About 3 million Canadians get their water from a well. Having your own well is a tempting prospect for many of us. It lowers the cost of city water, or even eliminates it, so you have fewer bills to pay. It also puts much of the water you use at your disposal, so you know where it comes from.
As amazing as well water is, though, it comes with the downside of having to test and filter well water every so often.
In this article, we discuss how often you should test the water and what to test for.
What to Test For
Water is the birthplace of all life. Everything that flies or walks on land at some point had to crawl out of the water and adapt to their new environment.
The downside is that being 'the birthplace of all life' also means that water is a breeding ground for pestilence and bacteria. Among the worst are coliforms, the group of bacteria that contain e. coli, and the bacteria that causes Cholera.
There are also non-living contaminants to worry about, such as nitrate, PH levels that are too high or low, alkaline, lead, and even arsenic.
How to Test Well Water
People have found several ways to test and filter water over the years. There are kits out there that allow you to do it yourself, but we don't recommend this.
There are kits that detect some contaminants but not others. Many detect contaminants but don't offer any advice on how to filter them. Your best option is to send water samples away to a laboratory.
These laboratories exist all across the country, and you can find them by contacting the health department. The professionals will perform tests to ensure that there aren't contaminants in the water, and should be able to tell you what to do if there are.
How Often To Test Well Water
Proper well maintenance is a vital part of owning a self-sufficient home. While there's no solid 'rule' for well maintenance, most experts agree that testing should be done every year, and maybe a bit more often.
Well cleaning is of particular importance with surface water because surface water is exposed to the elements. For instance, it's not unusual for a fly to land on the surface of water, or for mosquitoes to lay their eggs there.
These creatures can't swim, though, so the water deeper down is often cleaner.
The truth is that well water treatment isn't an exact science. We know how to test and clean the water but can't give an exact time. There are just too many variables involved to calculate it.
Well Water Testing: Rely on the Experts
Knowing how often to test well water is an important part of having a well. For more information on water wells, feel free to contact us. We offer residential and commercial well construction and closure.