Water well information for Florida - AquaTek Pro - AquaTek Pro

So, you have a well. What really dose that mean? Basically, you have a  pipe in the ground that you will be able to draw water from with a  pump, at least that is the most common modern day well being installed  today. In the old days people would dig wells by hand and they could be  as large as three feet in diameter. A bucket would be tossed or lowered  down to fetch water. These days wells have changed a bit. A company  which, is usually required to be a licensed contractor will bring out a  big truck which, will drill a whole in the ground to insert a pipe;  this, will become the well or a pipe is driven or pounded into the  ground, to become the well. A well can be 2, 4, 6 or even larger inches  in diameter.

Typical residential water wells will be 2 - 4 inches while,  commercial or industrial applications may call for 4 inches and higher.  Some contractors use galvanized pipe, some use PVC pipe and some use  cast iron. PVC pipe will become brittle over time and the glue used to  connect the sections of the pipe together may become compromised. PVC is  an economical solution for use as a water well. Some people have  reported getting up to 20 years service life out of their PVC  constructed well. Cast iron pipes will start rust away if, they are not  coated with a protectant. Galvanized iron pipes have a coating of zinc  on the outside of the pipe which, will protect the metal for a while  but, will eventually, start to have rust problems. All pipes have a life  span; of which, is determined by the electrolytic potential of the soil  it is in, the pH of the soils and the salinity level of the soil can  also have effects.

When you're well was first installed, you may have had awesome water,  it may have contained some hardness but, overall the water was nice and  clear. Over time you may be getting rust staining on you're tubs, sinks  and even you're cloths may be turning a dingy brown color and no matter  how much bleach you use, you're whites just don't come out white. Some  people on well water will have iron in the water from the day the well  was installed, it happens. There are areas of the United States that do  contain iron deposits that can be pulled in with the water and there is a  method to remove the iron from the water which, is generally done by  precipitating the iron so it can be filtered out. However, if you did  not have any issues with iron or rusty water when you're well was first  installed, you can pretty much bet, the well pipe is starting to corrode  away. Keeping track of you're well's condition is very important in  knowing the overall health of the well by having someone test your water  once a year. This is really not something you would want to do yourself  because, whatever test chemicals you purchased to do all the tests,  would be ineffective at giving precise measurements after aging a year.  It is always best to have a person that dose a lot of water tests which,  will always have fresh testing supplies on hand. Testing every year is  the maximum length of time between water tests as recommended by most  water authorities such as the EPA and Departments of Health.

Modern day wells are safe and provide water that is naturally  filtered, cool, and pure, if installed and cared for properly. Wells can  provide many years of safe and affordable water.  Today, an estimated  21 million homes are currently on well provided water. Testing the water  quality annually is a key factor in maintaining safe water.  It is also  recommended to have the well system and its components regularly  inspected by a professional well contractor.

It is important when maintaining your well to annually check the  water and test it for bacteria.  If you notice a change in the taste,  odor, or appearance of your water supply, it is crucial that you check  the water to ensure safety.  Always keep any hazardous chemicals, paint,  fertilizer, pesticides, or motor oil a great distance away from your  well.  Take extra care when you mow or work around the surrounding well  area.  It is not recommended to pile leaves, snow, or other material  around the area surrounding the well.

When in need of a new well, make sure the person is a licensed  contractor with many years of experience. It is also important to have a  contractor that is familiar with the ground the well is being installed  in. An experienced well contractor will know many things that could  save you a lot of money in the end. Here are some good questions you  should always ask a well contractor before signing to have the work  done.

Well drillers are required to be licensed and display a 4x6 inch  decal on both sides of their drilling equipment or service trucks in  many states. Reputable well drillers also carry insurance. Make sure to  ask for proof of both before any work begins.

Ask your perspective well driller if they have any references. Ask  your friends and neighbors about the company and the kind of work  they’ve done in the past. Typically, if a well company has been in  business for decades, they generally have the means to deliver quality  work that has helped them attract new customers through the years.

When hiring a well drilling company, there should be an itemized list  of the work items and cost of the service. This contract should cover  the type of well to be drilled, an estimate of cost, including  man-hours, and any guarantees on the work performed.

Talk to the well driller about the size of your home, number of  family members and if there will be any other uses on your property that  will require additional water, such as farming, housing large animals,  pools or running a small business. Most homes require a well water of roughly 6 gallons of water per minute, but that rate could be higher depending on your needs.

Ask about pipe types and if stainless steal casings would be best in the area you are located.

Once your water needs are established, the well driller should talk  to you about the potential output of your new well. Using geological  information, as well as water yield data from wells in your surrounding  area, your well driller should be able to give you an educated estimate  as to whether a well on your lot will meet your water needs.

If you are constructing a new home, you may need to do substantial  work to the lot before a well drilling service can do their job.  Clearing trees, leveling the surface site and building access roads to  potential drilling spots are your responsibility. Make sure you review  what is expected before a drilling appointment is set.

