My well water doesn’t smell like sulfur, but it does have lots of iron and minerals that cause staining. For drinking/cooking I use a Brita filter BUT we still have our water tested yearly because wells that are OK now can become contaminated in the future. Also, you need to know what you’re dealing with. What works for me might or might not work for your area.
There are cleaning products to deal specifically with deposits left by well water BUT, again, you have to get them to deal with your specific problems. Also, how is your waste-water dealt with? Do you have a city sewer or a septic system? If you have a septic system you must pay attention to what you put down your drains/toilets because you don’t want to screw up/destroy your septic system.
The best advice is what has already been given - consult the authorities in your area as to what water issues you have and how best to deal with them.
I wish I was connected to the sewer! Then I’d have a better chance at being connected to city water. I just constantly flush CLR and The Works down my drains. Am I creating a potential underground bomb?
If one hasn’t been done already you should get one done. A comprehensive test covering EPA requirements will run around $300bucks. It is not necessary to have this testing done to treat the water, but should be done in interest of your health. Most water treatment professionals can do basic testing for iron manganese hardness copper sulfur etc the company i work for does these free of charge. We cannot tellyou if the water if safe to drink or not.
It could work great it could do nothing for the problem.
What about an aerator?
Once again the same. I recommend against aeration for most water quality issues they can be more of a problem when it comes to ongoing maintenance and life expectancy of the units we only use aeration for treating radon in the water.
Might exist for you might not. There is no magical devise that fixes all problems it is possible there is a single devise that fixes your specific problems. Its also possible it could take multiple devises to accomplish this.
First you have to identify what the problems are and what is causing them. If you purchased the house with a mortgage most banks will require the dwelling has a potable water supply which would require a comprehensive test. If you dig through your paper work you may find it.
Brown or redish staining is typically caused by iron and manganese. These can be present in the water in two types. Ionic, the water would appear clear in a glass but if left the water may turn red in time or it leaves stains behind where it can evaporate from. If it is not ionic a glass of water would appear red or discolored. Any amount could be present in the water and it would still be usable for drinking purposes. Though it may taste bad and look like orange juice. Solutions for iron and manganese will depend on the specific or the water. A softener will take it out in the ionic state while a physical filter will take it out in the physical state. A greensand filter recharged with potassium permaginate can oxidize ionic state iron and physically filter it.
Copper in well water is typically a result of acidic water dissolving plumbing pipes. If copper is present in the water green staining is the normal result. Copper is dangerous in drinking water. Most often you treat copper with a neutralizer. Which is a container of sacrificial limestone bed that will be dissolved over time instead of your pipes.
Sulfur smell can be caused by a number of things and requires some trouble shooting to identify. Questions that need to be answered are Is it only in the hot or cold water? Is it stronger in some area’s of the house? Is it worse first thing in the morning. Sulfur in the water can cause sulfur smell and manganese bacteria can cause it was well. Sulfur is unhealthy to drink while the bacteria is not harmful to humans. The first step is to chlorinate the well and run chlorinated through all the pipes. This will kill any bacteria present and also force sulfur out of the water. Then you identify how long the smell takes to return. If its a matter of hours you may want to look into treating as a sulfur problem. Bleaching could solve the problem permanently or for a long enough duration that you may just repeat as needed. Sulfur can be treated by a activated carbon filter chlorination and greensand filters amongst other methods.
You should consult a qualified person to help you with this. There are a number of ways to treat any given problem. Some are much better or cost effective then others. In water treatment it is not always a catch all devise that will solve all your problems it could take more then one piece of equipment there may be compromises made when balancing expense to water quality.
I recommend educating yourself a little more and contacting a company with WQA certification.
You are killing your septic system. Septic systems work by anaerobic digestion of sewage by bacteria. Constant use of strong chemicals kills the bacteria. If the sewage is not digested, you will have to have your tank pumped very frequently to avoid clogging the leach field. Replacing a leach field can cost upwards of $25k in some areas. Tanks should be pumped every 2-3 years no matter what the conditions, as a layer of grease forms on top, and a layer off sediment forms on the bottom. The only thing going into the sewer should be waste, tp, water, and small amounts of cleaning chemicals.
I can’t say how things worked out … we’d just moved in and ended up getting used to the smell and bottled water (we only spend about $100 a year on water, only for drinking and cooking). It’s still high on our priority list, and I keep that thread bookmarked to come back to—probably this summer.
I will echo Carnac the Magnificent’s sentiment “Having done a great deal of research on this issue, I feel comfortable in saying that there are few industries with more flim-flam men, quacks and outright charlatans than the water-purification industry.”
This board, however, is a bastion of sanity, and I can’t express enough gratitude for the help members gave in that and this thread.