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well water good enough?

I have a really deep well and wanted to know if that is it low enough in minerals so that i could water a bog garden that i am planning on building. I don't know how many minerals it has in it but what would you think i should or shouldn't?
 
I wouldn't risk it myself. I have a really deep well too.. however my TDS is 1600 on a good day.
In all honesty, I think most well water is going to be too high in TDS...
 
The only way to find out is to test the TDS of the water...or to boil a pot of water into oblivion. If there are white mineral on the bottom of the pot, the water is definately unsafe.
 
So how do i tell if there is white stuff on the bottom and how long should i boil it for?

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 PM ----------

Like long enough until it all evaporates?
 
yes, take a way the hydrogen and oxygen, the minerals are left behind.
 
I have had well water at the last two places I have lived. The first would often have visible particulate in it and had to be filtered. The place I am at now has very clean well water. It has been tested safe for humans but I did not get a dissolved solutes value. I started using it on all of my plants. The neps and ceph do fine with it. The VFT's and Sarrs do well until it gets hot in the summer where I need to replenish water alot. With the rapid evaporation of the water all of the minerals are left behind which build up to a harmful level and have caused my plants to not do well. They have stunted growth and do not get much coloration despite full sun the entire day. And the worst are the droserae they would quickly look ill and eventually die. I now have a few large rain barrells and occassionally buy distilled water. I only use well water on the nepenthes which don't seem to mind the harder water. Your plants may look alright for a while but eventually would most likely start to deteriorate. Even if you had your water tested and it came back with an unlikely value of less than 50 ppm or so, it can change depending on the season or rain fall in your area. The well at the first house would come out looking like mud if there was a large rain fall or at the end of a dry summer.
 
I have a really deep well and wanted to know if that is it low enough in minerals so that i could water a bog garden that i am planning on building. I don't know how many minerals it has in it but what would you think i should or shouldn't?

Most of the time well water will be quite hard and unsuitable for CP's..
a quick google search for "ground water hardness" brought up these:

http://www.chem1.com/CQ/HardnessMap.gif

http://www.h2odistributors.com/global/productpics/misc/WaterHardnessMap.gif

You might have lucked out!
Atlanta is in one of the "softer" zones..
so you *might* be able to use your well water..
you will have to test it to be sure!

Scot

---------- Post added at 08:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:41 AM ----------

Although relying on the maps alone probably isnt a good idea..
some weird things about that map:

http://www.h2odistributors.com/global/productpics/misc/WaterHardnessMap.gif

check out the border of California and Oregon..
looks like Oregon passed a law preventing hard water from California crossing the border! ;)
thats pretty strange..
the water is obviousdly the same on both sides of the border..the differences in "rating" could be due to different testing techniques..or differences in the age of the data..or something..
but obviously the map really tells us nothing reliable for that area..

Scot
 
TDS meters are cheap and a worthwhile investment - makes no sense to guess. My well water is completely unfit for CPs while Rob S. in VA says his is fine. It all depends on the hydrology of your area.
 
Scot - actually, a lot of water is imported into California's supply from Oregon. The reason the demarcation is so apparent is because Oregon's municipal supplies come from rain- and glacier-fed reservoirs, whereas California has to buy from many sources, including aquifers under desert and farmland where the ground water isn't so pristine. At the northern border, the rainwater is all the same no matter what side you're on, but the same can't be said for what's coming out of the taps.
~Joe
 
  • #10
Wow thanks guys for the info and Scottychaos the first map that you showed me i am in the 0-60 (purple zone) and the second map well it's hard to tell i think i am in between very hard water and the slightly hard water i think more in the slightly hard water zone but could be either one so does anyone think i should try it on a spare plant?
 
  • #11
Wow thanks guys for the info and Scottychaos the first map that you showed me i am in the 0-60 (purple zone) and the second map well it's hard to tell i think i am in between very hard water and the slightly hard water i think more in the slightly hard water zone but could be either one so does anyone think i should try it on a spare plant?

You're not getting it. TEST the water. Boil it all away (all) if you have to.

You can get a TDS meter for $17 that will do fine at affordablewater.us Such an instument is very useful. I use it to check water trays and bogs for too many minerals besides testing my RO water.
 
  • #12
Ok thanks that's all i needed to know you didn't tell me to boil it all the way.
 
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