The Challenges and Rewards of Treating Well Water!

Water quality and water chemistry from private wells varies greatly from one region to the next and from one well to another even when they may only be sixty feet apart.  Some of the many challenges, as water treatment professionals, we face when treating well water supplies are high iron content, ferric iron, iron bacteria, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, bacteria, arsenic, low ph, the list goes on and on.  Point being the water chemistry from a private well can vary a great deal from one house to the next. 

While it is true there are areas in that are notorious for bad water, White Lake, MI (Oakland County) comes to mind, and certain neighborhoods throughout Livingston, Washtenaw and Oakland counties that are known for having “BAD” water problems.  But we can never go by the rule of thumb or our personal experience treating water in these areas. Every well has to be tested to find the specific problems and the correct methods to treat specific water treatment problems.

Livingston County is a perfect example of this, particularly in Whitmore Lake, as we frequently treat private wells with iron bacteria.  Iron Bacteria is not a health hazard but it certainly causes a big problem in the home.  It really is exactly as it sounds. Bacteria in the water feeds off the iron present in the water supply and multiply causing a buildup in the well itself.  You commonly notice Iron Bacteria in the back of toilet tanks where, if the problem is extreme, a thick mat of bacterial growth will build up in the toilet tank at the water line.  It can be difficult to diagnose iron bacteria in a water supply.  That is why Advanced Water Treatment recommends having the water tested by a certified water lab.  As mentioned above there are signs and symptoms in the home that will indicate the presence of iron bacteria, slimy growth in the toilet tank, bits of what looks like algae streaming off parts in the toilet tank and air bubbles on top of the water, which the algae give off as they die.  There are several schools of thought on how to treat for this.  “Shocking” the well with high amounts of chlorine will help for a period of time but these little bacteria, as most bacteria are, are very hardy and always manage to re-colonize the well in time.  The Evolve Series EV2 Water Conditioner is designed to treat wells with iron bacteria, hardness, manganese, iron and hard water with one system without having to shock, which could potentially cause a number of problems.

High Iron content is becoming more and more of an issue in all of southeast Michigan.  It only takes trace amounts of iron to cause problems in the home and the iron from wells in Livingston County alone can vary from 0ppm (parts per million) to over 15ppm.  Even relatively low amounts of iron (1-2ppm) can have, and frequently do have, combinations of different types of iron such as Iron Bacteria, Ferric Iron (Oxidized iron) and Tannins (Iron bound up by organics in the water).  It really can be quite fascinating to see all these water problems that occur. We take a lot of pride in the fact we can fix these problems and give homeowners the quality of water they are looking for. That is why the water business never gets boring! 

Here are several links related to topics discussed in this article.

Iron Bacteria in Drinking Water:
 http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-3-21.pdf

Water Treatment Solutions for Iron Bacteria:

http://www.awtworks.com/products/water-conditioners/ev1-ev2/

Water Testing Lab:
 http://www.watertech-inc.com/info.html

Good days and Good water to you!

Ray McConnell

Certified Water Treatment Specialist

Angst, Arrhythmia and Troubled Waters!

In a past blog post (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How) we talked about how it takes the right investigator to properly diagnose water problems, find the best solutions to treat the water, provide the customer the quality of water they are expecting and have a permanent solution to their water problem.  We have had two such problems recently that we helped homeowners resolve.

Here are the scenarios with each customer:

Customer #1:  They have been living in their home in Hartland, MI for 18 years, 2 adults, 2 teenagers (now).  When they moved into the home eighteen years ago they had a new water softener installed with a pre-filter and a new well tank at the same time.  Their water was always discolored and rusty, causing many problems in the home, laundry staining, rusty toilets, hated the taste of the water, etc.  They were told by many water treatment companies that they had “Tannins” (dissolved organic matter) in their water and there was nothing that could be done about it.  Meanwhile they are changing the pre-filter every month for 18 years because it gets so plugged up with gunk the water pressure in the house drops dramatically.

Customer #2:  Long time customers of ours.  They just bought a home on a lake in Chelsea, MI and had well issues (positive test for Coli-form bacteria) before they closed on the house so the well was chlorinated by a well contractor, the water was re-tested and passed inspection.  In the process of moving into the home they discover the water is really bad, hard, rusty, very discolored and even smells weird.  They have the company come out who installed the water treatment equipment seven years ago to look it all over and see what needs to be done to rectify the problem.  As it turns out they have “Tannins” in their water (which is not uncommon living on a lake). They also have high iron content and hard water.  The service tech explains the softener is not working properly and the head needs to be rebuilt and the tannin unit needs new tannin resin also.  The homeowner was rather suspect at this diagnosis because he said the tech hardly spent any time at all diagnosing the problem before suggesting a solution.  By the way I forgot to mention the well tank was bad (waterlogged) and needed to be replaced, the homeowner new that.  So they called us out to look at the system and give our opinion as to the solution.

