Well Water Water Chemistry

[Matt L.]

The good news is that we've closed on a house, and finally, I can have a permanent place to set up a reef tank.

The new house has a well. This will be my fist time reefkeeping with well water. The well is 400 ft deep, and the house is in the Hudson Highlands of New York. I understand that this isn't Massachusetts, but the basic principles of well water should still apply.

I had thought about sending my well water out for detailed chemical analysis, but this is going to run about $500, so I thought I would ask here first: do any of you use untreated well water for reefkeeping?

I have a 5-stage RO/DI unit, but I would really like to move away from RO if I can. The rejection rate is so high, and it's unclear to me whether there is anything detrimental in the well water to be purified out?

This water is hard, but that shouldn't have much of an effect on reefkeeping. The house is new, so we should have no lead. I'm not sure about copper. The water isn't chlorinated or chloraminated, because it's well water. My real concern would be about metals and heavy metals.

So does anyone just take unfiltered well water and make up their salt water?

Matt

 

[MrX]

Didn't you do a home inspection, etc. for the new house? I would have gotten a radon test (air and water) as well as water quality tests as part of the inspection. Also would have made those things passing a contingency for buying the house. Now if you have those issues you could be out thousands of dollars for remediation. It's an issue in most of MA, not really sure about NY, but better safe than sorry.

$500 for a water test seems insanely high. Think it cost us like $150 for our water test for radon and other stuff. You need to get more quotes.

Does the water have any kind of whole house filter on it? Here we have a 10" whole house filter, a water softener, and a radon bubbler. I've been using well water in my 40B for the last month or two with no issues that I can see. Had a little brown algae on the glass but now that I've put a clean up crew in there and adjusted the power heads it's 98% gone.

So far I'd skip buying a new RODI unit unless I found a really good deal.

 

[RiverRat]

I actually focused on water quality for my undergraduate research. I tested well over 200 drinking water samples (tap water, well water, and bottled water) and usually found heavy metals in well water. Arsenic was a big problem (as well as instances of cadmium) in well water, hovering very close and in a few instances over the "legally safe" level.
I tested no samples from New York, so I cannot speak for your particular well or wells in your general area, but you can use this information however you like.

Needless to say, I don't even drink the water from my tap unless it is filtered.

 

[jselzler1]

I use well water mostly 'as-is' for my reef tank. Tank is 1 year old and really no algea-like issues yet. However....

I did do water testing when buying home. It should cost about $150. My water tests results were high in arsenic. So we made seller install a filter to remove arsenic. The filter needs to be replaced every 3-5 years depending on water use. Therefore I continue to get water analysis every 2 years. So I knew pretty well ppm's of trace elements, nitrates, phospates, etc., in my well water before trying reefing.

I'd definately recommend a water analysis, not just for the reef health, but your own. $150 every 2 years is just a small, small, dent in total home ownership costs.

 

[Matt L.]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can find something less expensive, in and around the $150 range. I would like to be able to use my well water mostly as-is.

Matt

 

[jselzler1]

Matt,

Here is water test lab I use. http://www.etrlabs.com/rcProdmain.asp?id=2 They will mail you a test kit with instructions. You return the sample through mail. They email the results and mail a hard copy. I think about 5 days after they receive the sample. A standard test is $150. There are more comprehensive tests for higher dollar.

By 'as-is' I mean I don't use a RO/DI system.

p.s. The $150 test spent when buying the house save be $7000 in buying/installing the filtration system. Well spent money.

edit: You also might be able to find a map of well water quality issues for your homes area on internet. I remember finding one for eastern Massachusetts that did show wells near my home frequently tested high for arsenic. Maybe RiverRat had something to do with creation of this map.

 

[RiverRat]

Hi,

Here is an old map that may be of interest to you:
http://idecidedtogoforit.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/usa-arsenic-map.png
(I think I am allowed to post outside links, I apologize if I am not)

You can see that in this map there has been heavy research in New England, New Jersey, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc.
The white area of New York does not necessarily indicate water clean of arsenic, it just shows a lack of research.

