Drawing from well water

Hi Folks. I know some of you have experience drawing from well water to put through your pure water carts. Is there anything about well water that would prematurely wear out your system? Like bacteria or anything else?

Other than high tds, no. I found a well a couple of weeks ago at 660

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Tadpoles, newts, sprites and naiads. The carbon filter will take care of the first two and the muon trap will take care of the last two.

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I got a well at my house, after the house filters I get a tds of 230 ish. , About 90% of the time I use a tank and pump so I filter it at home and a lot. Bacteria and stuff like that is the last thing I ever think about . My only concern , for myself and more so if I draw from a well would be running the water for a few hours. It shouldn’t be a concern, but I’ve always worried about someone saying you ran their pump dry. Might be my OCD, but that’s the only thing that a well would concern me with, unless you have a rel high tds.

Thanks for the replies. I have no experience with wells as I’m a city mouse but I had someone tell me HE was told by a WATER guy that the bacteria in well water will kill an RO/DI system in a short amount of time. I’m doubtful if you have decent prefiltering.

I’ve had my Wash-iT Pro for over a year now and I haven’t changed anything on it except replace the resin twice. (I know, the carbon / sediment filter is way overdue, I’m working on that). I live in a pretty rural area, so I would guess probably half of my jobs are running on well water. My RO membrane is still in good shape. I think the “dangers” of well water are overrated, except, as previously noted, for high TDS. Putting a water softener ahead of the RO should extend it’s life dramatically in high TDS areas.

Humm, does bacteria count towards the tds? I didn’t think it would.

Doesnt a water softener just replace calcium and magnesium with sodium ions? Wouldnt it cause the same wear on your system as other tds?

I dont think it counts as tds but I could imagine that a bacterial colony could clog something up with the quickness.

I’ve been drinking well water my whole life, most of the people in my area have wells. I’ve never heard of any sort of bacterial problem

800-1000 TDS on some is why I went to a tank system and all my water comes from city source.

A water softener exchanges calcium molecules with sodium molecules - that is all …

The TDS remains the same (for new readers)

If the high TDS is not caused by Calcium, a water softener will do nothing at all …

The reason that you could get a longer life from your RO is because calcium has a tendency to ‘scale’ - like ‘crust’ … the molecules join together and form solids that clog the pores of the RO Membrane.

To avoid this with a Wash-iT PRO,

a) drain the RO when it is not in use … and

b) DI Flush it once a week to get the TDS OUT under 10 PPM.

These are 2 unique features of the Wash-iT PRO that are designed so that it does not need a softener in front of it. If you are in a high calcium area and you do not want to service it, or you have staff that will not service it, then a water softener kit will be advantageous ( you can make your own with a small DI TANK, a 10" housing and a refillable 10" cartridge)

The only time I have ever heard of bacterial issues with a well are:
1 A well that sits unused for a period of time.
2 Contamination from sewage or other assorted nasty.

Neither case is the water safe to drink. So, I doubt anyone will have this issue anyway, on an occupied home.

Hey Perry. Thanks for the info. Do you have a link to a video somewhere that shows the best way to flush the RO? Also, you said to drain the RO when not in use. Do you mean at the end of every day, or what? Thanks.

At the end of the day just drain for a few minutes while packing up the rest of your gear and then put into vehicle.

Video of a RO flush.

I’m guessing that the reason why this so called ‘water’ salesman making the comment about well water and RO is because he’s used to under the sink type RO’s or commercial RO’s that just stay stationary for the most part until they stop delivering the ‘goods’ so to speak and not familiar with the workings and maintenance options of a Wash-it. The wash-it is very easy to maintain and get longer life.

A home I previously owned in Connecticut had a well and after we had bought it it was tested and had to be flushed with chlorine for a couple days so it definitely can happen it had a bad smell after it was alright though

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Thanks for the video, Mark. You’re awesome.

hey, no problem.

Wether it’s municipal or well water; there can be bacteria concerns. A well is more likely to have iron bacteria though.

It would be good general practice to periodically treat your RO membrane with a biocide.