Q’s & A’s about: WELL WATER
Q: How is well water different from municipal water?
A: Municipal water has some level of treatment most notably it’s sanitized and filtered for sediments. Well water is grossly untreated. Further, well water generally has higher mineral content.
Q: Doesn’t well water and municipal water have the same mineral content?
A: In a practical sense no. Most, although not all, municipal water supplies are surface water supplies like lakes and rivers. their source is rain fall and snow melt. The evaporation, precipitation cycle removes minerals from the water. Well water is subterranean, water that is passing through mineral laden rock and it subsequently picks up a greater mineral content.
Q: What are some things found in well water that make it more problematic than municipal water?
A: Iron, sulfur and elevated levels of calcium and magnesium (hardness).
Q: What makes iron and sulfur a problem?
A: Iron will permanently stain porcelain fixtures in a couple months time and any light colored clothing laundered in water with iron will routinely turn pink. The presence of sulfur will produce a rotten egg odor to linger in the home
Q: Can iron and sulfur be removed from well water ?
A: Yes, though it is not a simplistic task. There are several methods available to remove iron and sulfur from well water. Several other factors play very important rolls in the success and longevity of these treatments.
Q: Is well water hard and municipal water soft?
A: In our part of the country, Western New York, all of our water whether municipal or well, is hard. There are varying degrees depending on location. The municipal water has a pretty universal hardness reading. Wells placed a mere fifty feet apart can have vastly differing hardness readings.
Q: What exactly is hardness?
A: Hardness is the term applied to the calcium and magnesium content in the water. The more content the harder the water.
The following Water Quality Association chart categorizes hardness.
TERM Grains/Gallon ppm (mg/L)
Soft Less than 1.0 Less than 17.0
Slightly Hard 1.0 to 3.5 17.1 to 60
Moderately Hard 3.5 to 7.0 60 to 120
Hard 7.0 to 10.5 120 to 180
Very Hard 10.5 and over 180 and over
Q: Is the hardness of the water a problem?
A: Hardness is a frustration/financial issue. Hardness in the water when left untreated will destroy pipes and fixtures. It significantly increases the cost to heat water. We waste significant amounts of money fighting back the gray/white scale buildup everywhere water is heated or evaporates.
Q: Can hard water be softened?
A: Yes, the minerals responsible for hardness can be removed. It is done through a process called ionic exchange. Water softeners extract the calcium and magnesium & flush it away.
Q: I’ve heard something that is hard to believe! I’ve heard that if we accept the circumstances presented by hard water we are spending more money on cleaning, maintaining and replacing things than we would by solving the hard water problem in the first place.
A: Yes this is true. It’s a modern day oxymoron. The annual identifiable, provable, factual costs incurred by accepting hard water exposure exceed the annual cost to install and operate a water softener and you get none of the creature comfort benefits it provides.
Q: What are you talking about, “Creature Comfort Benefits”?
A: Our skin, hair, clothing, linens etc. all pay a price when exposed to hard water. The gray/white scale happening on shower heads is also happening on all the preceding items albeit on a less evident scale. All the preceding items are flexible and the mineral build up is repeatedly fractured off and falls away yet a residual is always there. This residual irritates our skin, dries our hair, hardens fabrics and causes then to look less vibrant and wear out far sooner than they would normally.
Q: Wait a minute, hard water contributes to my dry, itchy skin and eczema?
A: It most certainly does. Aside from hard minerals attaching to skin cells soap has a difficult time dissolving in hard water, hence we use increasing amounts of soap to get the desired lather. More soap used means more residual soap left behind after rinsing. That residual soap is irritating skin cells. To add insult to injury the higher residual soap left behind in the bedding and clothing is drawn back out onto the skin as well with body heat and moisture.
Q: So you’re saying that softened water can help reduce eczema ?
A: Absolutely. Reducing the amount of soap and residue your skin is exposed to will go a long way in improving healthier skin. Hard minerals, the resulting soap curd and the soap residue are the culprits. Get rid of them and skin will become healthier.
Commentary.
By necessity, if you live on a well you have to become your own water system/quality manager. If you do not do this, no one else is going to do it for you. The financial commitment necessary to supply well water to your home is by no means less significant than the financial commitment to heat your home. If you fall asleep at the wheel or are lax at accepting the responsibility for the health and well being of the people depending on the well water supply you may well regret having not taken action to understand. Learn all you can and place safe well water on a higher level of priority.
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