Now we are going to tie both of these water problems together and figure out the proper solutions. The MOST important thing and FIRST THING done when diagnosing a water treatment problem is to “Listen to the Customer” before you do anything!  Let them describe the problems (as they see it) and ASK questions relating to the problems they have described. This can many times point us in the right direction from the beginning.  At the very least it will help us address the problem as the customer sees it and provide them the answers to their questions and concerns.

In neither of these situations were questions asked of the homeowners by the other water treatment companies, nor was a proper water analysis done to determine the water chemistry or look for potential water problems.  With the proper investigation both of these problems were diagnosed correctly, a complete water analysis/evaluation was done on-site and proper / permanent solutions were presented within a half hour of our visit with each homeowner.  Water samples were also sent out to independent labs for validation of the water analysis of both homes.

Water Evaluation Diagnosis:

Customer #1: No Tannins. 5 parts per million of iron and a series of well tanks going bad (5 in 18 years) the bladders kept going out in them (cheap well tanks), causing them to get water logged and in the process oxidizing most of the iron in the well tank. So the iron falls out of solution (Ferric iron/ Rust), plugs up the filter and rusty discolored water passes through the water softener causing many problems in the home. The water was extremely discolored every morning after it set in the well tank all night!

Solution:  New well tank, switch and gauge (The proper well tank) and an Evolve Series EVFE iron filtration system  

Customer #2: Tannins, 9 parts per million of iron, softener and tannin unit not working.  When the well was shock chlorinated none of the water treatment equipment was by-passed and the resin in both units was ruined by the high chlorine.  Also with the 9ppm of iron about 2ppm of the iron was ferric iron (oxidized) so it had already fouled out the tannin resin with iron.

Solution:  New well tank, Evolve EVFE iron filter, Evolve EVRS softener and re-bed of the tannin system.

Results:  Happy customers! Great water! The proper solutions to their water treatment problems and feeling great that we could help solve their water problems and give them the quality of water they were looking for!  Previous Angst over their water problems (gone), the wives love us, hence the Arrhythmia and we have solved their Troubled Waters problem.

So the next time you are experiencing Angst and Arrhythmia over your Troubled Waters.  Remember it takes the right investigator to properly diagnose the perceived, potential and actual water treatment problems along with the proper solutions to give you great water!

Below are some links regarding issues discussed in this article:

http://www.evolveseries.com/

http://www.awtworks.com/

http://www.watersystemscouncil.org/VAiWebDocs/WSCDocs/96111501_Tannins.pdf

http://www.livestrong.com/article/549859-is-tannic-acid-in-water-harmful/

                       

Good Days and Good Water to You!

Ray McConnell

Certified Water Treatment Specialist

Water and Our Health, What’s In Our Water?

An Analysis of City Water and Community Water Supplies

In this series of Blogs we will be discussing water quality for city and community water supplies in southeast Michigan, particularly in Livingston, Washtenaw, Oakland and Genesee counties. 

From city water to community water supplies all have their own water quality issues, concerns and methods to treat particular water problems.  These city and community water supplies are heavily regulated by the state and federal government for the disinfectants used, how much is used, the processes used, along with an ever evolving list of drinking water standards that have to be met.

First of all let’s clarify exactly what is meant by the terms City Water and Community Water Supply.  Municipal /City water supplies typically get their water from a surface supply such as a Lake, Reservoir or River.  Community water supplies are generally from a private water source which usually is a ground water well.  Depending on the number of people a community well has to service there may be one to several wells in use to supply enough water to service that community and usually there is a “back up” well to supply water in case of well issues or in an emergency.

With this first Water and Our Health blog we will be discussing the city of South Lyon, Michigan and its community well water supply.  The South Lyon, Michigan community well water system services approximately 11,000 residents and has three groundwater wells that supply the community. The first concern when delivering customers water from either a city water supply or community water supply is for it to be protected, free of bacteria and assure every customer has “Potable Water”.  To assure the water delivered to every home is free of bacteria treatment plants inject chlorine into the water as it leaves the plant.  The chlorine reacts with organics and bacteria in the water to sanitize the water system helping to prevent bacterial growth and protect against any outside intrusion such as a broken water main.  

There is one issue with chlorine and its many forms that treatment plants use. Chlorine is very unstable and tends to break down fairly rapidly in the water treatment system depending on the size of the water system and how much reaction chlorine has with possible contaminants in the water supply.  The more contaminants the faster chlorine residuals are used and the weaker the protection becomes as it reaches further out into the community.  To counteract this problem the chlorine levels are constantly monitored to assure there is enough residual at the end user. 