State and local laws and guidelines will largely determine where your  well should be drilled. Well regulations stipulate certain setbacks  from roads, property lines, wetlands, drain fields or septic systems and  buildings. It makes sense to have the well relatively close to your  home, but if the well must be placed a sizable distance from the house,  you will need to talk to the well driller about making sure the well  pump is large enough to keep water flowing over greater distances.

Before work begins, review the well drilling procedure with your  contractor. When will the crew arrive? How long will the process take?  What is the diameter of the well hole? What type of casing will be used?  What kind of well screen will be used? How long is the well tested for  proper flow? Will any follow-up testing be required?

With any large purchase, homeowners should get quotes from competing  vendors. However, the lowest bid isn’t always going to deliver the best  results. Choose those estimates which are reasonably priced. Then  consider references from friends and former customers. Look into their  reputation with builders and the community. How professional was the  staff when you met for a consultation? Combining these considerations  with price will help you find the well drilling company that’s right for  you.

From the time a well is installed a clock starts. You will want that  clock to run as long as it can and get the most life out of the well  pipe that just got placed into the ground. There is not much you can do  if you had a PVC well pipe installed; it will fail when it's time is up.  Metal pipes on the other hand do have the ability to outlive PVC well  pipes greatly.

So, how do you extend the life of a metal well pipe? Good question  but, first you need to understand what has happened by putting a metal  pipe into the ground and having some knowledge of electricity will help  here but, if you are not electrically inclined this will still help you.

All metal has energy and the ground, with is particular salt content,  is an excellent place to absorb it. The ground will actually take the  energy from the pipe because the ground is the negative and positive  energy will run to ground. As energy leaves the pipe, corrosion will  occur at that point on the pipe and the pipe will become pitted until  the pitting goes so deep, it creates a hole in the pipe allowing sand to  be sucked in every time your pump turns on. Galvanized pipes have a  coating of zinc which is there to protect the metal underneath. Once the  zinc layer has been compromised and the metal underneath is exposed to  ground, corrosion will start to occur at that point.

When a metal pipe is sunk into the ground in becomes an anode with an  electrical potential. The electrical potential will run to ground. The  trick to protecting the pipe is to get it's electrical potential to stop  running to ground by reversing it and in order to do that, the pipe  would have to become a cathode. In order for the pipe to become a  cathode there would have to be an anode. The anode would have to be  sacrificial to the makeup of the pipe and would have to be of a metal  that would give off it's electrical potential at a higher rate than the  pipe itself. Your basically needing to complete a galvanic cell which  makes your well pipe a cathode. Think of the whole thing as being a  battery.

In a battery you have a cathode, an anode and an electrolyte. In the  case of your well pipe; your well pipe becomes the cathode, the ground  is the electrolyte and you would need an anode of some type of metal  that would give off it's energy at a higher rate than the well pipe  cathode. The galvanized coating of the zinc was in effect, the anode for  the pipe until it corroded away but, we do know that zinc is a good  metal to use as a sacrificial anode. Magnesium is another more common  metal to use as a sacrificial anode but, does not last as long as zinc  however, magnesium is less expensive than zinc. In the galvanic cell you  want the anode to give off it's energy (+), travel through the  electrolyte (ground) and give it to the cathode (-) and since the well  pipe has now become the cathode, it is receiving energy instead of  loosing it to the ground. This method of protecting a well pipe is  called cathodic protection.

Cathodic protection tests can be performed to tell if your well pipe  is sitting in a cathodic state or an anodic state and through these  tests, a determination can be made to conclude if any sacrificial  anodes, employed to protect a pipe, need to be replaced. Sacrificial  anodes have their own life span and need to be replaced or supplemented  over time. The addition of sacrificial anodes to a well pipe can reduced  the corrosion rate of the pipe or stop the corrosion of the pipe  totally depending on the proper application and size or amount of anodic  material used. A well pipe with cathodic protection could last  indefinitely if, properly maintained and placed on the well pipe when it  was first installed. While the cost of placing anodes may be out for 2"  - 4" wells, business or commercial wells 4" and up would be cost  effective.

You know a little more now than you did but, there is still more to  know. You learned how to find a good well person and you learned how to  protect a well and increase it's life span and maybe your water is  really good at this point but, what if the water starts to get bad over  time? You need to know what to look for and what to be aware of.

Let's say you put in a well and opted not to protect it with cathodic  protection and your well has been in place for a few years and now you  are seeing a difference in water quality which, is not as good as it was  when the well was first put in. Since the well pipe has been in the  ground for a while, if it is a metal well pipe, it has started to  corrode. This corrosion can lead to a multitude of problems which could  have been prevented by using cathodic protection. Rust stains are common  when a well pipe is corroding. If you had rust stains from day one when  the well was installed, you will continue to have rust stains until you  deal with the rust through filtration. If you have had rust from day  one, it means it is coming from the ground and cathodic protection will  not eliminate the iron in the water but, certainly your well pipe  corroding away is going to add to it.

