Testing Well Water

[U_Stormcrow]

Is your terrain flat? It must be an electric pump.

Just to give an idea, I supply a 20' x 50' although it is not very deep, pond for my ducks and chickens with just rain and a trickle of water from an elevated resevoir. Sometimes I turn on the water full just to regenerate the pond because I dont have any type of filter other than the water flowing down a hill and I live in an extreme UV zone. The water is sometimes green, sometimes black, sometimes clear. But I have never lost a duck or chicken.

So a well is a really useful thing if you wanted to bring the water up somehow into a resevoir on your property.

Here in the US, its common to have a "deep well" run on 220v electric with a pressure sensor, so when household pressure drops below a certain point (often around 50 psi +/-) the well pump will cycle on and begin pumping. A pressure tank at the top helps prevent pulsation/pressure waves in the pipes, and the system usually cycles off before it exceeds 80 psi.

While 220v is more efficient than 110v, the systems are NOT designed to run continuously at a slow trickle, and by code, well drilling companies are generally prohibitted from putting a personal well at depth greater than that of the local water utility. That can result in wells - particularly old wells - pulling sand, squonky water and all kinds of undesireable things now that aquifer levels have dropped as populations have increased. A couple $20s in the correct pocket may help you exceed that by a 20' length of pipe, however.

Please don't inquire how much I paid to have my well dug. Its not going dry any time soon - which is good, as Nestle buys water from the same source and bottles it under one or more brand names.

 

[saysfaa]

...

1. Should I test my well water to be on the safe side? I don't think it's hooked up to any type of filter. I actually have no idea....

2. What exactly am I testing for to ensure it's chicken-safe? I was looking on Amazon for water testing kits and some have many more "categories" to test for. Some even come with a bacteria test.
3. Do you have a preferred water test kit?

1. We did.

2. https://extension.psu.edu/testing-your-drinking-water

3. https://www.dep.pa.gov/Citizens/My-Water/PrivateWells/Pages/Water-Testing.aspx
And
https://agsci.psu.edu/aasl/water-testing/drinking-water-testing

I found some maps showing where there are wells that tested high for given contaminants. That help us decide what to test for. I didn't find such a thing for your state in the few minutes I looked. The testing labs can probably direct you.

We ended up testing for everything because it cost less for the three or four panels than for the individual things we decided we wanted. Unfortunately, your state groups and prices the panels differently. We had choices like partial metal, extensive metal, and inorganics, instead of groups based on industries nearby.

Semi-related. We had to replace our well the first year we lived here. We learned far more about wells than we want to know. One thing is that deeper isn't necessarily better, although that might depend on local geography.

 

[SelfSufficientMe]

First and foremost, thank you for everyone's response to my other threads! I appreciate the time and detail you put into your replies more than you could possibly imagine!

I have a hose hooked up to a well water source. We don't use this for anything more than watering our gardens in the summer. Our main supply of water is public. The chicken set up is on the side of the house with the well water and would be very convenient to use. So....

1. Should I test my well water to be on the safe side? I don't think it's hooked up to any type of filter. I actually have no idea....

2. What exactly am I testing for to ensure it's chicken-safe? I was looking on Amazon for water testing kits and some have many more "categories" to test for. Some even come with a bacteria test.

3. Do you have a preferred water test kit?

@U_Stormcrow

I am a licensed water plant operator in Florida. I do well testing on the side. I test for Ecoli and total coliform (bacteriological). You can test for all sorts of contaminants. Lead, nitrates, etc. I do not know what you should test for but those are the basics as far for human consumption. Sometimes county health departments will offer free test kits. Hope that helps.

 

[Brooks_]

I do well testing on the side

A little more detail, please. You have a lab or are a middle-man?

 

[SelfSufficientMe]

A little more detail, please. You have a lab or are a middle-man?

I’m not a lab. I grab samples for those seeking certain types of home loans. And sometimes for site clearance. I simply take the samples and transport them to the lab as a side business. I work at a water plant for my full-time job.

 

[SourRoses]

A natural filter would require only a little bit of rocky material that the water passes through removing any metals and hard stuff, and UV from the sun kills the bacteria.

