What You Should Know About Well Water?
If you’ve always had a home connected to your local city water or municipal water source, you might take it for granted that public water like this is the only water source. But many homes, particularly those located in rural areas, are connected to well water. And yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like — water from a well, one that isn’t regulated the same way public water is.
In some cases, this can be a desirable feature of being on well water. Some consumers might not like the idea of using public water, as they want to avoid the infrastructure associated with their local municipality’s water supply. They also will avoid any pollutants like mercury that could get into the local water supply.
But there are risks as well. Well water hasn’t gone through the extensive treatment and testing that municipal water has gone through, so it is subject to pollution and contamination as well — usually just different types of pollutants and contaminants.
That’s not to suggest that well water is always a risky option. If you get your well water tested annually by a professional, you can have confidence knowing that your water is clean and safe for consumption.
Here’s everything you should know about well water — both the good and the bad:
Municipal water has oversight. Well water does not.
When your water source is your public municipality, there is government oversight — usually a department of public works — that maintains the water quality. There are strict regulations about how the water is treated, and about what kinds of bacteria counts can be present in the water when it goes into people’s homes. Municipal water is treated with a chlorination system that ensures the water is clean enough to meet EPA standards — chlorine will kill microorganisms that could cause diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, and gastroenteritis.
If you’re on well water, you don’t have that kind of assurance. Your well water is sourced from an aquifer—an underground rock formation containing water—and will be carried via pump system into your home. It is untreated, and therefore could pose health risks if it gets contaminated.
You are in charge of keeping your water clean.
Because there’s no oversight on your water source, it’s up to you to make sure it’s safe for consumption. At a minimum, you should have a certified well contractor come out once a year to inspect your well system and make sure nothing is wrong. This contractor can also test the water for bacteria such as e. coli, which can cause serious illness. Annual testing is usually sufficient, but there are times when you will need to have more testing done just for the sake of safety. For example, if you notice a change in water quality, you should have your water tested to make sure nothing is wrong.
Well water usually has a history.
Like other aspects of your property, your well water usually has some kind of history. And history has a way of repeating itself. If you are buying a home, ask for a history log so that you can be aware of any known water issues. Wells that are prone to being contaminated need extra care. The log might show you that the well water has contaminations every six months or every year. Ask yourself whether you are prepared to deal with this. On the other hand, if a well has not shown any issues in the past five years, this bodes well for the future of the water source.
The log might also show whether the well has been maintained over the years. If nobody has taken care of it, you might need to hire a contractor to improve it.
Well water could be rich in minerals.
Well water tends to be much richer in minerals than municipal water. Calcium, magnesium, and iron are all common minerals that can be found in water. Very rarely are they ever concentrated so highly that they will provide any nutritional benefit — but they can sometimes leave buildup or stains on certain surfaces, such as the inside of your shower or the tap of your sink. If you want to avoid stains from iron or limescale, but you can’t keep up with all the cleaning and wiping down, your best option is to install a water softener that can remove these minerals before they even reach your tap.
You need to be careful about what gets too close to your well.
Anything in your yard runs the risk of ending up in your well — and therefore, in the water you’re drinking or using to bathe or wash clothes. Be careful with any chemicals you’re using around your house, yard or garage — if it ends up in your soil, any groundwater moving through that soil could absorb these contaminants and carry them into your home’s water supply. It’s also important to be diligent about removing any waste from pets or livestock, and making sure your home’s septic tank is far away from your well — septic tanks are the most frequent source of cross-contamination.
