well water use

[tigre44]

This summer I will be moving to Colo probably in the Elizabeth area. Most of the houses utilize well water. What are the experiences of other here on well water and reef tank especially if you live in that area. I will be going w/RO DI system

 

[JuanGutz]

Hey I live north of Denver about in hour but if you want to get to know the community and ask the Denver folks join the marine aquarium society of Colorado or MASC I'm sure everyone will be able to help and you shouldn't have a problem if you use rodi.

 

[amonchak]

Well water here in CO can really vary from location to location and also depends on which aqufier you drill into (depends on depth drilled). In the denver basin aquifer you would likely be drilling into the Denver or Arapahoe formations which are typically good water quality. Water districts in and around that area that area on well water typically just treat the water by disinfection only. Assuming your water is similar quality you would likely have acceptable water after RO/DI.

Your best answer for your water quality will be by either testing the water or looking at the water testing/drilling logs and information from the current well. Some of the well do have fairly high TDS but again this varies with the location.

Good luck and check out marinecolorado.org for our local reef club!!

 

[GHill762]

Some of the well do have fairly high TDS but again this varies with the location.

IME that varies with season/rainfall as well.. dry seasons will have higher tds, if there is more rainfall lower tds...

 

[fragmatic]

If you are going with an RODI and you use a 1 micron filter I would think you would have it handled. Am I missing something? If so if zooomed right over my head.

 

[mike007]

As long as you are using a ro system you should be okay. Before using well water straight you need to have it tested. Many people think well water is okay but it can contain some nasty stuff. Always use di or ro water in your tank. Be safe

 

[Silvergumby]

I use well water in NW North Carolina. My unfiltered well water tests at about 0.020 on a portable TDS meter and contains quite a few granite particles (I believe they call this well fines). Keep in mind that the fines will eventually affect/clog a RO/DI prefilter, depending on how many fines are in the well water. If your well/house is equipped with a filter, then this shouldn't be a big deal, but I hear from a few sources that you should still use an RO/DI device on well water, and not put well water directly into your aquarium (due to possibility of organic contaminants, pesticides, microbes, bacteria, leach field contamination, etc.). Side note: I've heard a few people talking about using the new Zero Water pitcher (which claims a 0.000 TDS reading) for use in small amounts of water preparation, like for a nano. I have been testing the Zero Water pitcher theory on a 40 gallon reef system with no adverse side affects so far (testing is 2 months in progress).

 

[jeremyblu]

just my 2 sents but running just ro u will change your filters alot more 2 ideas first one run a water softner if you can befor ro and for house for that matter i work for a water softner company so u can get small to realy big depending on the water if you dont want to go that route get a whole house filter and hook it up just so it dont kill your filters that fast