Well water as fill water

[linen]

As to not derail mrswhitsie's thread Filling in pool after replaster with questions that popped into my head upon reading it, I thought I would start a new one. I am not sure if this is the right subforum.

The quotes below are from that thread.

If you have a well, that might be cheaper, but it will often not be worthwhile unless the water is very good.

Adding emphasis to the last part of that statement, I would suggest well water as a last, least favorite option. A very high percentage of pool water issues we see here on the forum comes from high iron content well water.

I have always filled my pool (pools if you count my former intex ring pool) with my well water. Cost is very low and I have a vinyl liner, so I never considered other options. Of course it does not come without issues such as high TA (+250 ppm) and water tint. The high TA I just deal with...I find the MA/aeration method kind of fun. My water tint however is one that has confused me. Right after I fill the pool, but before chlorinating my water is clear, but expectantly once chlorinated the tint shows up. My tint has always been a tan color, I would equate it to the "tea color" others have seen. Being the cheap skate that I am, I have never tried an sequestrant, nor have I needed to if I am patient. Once the tan color shows itself, I just run my filter (sand with no DE added) for about a week straight and the color is gone. When I back flush, the water is very dark brown. I am assuming my water is fairly high in iron since when I let my salt in the water softener go to zero (and my wife gets mad at me ) we get the orange stains on our porcelain tub. I have not gotten a test done on the iron content (or other content) in my well water...I probably should.

Okay, to my question...am I confusing something else with metals (such as tannins) or am I really filtering the metals out?

Also adding to the well issue. Most wells won't handle pumping enough water out of them at one time to fill a pool. They'll usually run dry before you get that much water out of them. Just something to be aware of.

What dangers are there in running a well dry. I have wondered about this as I was filling my pool. Mine did not run dry, but I have only filled my pool once. I assume it might be hard on the submerged pump, since it would not have water cooling it? Is there any potential hazard to the aquifers?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Right after I fill the pool, but before chlorinating my water is clear, but expectantly once chlorinated the tint shows up.

What you described is the classic scenario for water with iron content. You are most likely filtering out a good bit of it. There are instances where iron can be filtered out after the addition of chlorine, and looks like yours is one of them. The drawback is that it doesn't happen regularly enough to depend on.

On some wells, if they're ever ran dry they never fully recover and in some cases they will cease to produce any water at all. I just wanted to add that as a warning. Most people that have problem wells know it and I just wanted to jog their memory.

 

[George N]

I haven't had any major problems with well water.

When I first started filling the pool I had the water wide open and the pump never seemed to stop running and I was concerned that it would over heat so I would run it an hour then shut it off for an hour. It was a pain!

I contacted my local well company and was told to open the spigot a little and let it run, this would give it time to run and shut off on its own so it don't over heat. Worked out great.

Well sample below:
PH 7
TDS 100
CYA 0
TC 0
FC 0
TA 137
TH 183
Salt 0
Borates 15
Copper 0
Iron 0

My pool sample:
PH 7.6
CYA 30
TC 3
FC 0
TA 80
TH 100
Salt 2500
Borates 30
Copper 0
Iron 0

In the next few weeks will be bring up the borates, CYA and salt

 

[linen]

What you described is the classic scenario for water with iron content. You are most likely filtering out a good bit of it. There are instances where iron can be filtered out after the addition of chlorine, and looks like yours is one of them. The drawback is that it doesn't happen regularly enough to depend on.

Yeah, in my case, it seems no matter when I add water (usually due to backwashing) I will get the tint, that then it gets filtered away. I think I may try and prefilter my fill water this year using a whole house filter jar attached to the end of my hose with one of those spun yarn filters to see if that eliminates much of the problem. When I was using an intex pool, I used the same filter type on a seperate loop from my main filter to get the tint out. On its own, the intex filter did nothing to remove the metals. However on my hot tub, the cartridge filter seems to be able to filter out the metals.

On some wells, if they're ever ran dry they never fully recover and in some cases they will cease to produce any water at all.

Any idea of why this could happen?

I contacted my local well company and was told to open the spigot a little and let it run, this would give it time to run and shut off on its own so it don't over heat.

That a great idea! Seems obvious, but of course, I did not think of it

Well sample below:
PH 7
TDS 100
CYA 0
TC 0
FC 0
TA 137
TH 183
Salt 0
Borates 15
Copper 0
Iron 0

Looks like you have ideal well water. I should probably get tests done on my well water for iron and copper...is the pool store the best place to get those numbers, or maybe a water softener company? By the way George N, you do have your own good test kit don't you? Your pool numbers look suspiciously like they came from a pool store Interesting that your well water has borates, is this normal? I have not tested mine for Borates since I assumed it had none (and my pool water read zero, or as close as the strips would indicate to zero before I added Borates).

 

[George N]

I do have my own test kit, but the results I posted for the well where from the pool store from when I first started the pool last summer. The readings for pool where yesterday but I just didn't change the TH to CH (I was lazy and copy/paste the Letters and changed the numbers )

I did contact the County Health Dept. and the well company and both told me that deep wells in this area have little to no measurable iron. But the shallow wells are heavy in iron.
Mine is 265 feet deep so all is good. My Borate test strips don't show any in well water sample but I'll call the County and ask.

My TFTestKit-100 reading for pool today are:
PH 7.6
FC 3
CC 0
CYA 30 (taken on March 1st, monthly)
TA 80
CH 100
Bor 30 (taken on March 1st, monthly)
Salt 2500 (taken on March 1st, monthly)
Temp 68F

 

[linen]

I do have my own test kit

Excellent

I did contact the County Health Dept. and the well company and both told me that deep wells in this area have little to no measurable iron. But the shallow wells are heavy in iron.
Mine is 265 feet deep so all is good.

My well is much shallower (90 ft I think) and I do have iron. I did not know that depth made a difference.

My TFTestKit-100 reading for pool today are:
PH 7.6
FC 3
CC 0
CYA 30 (taken on March 1st, monthly)
TA 80
CH 100
Bor 30 (taken on March 1st, monthly)
Salt 2500 (taken on March 1st, monthly)
Temp 68F

Your pool looks in great shape

 

[George N]

Water is SPARKLING

But now I hate pollen LOL
You just don't realize how much there is until you have it in a pool, but I'm on top of it

 

[linen]

Water is SPARKLING

But now I hate pollen LOL
You just don't realize how much there is until you have it in a pool, but I'm on top of it

Are you using/have you tried a skimmer sock? That has worked well for me.

 

[George N]

Yes I am, using a knee high stocking right now. Didn't make it to town this past weekend but plan on going this weekend.