For the last few weeks our well water has been really bad. I don’t know why. It tastes awful. It has black residue in it that clogs the filters straight away the black particles can be clearly seen in the bath and stuck to the porcelain.
We live above an ancient swamp where there is a lot of coal and natural gasses in the earth, water travels through the rock in the ground dissolving some of the natural mineral deposits and carrying them along and this mix ends up captured in our well so our water smells like sulfur on a good day. Any silver worn around the house goes instantly black. But the water is filtered twice before we drink it. They tell me the sulfurous bacteria is organic and occurs naturally and is not harmful to health.
But lately the water has worsened and the taps are delivering this salty, brackish blackened water.
But the water heater could be the problem, or the water softener that filters the water could be the problem or the well could be the problem or the pipes could be the problem. All of these things deteriorate over time especially in water that can contain the naturally occuring hydrogen sulfide or sulfur bacteria from the well water.
The last time we had this blackened water the well was running dry and we had to dig deeper, but we have had so much rain in the last season that this cannot possibly be the problem.
But now the quality has deteriorated to the point where I do not trust it and have begun to buy drinking water.
I have never bought drinking water before. And water is a dollar a gallon. Bottled tap water is big business.
Of course there are moves afoot to find the problem with our water and clean it up but this period of undrinkable water has really made me think of the value of good water. Having unreliable drinking water has made me truly appreciate water like never before. I used to drink piles of water but not so much now that I am buying it. I never waste it. Anything left over in my glass is poured into the kettle to be boiled for tea. The water I cook with is strained into the pig bucket. If I run out I have to get in the car and go off to obtain more so I am careful with its use.
I save the containers and carry them into town and fill them there carrying my precious clean water home in the company of women down the ages.
There are many countries in the world that have dubious water quality -some people have no water at all.
If I were a woman in a refugee camp in semi-arid Dadaab I would be grateful for my smelly dirty water. Many peoples walk miles to get good water.
In fact there are some towns and cities in America who have frequent scares due to scary drinking water pollution – being told to boil the water before drinking or simply not drink it for a period. Flint being the most publicised. Many large cities have water with terribly high levels of harmful chemicals.
And this problem is world wide.
I remember when I lived in Portugal for a time, every weekend the family would drive up into the hills to an ancient water gathering spring with an old tap in a field, we would park by the road, walk up the track then sit on a rock and fill many jugs with the sweet mountain water then take the weeks-supply of drinking water back down to the city.
So, my little problem with my own little well pales in comparison, however it has made me truly appreciate having the ability to control the quality of my own ample supply of water. (And hopefully soon we can regain that control). And the value of it. no more wasting water.
So I am loading up the empties in the car this afternoon and going off in search of good drinking water.
Boo can come for a ride.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
78 responses to “How good is your water”
Years ago (a couple of decades actually) the well water started to taste awful and Anthony discovered a fair few dead animals at the bottom – mostly rabbits.
Nasty. That happened to us once on a farm in NZ. Most of the farms collect rain water to drink into big huge tanks, our water went nasty and I was SENT INTO the tank – (being the skinniest) you put a long ladder through the hole at the top – it was summer and not much water in there and I found a dead slimy ‘possum in the tank. That was a jpb I have NEVER forgottom.
OMG!
A couple of decades ago, we (in a big city in the south of India) faced a severe water crisis due to failure of monsoon for three consecutive years. We had to walk up to the corner of a very long street, collect water in pots and buckets and lug them home every alternate night. I cannot tolerate water being wasted. When I first saw my husband shave with the tap running, I threatened to divorce him if that happened again. The drip drip of water from a faulty tap will be my killer.
Our monsoon seems to be failing this year. I am dreading the coming summer.
Oh no – I hope the rains come. Keep us up to date won’t you. Walking to collect your water in the heat must be dreadful. c
The water in Barcelona is so heavily chlorinated that it’s undrinkable. Everyone buys water, which is about €1.50 for 7 liters. There used to be a wonderful glass bottle in a basket recycling program that had been around for years and years. Sadly it got phased out in 1993 in favour of plastic – doh!
