Guest guest Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 Hi everyone We live in the south western CO mountains -- and have a well. Here is what I know and have learned about wells. Last winter we lived in the "valley" of this area. It is cow and horse country and the house we lived in had a water softener -- now this takes the iron out of the water but not the "bugs". During the spring they flood the field for irrigation and the water in the wells turn questionable, because of the live stock. There isn't any pesticides.One of the big concerns they are having in the area is the large number of houses that are being built in a small area all with septic tanks and wells. For the most part the water is safe. And as mentioned before you can have it tested to find out. We put filters on the sinks and everything was OK. We bought a house up on a hill and before we bought it we had the water tested because it smelled very bad -- it was safe to drink -- just stunk!. We "shocked" the well -- yes this is were you put the bleach in the water. The bleach takes care of the "iron reducing bacteria" that's the one where when it dies creates "hydrogen sulfide" -- the stink. We also went to Ace Hardware and for less then $50 put sediment filters on and that is great. Collegian has a $2,000 filter that they can put on and takes care of everything. If you need to "shock" the well check on line on how to do it. Its easy and safe. We also lived in FL with a well -- we had a more trouble with the sand in the well than anything else and again we had a filter put on that helped with the smell as well as the sediment. Your right there isn't a lot of clean water in this country. Most city water has been treated and smells like a swimming pool. It isn't uncommon to find large amounts of antibiotics in our water systems also. Sad As for RADON in the water -- I've never heard that before. I knew that it was in the ground and will leach into your basement or crawl space. You can get test kits form the health department (use to be around $5, but may be more now) All new homes, if are required to put the fans in to divert the RADON gasses (radon mitigation system). From what I remember reading these gasses can be problematic if you don't have a well ventilated basement, or crawl space. Rita Message: 4 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 00:48:50 -0000"Laura" Re: water from a wellI just read your post and would liek to offer a few additional items that the others may not have been aware of.for the most part well water is safe, I do however recommend that you have it tested. You can have a private company come out and test it,not just for baceteria and pesticides but also for radon. Radon is a naturally forming gas which is caused by rock formations and it has been known to cause cancer. When it is discovered in water it is VERY expensive to fix the issue, but can be fixed. Now the gases are formed when you run the water ie in the shower. Also make sure that your septic (if you have one) is not polluteing your water supply and is funtioning properly.I have always foundit ironic the the Federal Housing Athourity (FHA) when you get a mortgage through their agency insist upon you having a well quantity test BUT NOT a quality test, lol...they only care if you have enough water, don't care if its potable , lol....gotta love it, lolLaura , "Hank & Maria Stenger" wrote:> > > Hi Andrea,> > this is a good question. A while back we were on well water and it was the > worst water. We asked the health department to come out and test it, and it > had lot of e coli and other unsavories. The standard practice around here is > to dump a gallon of bleach down the well, which lasts for a while. But I > didn't see the point of that. The bleach will kill the critters but what > will kill the bleach, and the pesticide residues, and all the other junk? > All of us were sick the whole time we lived there, and county water was not > available. All our neighbors had cows, but any livestock would do the same > thing to water. Anyone on well water definitely needs a good filtration > system, but that was out of the question for us then financially.> Where we live now, our neighbors all have cows again, but we have county > water. No, I don't trust that either, I filter all the drinking water, and > use a shower filter.> The first thing your should do is a water test. The health department will > do it for free, but they don't test for very many things. The Herbal Healer > Academy (www. herbalhealer.com) has a water test for $15.> I'd like to know how many people in this country actually have clean water. > Precious few.> This really is an important issue that not enough people address.