The "legally safe" limit on arsenic in water is 10 micrograms per liter. I personally believe that that limit is just too high.
There is a possible link between arsenic levels as low as 10 micrograms per liter and bladder and skin cancer. (important to note: not enough research to have conclusive evidence)
If your water found higher than 10ug/L then definitely filter it. If it were me, I would aim for 0ug/L, but under 3ug/L is probably acceptable.

I agree with jselzer1, get the water tested for your own health (and for your reef)

 

[delta]

Matt be aware that you may have CO2 from the the well and if so you will need to gas off the CO2 after the RO membrane before the DI or you will go through DI extremely fast. IF that is the case Sprectrapure has a design on their website you can follow. I did not buy their parts I just use a peristaltic pump and solenoid valve in combination with my AC3.

He has to treat his well as it is different from every other well and figure out what he is dealing with. I would never run water out of a well straight into my tank. The hardness and metal content is enough to over time slowly kill your tank. The house may have a filter system built in it may not. It may have Pex plumbing or it may have copper. The hardness of most wells will eat away at the copper plumbing adding copper to your tank. Many well have extremely high iron level . And while they may only be low levels you still have a variable that you have no control over that you could totally neutralize had you just filtered your water.

 

[mchartier]

Pretty much what Greg said, I'm on a well.n we had it tested when we first moved in (we built the house) due to staining of sinks and toilets. Our water was extremely hard and high in iron. We know have a filter system for the house. I'm getting a 120 TDS going into my RODI system now. I can go about a year on my cartridges on the RODI system, making 30gallons of saltwater a month plus top off for about a 65-70 gallon system (as long as I remember to replace the woven filter and keep the water softener from running out)

 

[Matt L.]

I went ahead and placed an order with ETR labs for the Standard Test for $150. That should answer the question about which of the most common heavy metals, if any, are found in our well water, and what we need to treat for. Once I have that answer, perhaps by the end of next week, I can decide what treatment strategy I want to employ. That is very good to know about CO2 offgassing from well water. I will keep everyone posted.

Matt

 

[Matt L.]

Well Water Testing Results

Well, ETR Labs responded to me this morning by e-mail with the results of my water test:



After reviewing the results, it appears the water sample is free of the metals harmful to reefkeeping, which is good. The water has a high mineral content, which is what we would expect from well water in the region.

My systems are a bit complicated, but right now, I have my fish and my refugium on one loop, and my corals isolated on another. For water changes in my refugium and fish only system, I see no reason not to untreated tap water. For my corals, I will use RO/DI water.

Thank you all for your help, and the recommendation of ETR Labs. They were very affordable and fast.

Matt

 

[P-Nut]

what about the coliform bacteria?

Im sure that would die in the salt water, but can they mean trouble?

From: http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/coliform_bacteria.htm

Water pollution caused by fecal contamination is a serious problem due to the potential for contracting diseases from pathogens (diseasecausing organisms). Frequently, concentrations of pathogens from fecal contamination are small, and the number of different possible pathogens is large. As a result, it is not practical to test for pathogens in every water sample collected. Instead, the presence of pathogens is determined with indirect evidence by testing for an "indicator" organism such as coliform bacteria. Coliforms come from the same sources as pathogenic organisms. Coliforms are relatively easy to identify, are usually present in larger numbers than more dangerous pathogens, and respond to the environment, wastewater treatment, and water treatment similarly to many pathogens. As a result, testing for coliform bacteria can be a reasonable indication of whether other pathogenic bacteria are present.

...

If coliform bacteria are present in your drinking water, your risk of contracting a water-borne illness is increased. Although total coliforms can come from sources other than fecal matter, a positive total coliform sample should be considered an indication of pollution in your well. Positive fecal coliform results, especially positive E. Coli results, should be considered indication of fecal pollution in your well.

 

[Jr22121]

NO WELL WATER in my tank. i did it once and had an algae EXPLOSION, granted it was not RODI filtered but i only used 2 gallons to supplement since i was out of RODI. if you use well water through an RODI setup i believe it will be fine but never without being filtered ever, i find it easier for me to go to the LFS and buying it instead of making it with the well because the filters go bad to quickly