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 

[TCLynx]

Ok Cool. 

Thanks for that info Vlad.

[Wil Miles]

i just set up a 1100 gallon system used 350 gallon of pristine water from previously running smaller system .well someone else added water to the pond at my request {BUT I FAILED TO BE SPECIFIC ABOUT WHICH WATER SUPPLY TO USE}

well long story short 30 dead goldfish total waste of water so i will expose it to sunlight and let algae do its thing for a month or two iron well water is deadly to fish but i in sw florida.BUT i will top off the pond with small amounts of that iron water later due to the fact iron is hard to get into aq system.but plants require it so it could be a positive <learn something everyday or you wasted it>

[rick kennerly]

Well, I'm aerating it as much as I can to encourage oxidation, trying to precipitate out as much as possible before I put the fish in.  Water's still to cold to get bacteria going, so there's time.  I'm building a solar heater for the water now. 

[Bob Vento]

I am in South Florida also and was considering using well water for my system. Guess I should have the water tested first. Anyone in S. FL using ground water from a well for their system?

[TCLynx]

Yep, you should get the water tested, especially if it is a shallow or irrigation only well.  If it is a deep well and you use it for drinking water, it might still be handy to get it tested (just to know what you are dealing with) but you can probably get along fine just testing the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate with your freshwater master test kit.  Tip-water right out of the pipes will have a false low pH reading so I recommend putting a sample in a jar with an air bubbler overnight and then re-testing the pH to see what the pH really is.

[rick kennerly]

cost me $125 for a full lab certified analysis, includes a pathogen test.  If you're going to sell public, you'll know and have a defense if there is a problem.  

Besides, anybody with a well should get a baseline test, particularly with all the gas fracking in the nation.  One of the major hurdles folks who have had legal issues with methane in their drinking water is they have no baseline studies, so they can't prove there's been a change.  

Bob Vento said:

I am in South Florida also and was considering using well water for my system. Guess I should have the water tested first. Anyone in S. FL using ground water from a well for their system?

[Bob Vento]

My fish will be for personal consumption only. Not going into business.

rick kennerly said:

cost me $125 for a full lab certified analysis, includes a pathogen test.  If you're going to sell public, you'll know and have a defense if there is a problem.  

Besides, anybody with a well should get a baseline test, particularly with all the gas fracking in the nation.  One of the major hurdles folks who have had legal issues with methane in their drinking water is they have no baseline studies, so they can't prove there's been a change.  

Bob Vento said:

I am in South Florida also and was considering using well water for my system. Guess I should have the water tested first. Anyone in S. FL using ground water from a well for their system?

[rick kennerly]

understood.  Still, if I had a well, I'd test it for baseline, in case natural gas fracing comes to your area.  

Bob Vento said:

My fish will be for personal consumption only. Not going into business.

rick kennerly said:

cost me $125 for a full lab certified analysis, includes a pathogen test.  If you're going to sell public, you'll know and have a defense if there is a problem.  

Besides, anybody with a well should get a baseline test, particularly with all the gas fracking in the nation.  One of the major hurdles folks who have had legal issues with methane in their drinking water is they have no baseline studies, so they can't prove there's been a change.  

Bob Vento said:

I am in South Florida also and was considering using well water for my system. Guess I should have the water tested first. Anyone in S. FL using ground water from a well for their system?