> Maria> >i know that we shouldn't drink tap water. my question is: is water from > >a> >well the same as tap water? if not, is it safe® to drink> >> >> >andrea Discover Find restaurants, movies, travel more fun for the weekend. Check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Radon in water does exist and is difficult AND expensive to remove. I work as a Realtor and have seen a few homes with this problem. Laura , Rita Bohn <ritabohn2001> wrote: > Hi everyone > We live in the south western CO mountains -- and have a well. Here is what I know and have learned about wells. Last winter we lived in the " valley " of this area. It is cow and horse country and the house we lived in had a water softener -- now this takes the iron out of the water but not the " bugs " . During the spring they flood the field for irrigation and the water in the wells turn questionable, because of the live stock. There isn't any pesticides.One of the big concerns they are having in the area is the large number of houses that are being built in a small area all with septic tanks and wells. For the most part the water is safe. And as mentioned before you can have it tested to find out. We put filters on the sinks and everything was OK. We bought a house up on a hill and before we bought it we had the water tested because it smelled very bad -- it was safe to drink -- just stunk!. We " shocked " the well -- yes this is were you put the bleach in the water. The bleach takes > care of the " iron reducing bacteria " that's the one where when it dies creates " hydrogen sulfide " -- the stink. We also went to Ace Hardware and for less then $50 put sediment filters on and that is great. Collegian has a $2,000 filter that they can put on and takes care of everything. If you need to " shock " the well check on line on how to do it. Its easy and safe. We also lived in FL with a well -- we had a more trouble with the sand in the well than anything else and again we had a filter put on that helped with the smell as well as the sediment. > > Your right there isn't a lot of clean water in this country. Most city water has been treated and smells like a swimming pool. It isn't uncommon to find large amounts of antibiotics in our water systems also. Sad > > As for RADON in the water -- I've never heard that before. I knew that it was in the ground and will leach into your basement or crawl space. You can get test kits form the health department (use to be around $5, but may be more now) All new homes, if are required to put the fans in to divert the RADON gasses (radon mitigation system). From what I remember reading these gasses can be problematic if you don't have a well ventilated basement, or crawl space. > > Rita > > Message: 4 > Sat, 04 Jun 2005 00:48:50 -0000 > " Laura " > Re: water from a well > > I just read your post and would liek to offer a few additional items > that the others may not have been aware of. > > for the most part well water is safe, I do however recommend that you > have it tested. You can have a private company come out and test > it,not just for baceteria and pesticides but also for radon. Radon > is a naturally forming gas which is caused by rock formations and it > has been known to cause cancer. When it is discovered in water it is > VERY expensive to fix the issue, but can be fixed. Now the gases are > formed when you run the water ie in the shower. Also make sure that > your septic (if you have one) is not polluteing your water supply and > is funtioning properly. > > I have always foundit ironic the the Federal Housing Athourity (FHA) > when you get a mortgage through their agency insist upon you having a > well quantity test BUT NOT a quality test, lol...they only care if > you have enough water, don't care if its potable , lol....gotta love > it, lol > > Laura > > > , " Hank & Maria Stenger " > wrote: > > > > > > Hi Andrea, > > > > this is a good question. A while back we were on well water and it > was the > > worst water. We asked the health department to come out and test > it, and it > > had lot of e coli and other unsavories. The standard practice > around here is > > to dump a gallon of bleach down the well, which lasts for a while. > But I > > didn't see the point of that. The bleach will kill the critters but > what > > will kill the bleach, and the pesticide residues, and all the other > junk? > > All of us were sick the whole time we lived there, and county water > was not > > available. All our neighbors had cows, but any livestock would do > the same > > thing to water. Anyone on well water definitely needs a good > filtration > > system, but that was out of the question for us then financially. > > Where we live now, our neighbors all have cows again, but we have > county > > water. No, I don't trust that either, I filter all the drinking > water, and > > use a shower filter. > > The first thing your should do is a water test. The health > department will > > do it for free, but they don't test for very many things. The > Herbal Healer > > Academy (www. herbalhealer.com) has a water test for $15. > > I'd like to know how many people in this country actually have > clean water. > > Precious few. > > This really is an important issue that not enough people address. > > Maria > > >i know that we shouldn't drink tap water. my question is: is > water from > > >a > > >well the same as tap water? if not, is it safe® to drink > > > > > > > > >andrea > Discover > Find restaurants, movies, travel & more fun for the weekend. Check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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