I wonder why they have to put so much sanitiser in it – is there a reason?
I suppose it’s the local water quality. It is safe to drink, but it doesn’t taste nice and I suspect the pipes in the Gothic quarter might still be lead. Some might even date back to Roman times. It’s not the same across Spain, some of the water tastes quite nice.
Hmm – I do wonder about big cities with a water infrastructure (both coming in and draining out) set up a long long time ago – many of them are just not keeping up.
I think it ‘s quite difficult in old European cities, especially the ones that have pluming going back to Roman times. I don’t think they have maps of the infrastructure and most of it is underground.
In the old part of Barcelona, most old buildings have drip feed tanks on the roof, one per flat. I suspect the chlorine content might relate to the fact that the water sits in the tank, rather than coming direct from the mains.
Oh dear. This is worrying. You are right, clean water is something we take for granted when we have it, then realize, when we don’t how vital it is.
Is your water good Charlotte?
And do not let the Native Americans at Standing Rock in SD go unmentioned … they are fighting for their right to clean water from the Missouri River without the fear of the filthy crude oil leaking into that water if the DAPL goes through. As the Peaceful Protesters say: WATER IS LIFE … nothing can survive without it!!!
I know someone protesting down there, we get daily txts and her group is anything but peaceful. I am glad they are making so much noise though. I am surprised more people are not protesting for the right to clean water with so much industry along the waterways and so many oil pipe lines criss-crossing it. The Missouri river is after all the longest in America – am I right? It needs protection. Also a lot of oil is transported on the roads and rail system – very dangerous. Is there an answer? Use less oil I suppose. c
Perhaps running your well water into a big 55 gal. food grade plastic barrel and running a ‘bubbler’ from the fish section of your pet store, will release a lot of the gasses. (weight the end of the tube of the bubbler so it goes to the bottom, or better yet, obtain a ceramic fine bubble thingy to the end to get the most air into the water.) Then running that water with a little solar pump thru another barrel – of sand (to get rid of the really big particles) before processing it thru a filter might save you a lot of money and filters. Did you know you can make your own activated charcoal? This is fairly easy with a metal burn barrel and a stove type flue pipe. Do a little research. My friend Bryan McGrath of Korean Natural Farming fame made one and gave it to me. It’s a steel barrel with holes in the bottom, around the bottom and top rims. The lid had a hole cut into it the diameter of the flue, and he screwed an 8 foot long metal stove flue pipe onto the lid with the hole. I set this on 4 bricks on my concrete drive way, fill it full of dry wood chips, start it with rubbing alcohol, put the lid with the flue pipe on it, and let it burn. It burns with almost no smoke. I put a little fan to blow under the can to increase oxygen. I put a little mirror on a stick so I could see how the fire was burning. When it gets almost to the bottom, I take the lid off with special gloves, and run the hose on it. This energizes it and makes it ‘activated’. This can be crammed into a wide and long PVC pipe, with a fine mesh at the bottom to keep the charcoal from falling out, and it will absorb gasses and all kinds of pollutants. I’d then run it thru a standard water filter, but by then you have taken most of the bad stuff out. It takes a little metal work to make the cooker but once made it lasts for years. On his suggestion I purchased big bags of pellets – the kind used in pellet furnaces for heating. This makes the nicest charcoal, but I have used just chipped wood from our local tree guys once really well dried out. Good Luck.
Yes John does make his own charcoal – my favourite is mulberry – it is great for cooking steaks! Thank you for your interesting take on the problem, first we are working on discovering why we have this problem then we will work out from there.. c
I have a tds machine
We have some big filters but I don’t know what a tds is? c
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids
I do not under any circumstances take good, clean water for granted. I filter mine as I live in the country surrounded by fields. I am concerned that my water maybe contaminated with herbicides and pesticides and who knows what else. I am not crazy about it though. I control what I can. I am working on convincing my husband to drill a new well (ours is very old and we have an above ground well pit which makes me nervous if the seal ever breaks or is already broken.) This new well isn’t just for a new water source but also I want a hand pump. I am just as concerned about power outages as I am water quality. I have animals and depending on the time of year, possibly a couple hundred animals at any given time. I want to be able to get water without electricity. Good luck figuring out what is wrong. As I read your post what went through my mind was almost everything that could be wrong will cost money, some of the possibilities, lots of money. Why does everything have to cost so much darn money? I will be hoping the problem is the cheapest solution!!