Because Community Water supplies are drawn from groundwater sources the water tends to be very high in calcium and magnesium (hardness). Many wells also have high iron levels (which causes staining and rust buildup).  Hard water scale and iron can cause many problems in the household, ruining appliances, water heaters, staining plumbing fixtures and clothes.  As chlorine, from the water system, enters the home it has served its purpose and needs to be removed at the point of entry.  The byproducts created as chlorine reacts with organics and bacteria in the water (trihalomethanes) are known carcinogens so the household water should have the chlorine removed at the point of entry for water along with a conditioning system to remove hardness (scale) and iron (rust) to assure your home is operating as efficiently as possible.  Advanced Water Treatment Inc. has several water treatment options to help you achieve the quality of water your family requires.

Below are several links regarding the topics discussed in this article and water treatment options.

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/22

http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/articles/QandA/OTsp99_Q_A.pdf

http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/disinfectionbyproducts.cfm

http://www.awtworks.com/products/water-softeners/evrcs/

http://www.awtworks.com/products/reverse-osmosis/ultrowater/

Good Days and Good Water to you!

Ray McConnell

Certified Water Treatment Specialist

Hydraulic Fracking and our Water Resources, What are the Consequences?

What are the consequences of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on our well water sources?  The debate will continue for many years but the facts show that hydraulic fracturing can have dangerous consequences on our well water supplies. 

 

When a water well is drilled for residential use the well may be anywhere from 60ft in depth to several hundred feet in depth, it all depends upon the water table in the area. Commonly the water from a residential well is drawn from a small pocket of water that is re-hydrated through cracks and fissures in the earth as water percolates down through the layers of earth and rock strata. Occasionally residential wells may actually tap into an extensive aquifer with a vast supply of water. The quality of water from every well can vary greatly from one well to the next, even where water wells may be a minimum 60ft apart.

Hydraulic Fracturing for purposes of releasing natural gas is typically done at depths far greater than any residential water well is drilled.  Fracturing wells can be several thousand feet in the ground and past the water tables used for residential use.  Hydraulic Fracking typically incorporates water as the main source to inject in the wells to initiate the “Fracturing” process and release natural gas deposits inside the shale rock. The issues with this process are several fold.

1.   It can take several “MILLION” gallons of water injected into the shale rock deposits to achieve the results expected. 

2. Water is mixed with sand and chemicals and injected at high pressure into the shale rock to create the fracturing of the shale and release natural gas to be recovered.

3.   Where is the water being used for fracking being drawn from?  Water is brought in from offsite and on-site. Frequently it is waste water that has been re-captured during the fracking process. That water gets treated to help remove impurities and repurposed for injection. 

4. There have been many instances where water drawn onsite for fracking purposes has drawn the water table down to a point where residential wells have been affected. 

5.   The “Fracturing” process itself can release many unwanted gases such as methane gas.  Methane gas then travels up through the rock strata and can contaminate the water table residential water wells are drilled in.  Turning your kitchen faucet on and being able to light the water on fire is obviously very serious and potentially dangerous. 

6. The potential for well contamination depends on the vicinity of the hydraulic fracturing to the residential wells.  The possibility of the release of unwanted gases from the fracking process and contamination of residential water supplies depends on many factors including the age, condition, installation, depth and source of the residential water well.  All wells are sealed around the drop pipe to prevent migration of outside sources into the water supply, but the “fracking” process can potentially cause damage to an improperly installed well casing or well that has a casing that has been compromised allowing migration of outside material into the well. Even if the residential water well itself has a casing that has not been compromised there is still the potential for gases and byproducts released by the fracking process to enter the water supply at the water source.

7. Currently there are 500,000 active gas wells in the US. Each well has the potential to be “Fracked” as many as 18 times.  Each fracking process can use up to 8 million gallons of water. That adds up to the potential use of 72 Trillion gallons of water usage for the currents wells and billions of gallons of chemicals injected also.

Water is our most precious and important resource and needs to be protected.

Every drop of water on earth has been here since the beginning of time. It is NOT a renewable resource. We have what we have and only 1% of it is available to us as fresh water. So we need to protect it, appreciate it and not take it for granted. 

Recently there has been an application for drilling a gas well in Brighton, MI that will incorporate this fracking process. Hence our discussion has begun. I for one hope it is not allowed, particularly since it will be so close to a residential area.

These are only my opinions from personal experience, observations and opinions formed from reading numerous articles pro and con on the hydraulic fracturing process for natural gas. 

Here is a link to the Michigan DEQ regarding well water changing during Oil and Gas Exploration: 
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/Hydraulic_Fracturing_brochure_GWP
C_399757_7.pdf

WQA.ORG Fracking and our water resources:
http://www.wqa.org/Portals/0/Technical/Technical%20Fact%20Sheets/2014_Fracking.pdf

Good days and Good water to you!

Ray McConnell

Certified Water Treatment Specialist