Please please don't repeat this misinformation. It is just not correct.
If "a little bit of rocky material" removed "any metals", no natural running water sources would have issues with heavy metals.
Activated Carbon and its composites are effective at removing some heavy metals, but only a percentage (see graph in link). Its usefulness depends on what concentrations are present in the first place.

What rock is good for is hosting nitrifying bacteria for the nitrogen cycle.

While UV rays do kill bacteria, it is by no means completely effective in any natural environment. UV Sterilizer devices reduce the quantity of water within the tube for better penetrance and use a focused UV beam. This does not translate to "The sun sterilizes everything" no matter what myths social media perpetuates.

E. coli bacteria, for example, can double in number every 20 minutes. Very few have to make it through any gauntlet set up for them to grow into a problem.
So, OP, everything depends on the initial water quality. Getting the test is a good idea. If values are only off a bit you could set up a DIY RO filter.

 

[Happy Novogens]

We are on well water. I am very happy with the resources at waterfiltersofamerica.com

They offer a variety of water tests depending on your needs. They use National Testing Laboratories, Ltd. The kit that was sent out included 5 different bottles, an ice-pak and foam holder for all. (Some stuff needs to be tested within 24 hours of collection -- hence the freezer pak and overnight shipping.)

This was way more thorough than what typical water filter salesmen do -- which seems little more than what pool companies do for pool water!

In our case, we received a 6 page report that showed what we had, compared to national standards as defined in the EPA's Primary and Secondary drinking Water Regulations.

Since we're nearby farming, we tested also for pesticides. Arsenic is commonly found out here as well, so we included that too.

 

[Egg Blues]

I would recommend researching possibilities for contaminants in your area and checking for those most likely. One element no one has listed so far is uranium. For example, a number of Russians emigrated the Chernobyl area after its infamous meltdown years ago, and some of these settled in the Spokane, Washington area. The wells where they settled, ironically/unfortunately are high in uranium, and many are now seeking professional help to detoxify.

I would definitely check for arsenic levels, for nitrates, and for lead. Beyond that it would be up to what is likely for your area, and/or, if no one is testing for uranium, leaving a potential knowledge gap on that point, you might add that to the list just for a sanity check.

I would be curious if the arsenic test results would indicate which of the two common forms of arsenic, and/or their ratio, was found: As2O3 or As2O5. One of these, the less toxic one, can be removed via reverse osmosis because it has a polarity. The other, which is non-polar, cannot, and could only be removed via distillation.

 

[Banana01]

Please please don't repeat this misinformation. It is just not correct.
If "a little bit of rocky material" removed "any metals", no natural running water sources would have issues with heavy metals.
Activated Carbon and its composites are effective at removing some heavy metals, but only a percentage (see graph in link). Its usefulness depends on what concentrations are present in the first place.

What rock is good for is hosting nitrifying bacteria for the nitrogen cycle.

While UV rays do kill bacteria, it is by no means completely effective in any natural environment. UV Sterilizer devices reduce the quantity of water within the tube for better penetrance and use a focused UV beam. This does not translate to "The sun sterilizes everything" no matter what myths social media perpetuates.

E. coli bacteria, for example, can double in number every 20 minutes. Very few have to make it through any gauntlet set up for them to grow into a problem.
So, OP, everything depends on the initial water quality. Getting the test is a good idea. If values are only off a bit you could set up a DIY RO filter.

I feel like I described the process of building a natural filter adequately for giving a general idea of the scope.

Obviously a natural filter requires research from the end user and it is a project. Please give a little leway for a generalized discussion before calling it misinformation and going on with detailed complex scientific facts like chemical and bacterial muktiply rates. Its a little ridiculous.

 

[RoyalChick]

My home is on well water and I just got it tested - there is a pretty standard battery of tests for human consumption which include coliforms and various heavy metals and then you can add tests if you have particular concerns (e.g. copper for older houses).
Fortunately my results were fine.
If I were OP I would send it off for testing for human consumption (you might find it better than the town water!) and on the basis of that you can decide whether to use it for the chickens.
Incidentally, I don't use my well water for the chickens, I collect rain water off the roof of the chicken coop and that does them very nicely and doesn't require me to carry any buckets from the house.