Considerations to using well water?

[Matt LeBaron]

The wife and I are putting an offer on a house in Ellicott City that uses well water. I'm assuming that using the water after a run through my RO/DI unit will ne fine but thought I would ask if anyone else can share any insight into this matter. The house also uses a septic system, can I dump waste water from a water change into it?

 

This whole not being on city water/sewage will be a totally new experience for me.

[Dr.eclipse]

the ro/di will remove everything, but the media may be exhausted sooner then with well water.

[DaveS]

We are on well/septic. No issues with RO/DI. No consensus on dumping salt into the septic. I don't.

[Marc Weaver]

Well and septic here as well. No issues with RO/DI either. I suggest installing a whole house filter, though. I have the big blue filter right after the pressure tank before the UV. Mine gets loaded with iron over the course of 3 months, so I figure it's helping me with sediment filters. You may also need a booster pump for your RO due to the lower pressure of well water. I installed one and it doubled the RO/DI output. If there is one thing I miss about city water, it's the pressure.

 

I've heard that saltwater may disrupt the cycle of bacteria that breaks down solid waste in the septic tank as well as the salt breaking down the concrete because it's corrosive. I used to dump SW down the drains until I heard this on a forum somewhere. After some research I stopped. FYI, septic tanks have to be pumped every 5 years or so to remove the sludge.

[Matt LeBaron]

Thanks for the info folks, I'll have to look into getting a booster pump for my coralife RO/DI unit. The house has a water conditioner already installed so I think I'll be good there.

 

Now I just need to figure out where I can dump the excess salt water where I don't mind eventually killing the grass.

[ToddR]

Send a sample to one of the online testing companies to see how clean your well is. Several of us on this forum are able to use well water straight from the tap with great results. This doesn't happen very often so test first!!!!! My water has a TDS of 20 to 40 after it goes through a sediment filter , then a carbon canister that feeds my whole house.

[surf&turf]

I use mountain spring water, no RO unit here.

[Origami]

Well and septic here but only for the last year. Di resin is exhausting much more quickly, I suspect that it's because of low pH caused by CO2 in the water. (I've yet to confirm that ... so lazy.) Two ways to deal with low pH - one is to put a calcite or aragonite stage in front of the front filter. Another is to let the output of the membrane flow into an intermediate, aerated reservoir and to pump water out of that reservoir through the DI resin to the final reservoir.

 

Low pressure can also compel you to use a booster pump in some situations.

[Matt LeBaron]

Anyone know of a good online testing company? The water will be tested as part of the home inspection process but I would assume (you know what they say about that...) that the test will be more focused towards human consumption vs use in a reef tank. I know there will be some overlap but I would be surprised if it covered everything I would be interested in.

[squiddly]

Well and septic here too. The water is pretty awful. Agree that RO/DI media definitely get used pretty fast even with a whole house filter. Be careful about the whole house filters as well. Make sure that your engineering inspection report checks the filter carefully. We had to replace ours. Also, depending on the results and the hardness of the water, expect your plumbing to deteriorate rapidly going into the filter. Be aware that you don't always know when the whole house filter is acting badly, until your hair starts getting yucky and your taps have blue rings around them. That stuff eats copper piping.

 

Re: salt water and septic, having had to replace my septic tank once, I'm careful about what goes in there. Luckily, I only have a 24 gallon tank, so there isn't much salt water to get rid of :-).

 

Condolences to all who had power issues. We were out for 5 days but between a generator (until its alternator seized up) and a battery pump, the tank was fine.