When your metal well pipe is in an active state of corrosion, at some  point you may develop iron bacteria.  Iron bacteria are bacteria that  derive the energy they need to live and multiply by oxidizing dissolved  ferrous iron. The resulting ferric oxide is insoluble, and appears as  brown gelatinous slime that will stain plumbing fixtures, and clothing  or utensils washed with the water carrying it. They are known to grow  and proliferate in waters containing as low as 0.1 mg/l of iron.  However, at least 0.3 ppm of dissolved oxygen is needed to carry out  oxidation and usually happens best at a shower head where the iron is  precipitated from the water by being mixed with air thus staining the  surfaces it comes into contact with.

Some areas in the United States have sulfur or some form of sulfate in the ground and can be a source of Hydrogen Sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide gas (H₂S)  can occur in wells anywhere, and gives the water a characteristic  "rotten egg" taste or odor. Hydrogen sulfide gas can result from a  number of different sources and can occur naturally in groundwater. It  can be produced by certain "sulfur bacteria" in the groundwater, in the  well, or in the water distribution system. It can be produced also by  sulfur bacteria or chemical reactions inside water heaters. In rare  instances, it can result from pollution. The source of the gas is  important when considering treatment options. It is a good idea to have  the well tested for the standard sanitary tests of coliform bacteria and  nitrate. Sulfur bacteria are not harmful, but hydrogen sulfide gas in  the air can be hazardous at high levels. It is important to take steps  to remove the gas from the water, or vent the gas to the atmosphere so  that it will not collect in low-lying spaces, such as well pits,  basements, or enclosed spaces, such as well houses. It is known that  Hydrogen Sulfide gas can be formed by the deterioration of metal objects  such as in a water heater that has a sacrificial anode and you will be  able to smell the gas more on the hot water side and not on the cold  side.

Sulfur bacteria, like iron bacteria, produce a slime and can  promote the growth of other bacteria, such as iron bacteria. The slime  can clog wells, plumbing, filtration equipment and irrigation systems.  Bacterial slime may be white, grey, black, or reddish brown if  associated with iron bacteria. Hydrogen sulfide gas in water can cause  black stains on silverware and plumbing fixtures. It can also corrode  pipes and other metal components of the water distribution system. If  you did not have any issues with hydrogen sulfide gas when your well was  first put in, it may be a result of your metal well pipe corroding  away.

Nitrates can become a problem with well pipe showing active corrosion  and can have life threatening effects on babies, known as blue baby  syndrome. Although any well can become contaminated by nitrates,  shallow, poorly constructed, or improperly located wells are more  susceptible to contamination. Nitrate levels in drinking water can also  be an indicator of overall water quality. Elevated nitrate levels may  suggest the possible presence of other contaminants such as  disease-causing organisms, pesticides, or other inorganic and organic  compounds that could cause health problems. The Environmental Protection  Agency (EPA) has set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of nitrate as  nitrogen (NO3-N) at 10 mg/L for the safety of drinking water.

Nitrate  concentrations greater than approximately 10 to 15 mg/L (as NO3) are  generally indicative of anthropogenic nitrate source. Nitrate levels at  or above this level have been known to cause a potentially fatal blood  disorder in infants under six months of age called methemoglobinemia or  "blue-baby" syndrome; in which, there is a reduction in the  oxygen-carrying capacity of blood. The symptoms of blue-baby syndrome  can be subtle and often confused with other illnesses. An infant with  mild to moderate blue-baby syndrome may have diarrhea, vomiting, and/or  be lethargic. In more serious cases, infants will start to show obvious  symptoms of cyanosis: the skin, lips or nail beds may develop a  slate-gray or bluish color and the infant could have trouble breathing. A  sample of the infant’s blood can easily confirm a diagnosis of  blue-baby syndrome. It is known; when a well pipe is in an anodic state  and has the presence of hydrogen, nitrates can fluctuate.

As you can see cathodic protection can have some benefits to  maintaining water quality as well as extend and maintain the life of  your well and the water coming from it. Water testing is very important  and should never be neglected! A periodic check of your system and  keeping records of your past water tests is very helpful in diagnosing  problems that may occur. We maintain all water tests on file and will  make those records available to every customer to access through our web  site 24 hours a day.

We here at Aquatek only wish for you're health to be the best it can  be. We want you to be informed and not taken advantage of by those  looking to, just make a buck. Always get a second opinion or even a  third, we encourage it! We here at Aquatek go beyond trying to sell you  something and attempt to always look into the main cause of the problem.  Once the problem is located it is always best to deal with it at the  source instead of trying to add a lot of filtration you may not need. We  want our customers to be happy and we want our customers to think  highly enough of us that they tell their friends to call us when they  need help with their water system.

We charge a low fee of $25.00 for well water testing and we follow  Florida Health Department procedures for collecting samples for testing.  If you would like your well water tested, give us a call anytime at  772-538-0284

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