Well Water Purification Systems

Well water purification systems are useful if your water supply comes from a privately owned water supply rather than a treated municipal water source. The responsibility to test, maintain and purify these private water systems is usually up to the owners.

It is a fact that every water source is contaminated to some degree, either naturally, by manmade chemicals, leaking septic systems or via another cause. This applies especially to shallow water wells.

Water from deep, drilled wells is usually quite pure because it is naturally filtered but improper well casing or cap installation or contaminated surface water entering the well can cause contamination. Most surface water, such as the water in rivers and lakes, is polluted enough to require well water purification treatment before drinking.

Testing Your Well Water Supply

It is important to test for contaminants when you purchase a new property and once a year after that. Your water should also be tested if a new industry has moved to the area, if your water has changed in smell or taste, if you have performed maintenance on the well or if the household is expecting a baby. You can use an accredited private testing laboratory for the testing or enquire as to whether your county health department offers a water testing service.

Contaminants might include arsenic, lead, radon, copper, nitrates and nitrites, e coli and more. Additionally, your water hardness level might be too high, in which case you would need to use a water softener.

Choosing Well Water Purification Systems

Once you have established which contaminants are in your well water, it is time to think about well water purification. Many people opt for reverse osmosis, assuming that this is the best water purification method to use for wells but if you have sand in your well, it can tear the delicate semi-porous membranes in the reverse osmosis filter. Also, reverse osmosis does not remove various herbicides and pesticides.

If you well has a high bacterial count, you might like to get a fully enclosed system allowing you to use chlorine to kill the bacteria. A dual stage carbon filter would be the best well water purification system for this job. You can get one for both your showerhead and kitchen faucet.

If your well water is too high in salt, you can get an ion exchange water filtration system which can remove the salt but leave the other minerals which are good for your health. Reverse osmosis can also do this and it is cheaper.

It is a good idea to compare various well water purification systems yourself. Reverse osmosis is used by most industries and large scale treatment facilities because it is the most economical for them. It might not be the cheapest for you though, when you think about maintenance costs and electrical usage. This system is also prone to break down. Ion exchange is cheaper, both in initial cost and maintenance.

If you need to use chlorine in your well water purification system, your showerhead and kitchen filter need to remove the trihalomethanes produced by chlorination because they are carcinogens and have been linked to cancer.

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