper term "deep wells" then. I consider the others caissons.

[flapjack1439]

I have a water softener and an iron filter on my well. Everything works fine so far. I just replaced all of my filters so let's see how long they last. I think treating the water first helps a lot.

[rcmike]

It really depends on what is in your well water. I drill wells and around here sometimes one house will have great water and the house next door will have iron or sulfur etc. I use my well untreated in my tank right now and don't have any problems. I would recommend an RO/DI just to be safe but you aren't necessarily going to have problems if you don't. Most of the times if a well is constructed properly it is not contaminated with runoff. Now a shallow, handug well is another story.

[reeferman00]

ok im filling my tank now. should i still use the dechlorinator in the water or just use it as it is?

[AZDesertRat]

I would highly recommend if you do not have a water quality report on the well you do so ASAP, especially if it is used for human consumption. In most places domestic wells under 8 inches or 30 GPM are not regulated by the authorities so testing is not always done. I would be cautious myself unless I had the water tested for the normal things present in your area. Around here a "domestic well scan" at the local environmental lab is less than $200 and it gets you just about everything you would want. I am guessing you are not the primary owner of the well yourself? Maybe there is a report already somewhere.

[Gem Tang Rider]

Originally posted by reeferman00
ok im filling my tank now. should i still use the dechlorinator in the water or just use it as it is?

There shouldn't be any chlorine in your well to begin with.

[reeferman00]

i think my well is pretty nice anyways i doubt theres any thing harmful in the water