|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Last Revised: 1/10/2024
Have you noticed odd odors or a metallic taste in your drinking water? Do you ever wonder why your water leaves stains on your faucets or what causes your clothes to fade in the washing machine?
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone, and you’re certainly not stuck with these problems forever. Poor water quality can disrupt your daily life in countless ways, from frustrating inconveniences to long-term issues with your plumbing system.
At Mattioni, we understand the struggles of managing water issues, especially when your home relies on a private well. With over 75 years of experience in plumbing and water treatment, we’ve helped countless homeowners tackle these problems head-on. And we’re here to help you navigate your water quality journey too, as becoming informed is often the first step towards a lasting solution.
What’s the most comprehensive way to address the quality of locally sourced well water? A three-pronged system called a well water conditioning package.
In this article, we’ll go top to bottom on well water quality, from the challenges of contamination to the inclusions and benefits of a well water conditioning package. We’ll review everything you need to know about this water treatment system and the many ways it pays dividends to your household. By the end, you’ll have a solid understanding of the steps you’ll need to take to secure the health and safety of your well water.
Let’s start things off with the most frequently encountered contamination issues that homeowners run into with well water.
Understanding 5 Common Challenges of Well Water
Well water is a valuable resource for many rural and suburban homeowners as it offers independence from municipal systems. However, since it’s drawn directly from groundwater, well water often contains contaminants that can affect your health, home, and daily life. Where public water faces treatment regulation, the responsibility of treating well water falls on you, the homeowner.
This burden can seem overwhelming, but it’s straightforward if you know how well water can become contaminated and the challenges these contaminations pose to you and your home.
1. Sediment and debris are common in well water, and they can clog pipes, damage appliances, and reduce water pressure. Sediment, in this context, refers to small particles of dirt, sand, or other organic matter that get suspended in water and eventually accumulate in plumbing systems. High concentrations of sediment in well water can lead to dirty, hazy, or cloudy water.
2. Acidic (low pH) water, caused by acid rain, runoff, and naturally acidic compounds in soil and bedrock, is another frequent issue with well water. If left unchecked, acidic water in your home’s well will lead to corrosion and premature wear and tear of your plumbing system. This can shorten the lifespan of pipes, valves, and fixtures, leading to costly repairs and replacements.
Acidic water can also result in the appearance of blue-green stains on your faucets and fixtures.
3. High levels of calcium and magnesium contribute to water hardness, which can result in scale buildup in pipes, water heaters and other water-based appliances. Hard water leaves mineral deposits known as limescale, which not only clogs your plumbing system but also reduces the efficiency and lifespan of water-based appliances, costing you more on energy bills, system repairs, and maintenance.
For homeowners with hard water, flushing your water heater at least once per year can help support a long operational life and optimal efficiency.
Flushing your tankless annually is especially vital to help support a long operational life and optimal efficiency of tankless water heaters running with hard water.
4. Iron and hydrogen sulfide are notorious for leaving unsightly stains, metallic tastes, and unpleasant odors. Hydrogen sulfide, often recognized by its “rotten egg” smell, is a gas that can naturally occur in groundwater and create an unpleasant experience for homeowners.
5. Bacterial and chemical contamination. Among the most worrisome of well water challenges are the potentially serious health risks of bacteria and pesticides. Coliform bacteria, for instance, can indicate the presence of pathogens in your water, which can lead to gastrointestinal issues.
Without taking steps to address the quality of your well water, these challenges can lead to minor inconveniences (like smell and taste), costly plumbing repairs, and potentially hazardous health risks. One of the most thorough and holistic approaches to keeping your well water clean and safe is to install a well water conditioning package.
What’s Included in a Well Water Conditioning Package?
A Well Water Conditioning Package provides a comprehensive solution to these issues, addressing the root causes of contamination and ensuring a consistent supply of clean, healthy water. Three different water treatment systems make up a well water conditioning package:
1: Big Blue Sediment Filter
The first essential component of the package is the Big Blue Sediment Filter, which removes particles as small as five microns (five-millionths of a meter). These filters trap sediment that’s invisible to the naked eye, such as fine sand and rust. This protects your plumbing and appliances from debris that could damage their health or hinder their efficiency and keeps your drinking water crystal clear.
2: Neutralizer
The next vital piece of the package is the neutralizer, which uses crushed limestone to raise pH levels and neutralize acidic water. Within a neutralizer, limestone dissolves slowly into the water, increasing its alkalinity and stabilizing its pH, which effectively protects your plumbing from corrosion that’s common with acidic water. By adding essential minerals into your water supply, neutralizers also ensure that your water doesn’t become overly aggressive and corrode other surfaces in your home (something that water with low PPM tends to do).
3: Water Softener
While neutralizers are very good at what they do, they inadvertently add hardness (calcium) to your water, which can lead to a handful of other issues. Water softeners are the third key component in a well water conditioning package, as they use an ion exchange process to replace calcium with sodium, offsetting the side effects of the neutralizer. Water softeners prevent scale buildup, which extends the lifespan of water heaters and improves the efficiency of dishwashers and washing machines. Soft water also feels better on your skin and hair, and ensures your clothes come out of the wash cleaner and brighter.
