With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.
Well Water Filtration: What System Do I Need for My Home?
Many homeowners want better tasting drinking water for their families. If your water is sourced from a well, there could be contaminants lurking there that cannot be detected by taste alone. For well water users, a whole house water filter is a great way to improve the quality of their water and filter out contaminants, such as bacteria, parasites, and viruses that could be harmful to health. Let’s take a closer look at this issue to evaluate whether you need a whole house water filtration system.
Why Does Well Water Need Filtration?
Many people believe that well water is inherently safe for human consumption because it’s been filtered through soil and rock. Despite this process of filtration, disease-causing microorganisms can still be present in groundwater, and they can make their way into your water supply. The organization Health Canada has warned that contamination within a well is possible if the following three circumstances occur.
- The well casings break.
- The well casings or caps are not properly installed.
- Some contaminated surface water enters the well.
The resultant water quality issues can be prevented when a whole house water filtration system has been installed.
What is Your Well Water Composition?
There are a number of factors that can affect the quality of your well water, such as the age of the well, how well it was designed, the quality of the installation and the current well condition. The best way to determine if your water contains contaminants is to get it tested regularly. Newer wells should be tested annually, and older wells should be checked two or three times per year. A whole house water filter will be helpful in resolving water issues, such as bad tastes, odd smells, parasites, bacteria, and parasites. Well water should be tested when the likelihood of contamination is at its highest. This would be early spring after the thaw, during periods of heavy rainfall, during lengthy dry spells and after prolonged periods when the well has not been used.
How Does a Water Filter Work?
A particular water filter will be designed to target and remove specific contaminants from your well water supply. The exact filtration method may vary depend upon the types or levels of contaminants that are present. It may be necessary to use more than one system to handle a variety of contaminants that may be present. Perhaps a pre-sediment filter is needed to filter out larger deposits of sediment and soil. A UV or sub-micron post filter may be necessary to deal with certain contaminants, such as viruses, pesticides, organic and inorganic compounds and cysts.
Which Water Filtration System Do I Need for My Well?
The most effective method to improve your well water quality is to install a whole house water filtration system. It will be necessary to determine the capacity of water that you need to filter to suit your family’s needs. It may be necessary to add other filters, such as a pre-filter, UV filter, and sub-micron filter, to get optimal water quality. For more information consult a local water treatment professional, they will be familiar with your water issues and the best ways to fix them.