I'm moving to a place with well water; I have city water now. Is there a big difference between the two?

Question

I am moving to a rural area, and will have well water. I am used to city water. Is there anything that I will have to differently when I have well water? For example, can I still do my laundry the same, using the same kind and amount of detergent?

Answer 1

It will depend a great deal on the quality of the water in the well.

If you find there is a lot of sediment, lime, or a bad smell...(usually from sulfur), you can put a whole house filter in place. Use two if necessary, one to stop the "sand" and follow it up with a charcoal filter, which will eliminate any bad smell or taste in the water.

On the other hand..... quite often, rural well water tastes better than city water. I'd ask questions of the homeowner, or previous owner, if you are buying it.. and neighbors.

Of course, with well water, you do not have any flouride, or other additives, that cities put into the water. So you may want to use a toothpaste with flouride in it, or a rinse.

Water "hardness" will affect how well your soap will "suds up" -- the softer the water, the more soap suds you will get. The "harder" the water (higher mineral content), the less suds you will get, from the same amount of soap/detergent.

We can offer several ways to deal with 'bad water' problems.... but you should really wait and see what the quality of the water is like, first, hehehehe.

Oh.... one more thing.... perhaps youve thought of it, perhaps not.... along with a well.... a rural home usually has a septic tank, and drain field.... these need regular maintenance. I recommend pouring a box of Rid-X, into a toilet once a month.... flush it a couple of times to get it into the system. Rid-X helps replace all those nice little bacteria, and such, that your septic system needs to break down the waste. It's not expensive, and can save you a whole bunch of money later on, hehehehe. With proper "regular maintenance" (like Rid-X), you can help prevent a major blockage of the system, which ends up in having to hire someone to dig up the lines, pump the tank, etc.... That's expensive, dirty, and smelly, hehehe...

Good luck on the move :)

Answer 2

It's because it is 5 boroughs, whereas most cities barely cover one county. NYC was originally Manhattan and part of The Bronx, but then the other boroughs decided to join. That and the fact that it has a very high population density (30,000 people per square mile, when the norm for most cities is around 10,000 per square mile) means it could fit more people into a limited space. The density is as a result of being pedestrian- and transit-friendly, rather than developing around the automobile like a lot of Western cities. I hope this information was very helpful.

Answer 3

I have well water now and I had city water before. Have the water checked before you do any laundry or cook with it. Some well water will contain high amounts of iron. This will stain your clothes if you wash with it. You can purchase or rent a water conditioning system which will remove it. Culligan usually will rent them pretty cheaply for about $25 a month and they will come and fill the salt for you. There are new Kinetico systems that don't use salt, you can check for a dealer near you, they typically run around $50 per month. Strictly taste wise, I drink bottled water and use it to make anything like Kool-aid or iced tea. Well water can be hard too, but once tested, they'll give you a system to fix that as well as remove iron. You may have to watch using large amounts of water during droughts as well. Even if you don't run your well dry, running it low can pull disgusting debris into your water supply.

Answer 4

The biggest difference is that well water is not fluoridated. Most municipal/city water supplies are fluoridated. So it is very important to brush, floss and rinse with mouthwash regularly. Also, you should go to the dentist and set up a schedule to have fluoridation treatments.

As for doing laundry, water 'hardness' will effect laundry detergent's performance. You can buy laundry detergent specifically formulated for hard water use, if the water is hard.

Lastly, well water can sometimes smell like rotten eggs, or some other wonderful odor. It is totally safe, and after a while you get used to the smell, kind of like living in the city :)
Good luck---

Answer 5

I can't speak for all well water, some is better than others. I know that mine is the best water I've ever had, anywhere. It's really good stuff.

Generally, if your water is of good quality, you should feel cleaner, your laundry will come out nicer, and it will definitely taste better than any city water you ever had. No chlorine or other chemicals in it.

There are some wells that have high iron contents, and that leaves rust stains. Then you might be down towards Florida, where there is a high sulfur content in the water, and it smells and tastes like rotten eggs. ( It's actually very healthy for you, but it smells and tastes awful !! )

Hope this helps you.

Answer 6

You won't know until you get there. Well water varies from region to region. You might ask the neighbors. Or get the county agent at the extension office to clue you in.

Answer 7

Yes. Typically well water is drawn straight up from an aquafer which is an underground resevoir of water. It is refilled by the Hydrological Cycle of rain filtering down thru the rock & limestone which causes it to be hard. Essentially hard water is just water with limestone deposits in it. It won't hurt you but it's not clean.

Then you can get other things in your water like iron or dead plant matter - the latter is what causes the the rotton egg odor in some rural farming communities. Typically to fix that you need a flocculent of some type to attach itself to the particulate in the water and then fall to the bottom of the tank where it will be back flushed out.

You'll also want to use approximately 1 gallon of chlorine per every 50 feet your well is deep. This is to ensure that the bacteria is killed. Clean your well once every six months this way to make sure no bacteria gets into the well.

Contact a plumber or better yet, an Echowater dealer in your neck of the woods who will have everything you need to make your well water safe and drinkable.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Check it for hardness. Well water comes from aquifers and normally runs thru layers of limestone.

Answer 9

take a sample in a streile glass with a top, 2 your county exe. office get it tested, should be free!

Answer 10

I live in a rural area with a well. I do my laundry, and cooking with it just the same as tap water.