These three components (the Big Blue Sediment Filter, a neutralizer, and a water softener) make up the entire well water conditioning package and provide a holistic approach to managing your home’s supply of well water. Additionally, one optional add-on is the Seagull IV filter, which provides advanced technology to capture microscopic bacteria and viruses, further enhancing the system’s effectiveness.
The 5 Benefits of a Well Water Conditioning Package
When you invest in a well water conditioning package, you gain numerous benefits that significantly improve your home’s water quality and overall functionality. Here are the five biggest benefits of installing one of these systems:
1. Protect Your Plumbing
Your plumbing system is the lifeblood of your home, providing water to any fixture that calls for it. Acidic water and limescale buildup might seem like small concerns but they’ll steadily take their toll on your pipes, reducing water flow and hindering energy efficiency. But perhaps the most significant problem is that it can actually take years off your plumbing’s life, leading to costly repairs and avoidable replacements.
A well water conditioning package protects the pipes in your home from each of these issues, saving you from inconveniences like poor water flow and rising energy bills. Opting in for this system will also build value to your existing piping – a long-term benefit that’ll pay off for years into the future.
2. Protect Your Appliances
Your water quality directly impacts the performance of all water-based appliances like your water heater, washing machine, and dishwasher. More specifically, hard water can take a serious toll on everything it touches, especially when it’s heated and cooled repeatedly (which it is).
Your water heater (even tankless models) will experience much faster efficiency losses and wear and tear if your water supply is overly rich in calcium. Your dishwasher and washing machine too. Taking steps to improve your water quality will keep your household running efficiently and protect the parts of your home that use water the most.
3. Improve Your Water Quality
It might be obvious, but the fact that the water you drink, cook with, and shower in will also be safer and healthier shouldn’t be overlooked. The taste, smell, and appearance of your water are transformed by removing impurities such as iron, hydrogen sulfide, and bacteria. This improvement will safeguard your water quality for both drinking and cooking.
You can also kiss irritating showers with hard water goodbye. Water softeners support relaxing showers and prevent the feeling of dry skin and brittle hair that come with hard water. The overall improvement in your water quality results in an enhanced day-to-day lifestyle.
4. Save on Water & Energy Bills
Softened water improves the efficiency of your appliances, reducing the energy required by your water heater, washing machine, and dishwasher. Every appliance will lose efficiency over time, but with a well water conditioning package, you’ll protect the long-term performance of all water-based appliances. Understanding how hard water can take its toll on the efficiency of water-based appliances is key to seeing the true value of a well water conditioning package.
Investing in your water quality puts your household on track to lower utility bills with sustained energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
5. Help the Environment
Well water conditioning packages are environmentally friendly for a handful of reasons. First, they support the long-term energy efficiency of your household by producing soft, neutral (not acidic) water, reducing your household’s carbon footprint. They also use less untreated water to yield the same quantities of treated water than some alternatives like reverse osmosis filters, making them a greener option.
Additionally, well water conditioning packages support the drinkability of your locally sourced water supply, reducing your reliance on bottled water. This not only cuts down on plastic waste, but also limits carbon emissions associated with transporting bottled water.
Ongoing Maintenance and Water Quality Testing Are Key
To keep your home’s water quality healthy, your plumbing system unobstructed, and your appliances running at peak performance, prioritize regular maintenance of both your water conditioning system and your well itself. Annual tasks like replacing sediment filters, replenishing limestone and sodium resin, and calibrating the system based on any changes in water quality will ensure consistent results.
Don’t overlook the importance of professional inspections of your well, water heater, water conditioning systems, and the rest of your plumbing system. Neglecting maintenance can result in a slow, but steady, decrease in system efficiency and could allow contaminants to build up again.
Periodic water quality testing is another essential step toward identifying emerging issues early on, so adjustments to your treatment systems can be made accordingly. Comprehensive water testing checks for pH, hardness, iron levels, and the presence of bacteria, ensuring that your well water conditioning package will continue to meet your home’s needs.
Who Can Benefit from a Well Water Conditioning Package?
If you’ve noticed stains on your faucets or other fixtures, persistent odors, metallic tastes, or an increase in plumbing system repairs, it’s likely time to consider a well water conditioning package. This system is particularly beneficial for families seeking safe, high-quality water and increased energy efficiency for their daily needs. If your home relies on well water, considering a conditioning package may be a worthwhile investment.
At Mattioni, we take time to get to know your specific water quality challenges. We conduct comprehensive testing, that way we can deliver the right water treatment option to your home. For those who rely on locally sourced water, the well water conditioning package is an excellent option that once and for all gives you peace of mind on all of your water quality concerns.
Don’t neglect the responsibility of monitoring your well water, nobody else is going to do it for you. Start by testing your water supply with either a test strip kit or a digital meter. If you’re already dealing with hard or acidic water, the well water conditioning package is likely a good fit for you.
Your home’s water should be a source of comfort and convenience, not a cause for concern or a drag on efficiency. Don’t wait until plumbing or water quality problems rear their ugly head – ensure your water is safe, clean, and efficient with a well water conditioning package.
Reach out to the team of experts at Mattioni by calling (610) 400-8510 to schedule a consultation and discover the benefits of better water today.
