Whether well water or city water is better varies from one homeowner to the other. If you’re looking for a pure, natural water source with the ideal cleanliness levels, well water should be your perfect choice. On the other hand, city water is treated to help keep it safe and clean from diseases and contamination that sometimes come from well water.
Do You Have Well Water or City Water?
If you receive a regular bill for delivery and treatment of water, you have city water. However, homeowners using well water often pay out-of-pocket to cover maintenance, water testing and upkeep expenses. Moreover, if you have a water pump or pressure tank near your home, you’re probably using well water as it requires to be pumped periodically.
Can You Have Both Well Water and City Water?
You can have both well water and city water. But remember that they each come with their set of responsibilities. Besides, you cannot cross-connect well water with city water to avoid contamination. Hence, you should isolate the two systems so there’ll be no piping between the two.
Often people use well-water and city water if there are possibilities of running into a drought or contamination or other issues that interrupt well functionality.
Is It Better to Have Well Water or City Water?
Choosing the correct answer comes down to factors most essential to your family. For instance, if you aren’t comfortable with the smell, taste, or even look of city water and don’t mind the expense and time of putting in a well, well water is for you. However, you can choose city water if you have a purifier added to the water pitcher or faucet and aren’t interested in extra expenses or work.
Is It Cheaper to Have Well Water or City Water?
Homeowners have to pay monthly water bills since city-provided water is filtered, monitored, and treated by the government. Therefore, when using city water, you can expect to pay per gallon used, and you may never know what the hidden charges on your monthly bill are for.
Fortunately, receiving water through the city means you don’t have to worry about maintenance costs, as done by the town. You also don’t have to deal with the possibility of running out of water if there is any drought.
With well water, you have the luxury of not paying for city water or usage fees. Moreover, once you’ve covered the upfront costs, the actual price of well-water can be much cheaper than the city water. Besides, if you purchase a house with a previously installed well, you’ll bypass the installation costs.
Which Is healthier: Well Water or City Water?
City water has a more intense cleaning process. Water is treated with Fluoride, chloramine, and Chlorine as it comes from rivers and lakes with numerous pollutants. Although the chemicals are used to disinfect and treat the water, they aren’t good for human health. The chemicals are hard to filter out from the water and make the city water have an unpleasant smell, look, and taste.
Conversely, well water is considered healthier since it’s filled with minerals and isn’t treated with harmful or unhealthy chemicals like Chlorine or chloramine. Well water can filter naturally. But it’s vital to get the well water tested and treated for bacteria, minerals, and other chemicals that might exist.
Is It Safe to Drink Well Water?
If you monitor the well closely and respond appropriately to ensure quality, well-water is safe to drink. However, well water quality may vary from one place to the other, and it can shift gradually due to changes in the area or natural disasters.
Besides, the quality can be influenced by the well system state or recent changes to the operating equipment. Finally, remember that private wells aren’t federally regulated, and hence owners should conduct their testing to ensure the safety and quality of their water supply.
If your well water has a different taste, you can install a basic water filtration system directly at the taps or use a standard water filter that you fill and put on the counter or in the fridge.
What Are the Disadvantages of Well Water?
Hard Water
Well water is considered hard water due to the high levels of magnesium and calcium. Hard water can be evident in stained sinks and bathtubs, scale buildup on appliance faucets, white residues, and spots on dishes and in the dishwasher. In addition, clothes might lose their color and feel rough, and you may experience low water pressure in your home.
Acidic Water
Sometimes, well water could drop its pH to below seven due to acidic rainfall, mining operations runoff, or plant life decomposition. Acidic water can result in corroded faucets and fixtures, stains in sinks and tubs, or bitter-metallic-tasting water.
High Levels of Fluoride
Fluoride is a natural water mineral found in different amounts. You can detect it through well water testing. While the EPA recommends a level of 0.7 mg/L, well water can have a higher amount of Fluoride. Unfortunately, the mineral is known to cause dental fluorosis, a condition causing brown or cream stains on teeth, particularly in children.
Fecal Bacteria Contamination
Harmful fecal bacteria like E. coli can pose health risks if they make it into your well water. They can infiltrate well water through channels like agricultural runoff, well walls, overflowing septic tanks and sewage lines. Fecal bacteria can also cause water to have an odor.
Turbidity
Well water can be contaminated by suspended sediments due to water runoff, drilling, and other activities that disturb the soil. The residues could also be due to microbial life or iron and manganese oxidation.
Besides affecting your water quality, turbidity can also damage your water pumps. In addition, turbidity caused by microbial life could also result in viral or bacterial infections.
What Should You Do to Improve the Quality of Your Water?
Here’s what you should do to ensure your water supply is fresh, high-quality, and accessible:
Test Your Water (At Least Once A Year): Having your well water tested is essential in ensuring there’s no bacterial contamination. It will also cue you into things like sulfide and iron levels and water hardness. That will help you address the issues before they cause damage to your health or plumbing.
Maintain Your Water Softener: A home with a well water supply should have water softeners. This can resolve hard water issues and filter out minerals, so you get purer water for cleaning, drinking, cooking, and doing laundry. You could also lower turbidity by adding a sediment pre-filter to your existing water filtration system.
Does Well Water Need to Be Treated?
Well water might require treatment depending on the presence of contaminants in it. Besides, certain minerals can result in foul taste or smell, prompting well water users to look for drinking water treatment options.
The treatment options will vary based on the quality of your well water. Typically, homeowners opt for specific whole-home and reverse osmosis systems as part of the treatment plan.
Can You Boil Well Water to Drink?
During emergency scenarios, homeowners using well water might be temporarily advised to use bottled water or boil their water to eliminate microorganisms. However, that’s not a permanent solution and doesn’t replace the need for filtration systems. For instance, boiling water doesn’t remove non-living contaminants like heavy metals and chemicals.
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/private/wells/diseases.html
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/private/wells/treatment.html
