Well water question...

[sylvie]

I'm in the "get a second opinion" camp!

A dear friend was being pressured by the health department to allow city water lines through her enormous property by deeming her well bad. When they sent a guy out to test it, she said "fine-you take a sample and I'll take a sample at the same time. BTW, I am the head chemist at the largest corporate employer in the area. Let's see what turns up." The health department let it drop. She later became a township trustee to fight for the little guys! My point is that this water issue has bullies everywhere.

Can you install a cistern/plastic tank that would utilize rainwater for showers and toilet? That would address the unfit to bath in problem and enable you to utilize a smaller, less pricey system.

 

[patandchickens]

But of course, you SHOULD have a sample run, ideally ponying up the bit extra it would take to test for nitrites/nitrates as well as the minimum generic water-test stuff (bacteria, pH).

Because you DO want to know what the state of your well is, and if it has bacterial or chemical contamination issues you DO want to treat them or be knowingly careful in your use of the water.

As far as a water softener, unless your water is off-the-chart hard there is really nothing wrong with hard water from a health standpoint, which is more than can be said of *softened* water :/. If you do end up getting a new water softener it is highly worth having it plumbed so that it is only in the hot water line, or so that there are one or more taps in the house that are plumbed from *before* the softener so you have a source of non-softened drinking water and garden-watering water. (Softened water has a bunch extra sodium in it)

Good luck, congrats on your move ,

Pat

 

[hoosier]

Definately have your water tested on your own. There are other places to purchase water treatment systems. I would not use Culligan.

 

[Augustmomx2]

I haven't read the other posts, but have your water tested by your local health department. Culligan is a total rip-off. We had leased a water softner for 8yrs and finally asked how much it would be to pay off. First, they told us $1600.00 and then after telling them no way, suddenly called us 2 days later with a great deal of $800.00

Anywho, we ended up purchasing one outright from Menards (a Morton brand) for $350 and have been more than pleased for a year and a half. It doesn't go thru nearly as much salt and our water is just fine. I also should mention that our well is VERY old and our water has a very high-iron content. Still, the water softner from the store has worked great.

 

[Tracylhl]

Thank you all for your help. We bought a cheapo $10 test at Lowe's yesterday and found out that our water is VERY clean. Slightly hard but lower in contaminants than any city water we've had! We called Culligan and told them to come pick up their equipment! I think we will pay for a better test or at least contact the health department and we may or may not . This has all been a big learning experience for me!

 

[FarmerDenise]

So glad to know you did not let yourselves get ripped off!

 

[BeccaOH]

My parents had a water softener system put on the well of the house I now own. A Culligan company still delivers salt bimonthly for it. I'd like to find a way to bypass that system and check the quality of the actual well water. :/