Well Water Quality

[rick kennerly]

I'm building on ag property with a shallow well near by.  The people on this pump bathe in it but don't drink the water.  It's "ground water" as opposed to deep well water.  

Ground water wells (spud wells) are common garden and lawn irrigation wells in this area  -- a hole two feet deep will fill with ground water overnight).   

I'm thinking this isn't a problem, but I thought I'd check before I fill the fish tanks.  

RHKennerly

Virginia Beach, VA 

[Gina Cavaliero]

Most likely it is safe Rick, but in the case that there is something detrimental in it, you can fill up the system and add Clorox Bleach, enough to bring your water up to 250ppm Chlorine.  Of course only do this with NO fish or plants in it yet.  Then turn on the pumps and blowers and let the system run for 2 to 3 days and burn off the added Clorox Bleach.  Test and insure you get a 0 reading and you are good to go.  You can use this method for any questionable water sources.  

[rick kennerly]

got it!  Thanks. I'm using EDPM pool liners for tanks.  Clorox still okay do you think?  They were just delivered today, so I haven't opened the box to see if there is an instruction sheet yet.  

[TCLynx]

The Chlorine shouldn't hurt the liner.

[rick kennerly]

Finally broke down and I'm having this water analyzed, both for minerals and for fecal chloroform.  

The water is clear out of the tap, but has so much dissolved iron that it goes from clear at the sprayer to a bucket of blood as it oxidizes --nearly-- in midair, between the hose and the pail.    

[TCLynx]

WOW

[Rob Torcellini]

around here none of the shallow wells are allowed to be used any more for potable water.  The risk of contamination is too high.  If you own an older house with a shallow well and try to sell it, you have to have a deep well drilled before you can take ownership.

I"m just sayin'..........

[rick kennerly]

but this is ag work.  Still, I'd like to know what I'm dealing with. 

[TCLynx]

In general, you want to use water you would be safe to drink in your aquaponics system since anything put into an aquaponics system is going to be recirculating to grow your food so if there is anything in it that would be bad for you, the fish or the plants, it may not be worth messing with.

That said, I wouldn't mind a bit more iron in my well water, could I trade you some lime?

[rick kennerly]

Got my water test back today. Good news is negative for fecal coliform bacteria. Iron is 1.34 ppm state guidelines says max is 0.3 ppm for drinking. No wonder it turns red when it hits the air. PH is 7.47.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Iron at 1.34ppm sounds like good news as well :)

[TCLynx]

Hum, might have to keep an eye on Iron levels though since if the plants are not taking it up fast, it could build up.  If you can collect rain water then you might balance between rain and well water to help keep a better balance of things.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

TC, most soil-less culture literature suggests keeping iron at 2 - 3ppm (mg/l) to avoid deficiencies, and Nate confirmed that at UVI they dose to either 2 or 3ppm (I forget which, but could look it up) every three weeks. And Iron seems to be one of the very rare essential elements that wont cause problems in excess. (like messing with the up-take of other elements, or physiological problems )

Most (3/4) Fe in plants is located in the chloroplast and is stored as a ferric phosphoprotein called phytoferritin. Fe can appearently accumulate in plants without any apparent negative effect whatsoever.

Does the build up of Iron hurt other portions of an AP system, like the fish?