Well Water

[ApocalyptiCoral]

Hello Reefers,

I have been reef keeping for almost 6 years now. I've kept various corals but my main interest is in Sps. I have been using a BRS RODI 5-Stage unit now for almost 4 years previously I had another manufacturer. I have of course kept up with the regular mainence of my BRS unit i.e. Changing the media and the membrane periodically. Now my question to those people who are smarter then myself and my father. Would any extra stage need to be purchased for the well water vs the city water which I have been running on for 6 years. Also would the well water pump be at risk for failure due to excessive run time? When I make water I typically make 50 gallons every month which isn't a lot but my RODI unit runs for 12 hours would running my well pump for so long cause it to burn up.
It is my understanding that well pumps run for only a few minutes to an hour then shut off a well pump is not constantly on?
Can anybody help are my father and I overthinking this way to much and the well pump is nothing to worry?

Thanks
Dan

 

[Anthony Wood]

Your house should have some sort of water resivour that the well water is pumped into. so that the well pump is always running for example when your taking a shower. That reservoir should let the RO unit run long enough that your well pump isn't kicking on and off. You could unplug the pump in the well if you find that the RO unit is kicking it on and off. The biggest issue your going to run into is water pressure going into the unit. Your most likely going to have to end up running a booster pump if you already don't have one.

Most wells have hard water so give that a test. Mix up a batch of new saltwater to desired Salinity with the New well water that comes out your RO/DI. Test that new batch of RO/DI well water for alk, calcium and magnesium if they are low enough that you can live with the numbers then leave it be. Just be aware the alk and calcium may change based on the time of year so your going to be constantly testing.

If you want to not have to worry about potentially changing alk, and calcium or you find its mixing to high to begin with your going to have to imvest into a water softener (ion exchange system being technical). Idk if they sell a water softener attachment that will hook up directly to your RO/DI unit you would have to look into that. But one that you hook up to the house although an investment aren't overly expensive.

 

[JimWelsh]

Another potential issue for well water users is that many wells have water with a fairly low pH caused by relatively large amounts of CO2. If your well water has this problem, then you will burn through DI resin incredibly quickly. My well water has this problem, and I basically gave up on the DI part a couple of years ago. I'm not suggesting this approach for anybody else, but I just wanted to make you aware of this. Another, better approach that I haven't taken yet to solve this problem is to some how de-gas the water before it goes through the DI part. One simple degassing solution would be to make RO water up into a big Brute container or something similar, and just run an airstone in it for long enough to degas it -- from several hours to a day or so -- and then somehow pump that water slowly through the DI resin. Another, more complicated approach is to create a degassing column out of PVC pipe as shown here: http://spectrapure.com/manuals/CO2_SYSTEM.pdf

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

The term "well water" conjures up all sorts of interpretations - based on everyone's differing experiences with it. The term really mean nothing other than it identifies the location from which the water originated. We have customers all over the US with residential well water, and I can tell you that the quality of that water varies from very good to the most god-awful stuff you can imagine. The real answer to your question would be dependent upon the quality of your well water.

Think of a 4 stage RODI system as a default configuration. Sediment->carbon->RO->DI. Then add stages to that if, and only if, there are particular contaminants you are trying to treat.

The most common issues with well water we see are: excessive hardness, iron, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, bacteria, among others. Some of these are better to treat/remove with equipment other than an RO or RODI.

Russ