Testing well water

I'd like to test my well water for whatever I need to be concerned about with regards to pool maintenance. I'd also like to do this on my own rather than send it off to a lab since water quality can vary over time and may require a couple tests per year.

(Aside to PoolDoc: Ben, if you happen to get a free minute to sneeze, could you instead put together that well water test kit you mentioned in a private email last year? Obviously j/k, but it would be great).

So what are my options? Is there an test kit I can buy somewhere that'll cover what I need to know? And what do I need to know? I suspect a high iron situation, since all my white plastic parts got a little rustish last year.

Also, related ?: Do any of you well-water folk treat (soften, filter, etc.) your water before it goes in the pool? My garden hose is tee'd off before the whole-house filter and softener. I'm thinking of installing another WH filter just for it.

Thanks.

Chuck

(geez, I can't wait to start opening the pool next weekend. Goin' a little crazy here in Upstate NY!)

I am not an expert on pools, but we do have a well. We decided not to use our well to fill our pool for a couple of reasons. 1) the minerals and other stuff in the water 2) It would probably lower the water table to a point that we could get a lot of silt, etc in the water and it would take a while for the table to refill. 3) We run all our water through 2 sets of filters and a softern (then an RO system for drinking water) before it goes to any of the water spigots and we didn't want to work the filters so hard.

Instead we haul water from the local town water supply. It works for us.

Chuck,

I live in NC and use well water exclusively, even filled my 24K IG vinyl pool with it (the horror, the horror!!!). My pool test kit can test the basics of the well water: calcium, pH, Alk, etc. I then called the Culligan folks and they looked up in my records what my iron content was when tested 2 years ago. I also snuck a well water sample in at pool store, and they tested for copper.

Based on the above tests, I don't need to treat my fill water. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

CaryB

We also have well water and run it through 3 filters actually before it hits our dual softener and finally R/O for drinking water. Our well water is about 2200 ppm of TDS, we had it tested before installing all the house water system. They suggested if I did fill the pool to use the filtered / softened water. Fortunately we live on the bay of Green Bay, an inlet off Lake Michigan so I fill the pool with that water. A person who lives out near us but not on the water fillers theirs with rain collected from their roof, but had to initially truck in the majority of fill water.

Hopefully you well water isn't so bad, but without good testing it's hard to say. A local water place like Culligan or similar should be able to test your water relatively easily and let you know what’s in it.

I have a water softener connected right after the well tank so everything goes through it (unless I close the bypass valve then everything would be unsoftened.) I have hard water with (I believe soluble) iron in it.

I got the initial fill trucked in as a 24' round (13500 gal) demand sounded like way too much for a well pump.

I just got the pool installed so I don't have much experience to pass on but from what I have researched, I believe it is better to remove things like iron and other minerals BEFORE they go into the pool rather than after the fact.

You might want to consider adding a separate feed after your water softener just for pool use.

I don't intend to actually fill the pool, I know from experience it'll drain the well in about 25 minutes. But I do experience a lot of evaporation (south-facing hillside site, lot's of sun and wind) and inevitably have to add a couple inches per month. For those times I've found I can leave the hose sprayer half-open over night and it usually tops it off safely.

Also, I realize I can take a sample places for a test, but the point of my post was to find out what it is I should be aware of, and how to test for it myself.

Thanks.

C.

(Edit: Also to add, we just got this place last year in March and a water test was done, but it was drawn after the filter and softener. Had I been more experienced at such things I'd have had it done on the raw groundwater).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChuckD

(Edit: Also to add, we just got this place last year in March and a water test was done, but it was drawn after the filter and softener. Had I been more experienced at such things I'd have had it done on the raw groundwater).

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We did the same thing and have the same regret.

I misunderstood your original question. I don't have an answer as we haul in our refill water too. I did find last summer that I had very little evaporation when I had the solar cover on. But a lot of evaporation before I got it.

What are you checking for again? I know that our local home supply has a well water test kit that allows you to test for rust, nitrogen, colliform bacteria, lead, etc. It costs about $35 - it does recommend a secondary test if you have positives. We have a shallow well (7' down flowing stream) and live in farm country where farm chemicals and animal by products are of concern. This may not be available everywhere and be regional, but I know we use it annually to be sure we have a safe water supply. They also carry single item kits to check for just one contaminant at a time. (these are not the type you send off for results - you get the results when performing)

Trucking water in for us is not an option as we are too far from any town, we have to use our well to fill the pool. We have a double filter system in the pumphouse and intend to run a double filter inline on the hose as filling.

Again, that was in my original post. I'd like to know what I should be testing for (for pool water purposes). I mentioned it does appear I have a rust/iron issue, but I repeatedly hear that especially with well water, I need to know what I'm working with first. I'm hoping someone can tell me what are the common 'trouble-makers' in well water I should test for and if I can do that myself, or does it require a professional test.

(I should also add this is a vinyl lined, inground. No heater, about 22K gallons. Our well is 230' deep.)

C.

Ahhh, I do top off with well water that was ran through the softener in winter. (Our well is over 700 feet deep) Is there any way you can capture rainwater from you roof or something similar? Most places in Hawaii that is how they get all their potable water know I have seen filters / screens to add to a down spout to catch water that way. If you have a garden that might be a better way to go as well.

As far as what to check for, for me it was overall TDS not matter what it was I was told over 2000ppm was to high, not sure what else they actually tested for, I know our iron or tannen is really high as well.

The two issues I see is

1) Iron. You don't want to put well water in your pool if you have a high Iton content (Uness you have or want a rusty looking pool. If you have an Iron filter that will remnove the metals and silt. For Iron Filters to work you need a PH over 6

2) The Second issue is bacteria, Now if your well water is untreated (Chlorine or UV) your pool chlorine should be able to take care of it but it may be risky.