OH I want a hand pump too! I can survive quite nicely without electricity but getting the water out of the ground has always been the fly in the ointment. Esp for the animals and in the winter when i cannot get rain water. c
Oh dear, first comment gone missing. Our water is awful due to the drought and very low dam levels. The little rain we have had causes the algae to bloom and therefore the chlorine and other chemicals are increased. Our water pipes into the complex are asbestos – when I discovered that I started buying water. Our water is ZAR1.50 per litre, quite cheap compared to some of the above prices. My first thought was that maybe you have a skunk in the well. Hope it is sorted soon. Laura
The well is a closed unit – nothing can get into the water. Asbestos pipes! Merciful heaven. c
We were told that it is safe to drink our water and for many years we did. Then i got to thinking about how easily the bottom of the kettle got furred up. Was it doing that to my inside…all my tubes solid with calcium…so we began buying bottled water and since then my kettle bottom has been bright and shiny as new. It is good that you are not drinking your weird water..you can never tell what is in it. But what about the cows and other animals what do they drink?
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at 2:58 PM
In London we had a problem with calcium too . I have big tanks that collect rainwater for the animals (lots of dippping and carrying buckets) – which has been fine this year – (though one of my gutters just broke i must fix that) but when it does not rain they drink the well water too. No choice really. c
Celi, like you I am surrounded here in SE Illinois by large-scale farm fields. Since moving back here as an adult, I have NEVER drunk the well water. Testing shows it to be “safe”, but when I watch what is being put onto the fields and has been for decades, well. My brother The Farmer tells me how safe it really is. Not quite sure I believe it, even though our well is 125 feet deep.The livestock have a rainwater collection system as I won’t force them to drink it either. I’ll wash with it, I’ll bathe in it, but I won’t drink it. I hope you sort this problem quickly and easily…..good water is something we take for granted, isn’t it?
This year has been great for rainwater collection! My husband is one of those who say the water is fine – been drinking it all my life – what are you talking about etc. but I have found that now i am NOT drinking water from this area I have a lot more energy. Or maybe that is just because it is cooler. I don’t know. c
Certain parts of South Africa have serious water restrictions – we use rain water as far as possible but still have municipal water for bathing and showering which reminds me that we have threatened for the longest time to get another rain tank. Think its time to stop talking get bet buying.
Have a happy day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
Yes, many areas in the world now have a population that far outstrips the water available. I am just not sure the Earth was designed for this many people to live on it. c
As Americans – we are very spoiled in many ways – water, electricity and roof over our head….. and the list is very long. Little Boy Boo looks so forlorn in that photo! Give him a kiss for me.
Poor BooBoo.. c
Having safe water is so important. Perhaps you’ve seen this solution. Shallow wells are often polluted. Deeper wells less so. But, pumping from them is difficult or costly. This company puts the energy of kids to the task. Clever and effective. https://youtu.be/KBEttIM-K8E
Genius!
our well is over a hundred feet down – (I will check with John) very deep – and yes we do have to pump it up – if the power fails we have no water. I will check out the link – thank you
Water, in the US we treat it like it’s a disposable item. We forget that it’s the most basic need of our survival. And we let the municipal government get away with negligence and incompetence.
I idly wished last year that I had my own well so I wouldn’t be afraid of some government worker’s negligence. A friend with a well educated me to the set of problems that come with managing your own water. I hope your well issues are solvable and quickly.
Yes, everything in the country needs constant maintanence – it can be daunting at some times.. c