Borehole water is further purification needed

[donald36]

Currently have water from a borehole 40 metres down --absolutely clean as we are surrounded by jungle and forest so no agricultural contamination only possible is from wellhead to tap
We currently soften the water as have a high limestone content
Do we need further filtration and would sand and charcoal suffice or is more needed

[shaggersback]

Boil 3 litres for an hour , collect the steam in a folded banana leaf and drink it thru a bamboo pipe should be ok.

[pseudolus]

Personally I would stick it through a filter anyway just to be on the safe side.

[Necron99]

Take a sample to your local Uni and have it tested.
Then you will know if and what type of filter is needed.

[pseudolus]

Very sound advice Necron99.

If you live a long way from the university and have no access to sterile collection devices, you might even jump onto Amazon and check out some of the water testing kits as well

Amazon.com: First Alert WT1 Drinking Water Test Kit: Home Improvement

This looks like a simple enough kit. Buy a few, test water, put in measures to clean it up, test again...

Better to be safe than sorry though.

[Klondyke]

Currently have water from a borehole 40 metres down --absolutely clean as we are surrounded by jungle and forest so no agricultural contamination only possible is from wellhead to tap
We currently soften the water as have a high limestone content
Do we need further filtration and would sand and charcoal suffice or is more needed

Is your water clear? In most cases in Thailand the water is contaminated by iron and other heavy metals - my case. After half an hour my fresh clear water turns in brown. Any immediate filtering - as you can see in the villages - 2 concrete rings with one more on their top - is for nothing. The sand in the top ring is within 1 week fully covered with a fine rusty dust - unpassable - the water goes over the edge, who cares.

So the only simple trick - after my long research and work in vain - is to let the fresh water settle down in a tank. After 3 - 5 days the iron and other alcalines will lay at the bottom, then it can be let into the further filtering system (in my case a cascade of 4 sands). The settling can be helped to with adding a chlorine (for oxydation) and SaanSom (alum - the wonder material easy to get in Thailand - for sedimentation).

[Klondyke]

I wanted to place few pictures showing the water. However, I am not yet allowed to place a link. will show later.

[Ratchaburi]

Currently have water from a borehole 40 metres down --absolutely clean as we are surrounded by jungle and forest so no agricultural contamination only possible is from wellhead to tap
We currently soften the water as have a high limestone content
Do we need further filtration and would sand and charcoal suffice or is more needed

Do you need a Sand filter, is your water dirty (if your water is clean then sand filter not required)
Do you need a carbon filter, is there Oder in your water ( If there is no smell in your water then carbon filter not required)

I hope this answer your question

[Klondyke]

Actually, when Donald says "high limestone content": Last 2 years I had abandoned my bore well (some 8 m deep under my garden), fed up by the iron problems. I had excavated a well (diam. 1m, some 6 m deep) at the bank of the river - some 100 m under my house - hoping that the river water will be cleaned by the sand bed, pushing the water to the house by a submersible pump.

This to substitute the iron water from the bore well. However, after more than 1 year pumping the water had not is been clean either, instead of the iron it is contaminated by some limestone or clay sediments. The ground around Lampang is well known for abundance of various kinds of clay for ceramic industry.

So after a year I had come back to the bore water with iron, pumping both of them onto my settle tank. And I have found that obviously the iron water likes the alkalines and settle quite more easily that without it.

[Klondyke]

[Klondyke]

Explanation to the pictures above:
On the top: fresh water from a bore well and from a well at river. The filling of some 5 cbm takes 2 -3 hours, the originally clear water turns brown within few minutes on the air.

Bottom picture: The water had cleared within 3 days with the help of a laddle of Chlorine and some 2 kg of SaanSom (alum - aluminium ammonium sulphate), that's what our fathers used for stopping bleeding after razor shaving.

[stevefarang]

^

Sounds like some flocculation going on there with the alum.

Cool !

Steve

[Shy Guava]

Actually, when Donald says "high limestone content": Last 2 years I had abandoned my bore well (some 8 m deep under my garden), fed up by the iron problems. I had excavated a well (diam. 1m, some 6 m deep) at the bank of the river - some 100 m under my house - hoping that the river water will be cleaned by the sand bed, pushing the water to the house by a submersible pump.

This to substitute the iron water from the bore well. However, after more than 1 year pumping the water had not is been clean either, instead of the iron it is contaminated by some limestone or clay sediments. The ground around Lampang is well known for abundance of various kinds of clay for ceramic industry.

So after a year I had come back to the bore water with iron, pumping both of them onto my settle tank. And I have found that obviously the iron water likes the alkalines and settle quite more easily that without it.

Ferrous iron precipitating out of groundwater into ferric iron when exposed to air is fairly common here. The normal practice to cut down on treatment costs is to run the water over a set of cascading baffles to separate a large percentage of the iron sludge before filtration or further treatment. Any filtration system will have to have backwashing capability as the aeration will not remove all the iron.

I have a large scale map of groundwater resources in Lampang province if you want to have a look on what might be available at depth. How far out of Lampang town are you? The city water is now drinking quality after undergoing upgrades in treatment and delivery systems.

[Klondyke]

[quote=Shy Guava;2849890
The normal practice to cut down on treatment costs is to run the water over a set of cascading baffles to separate a large percentage of the iron sludge before filtration or further treatment. Any filtration system will have to have backwashing capability as the aeration will not remove all the iron.

I have a large scale map of groundwater resources in Lampang province if you want to have a look on what might be available at depth. How far out of Lampang town are you? The city water is now drinking quality after undergoing upgrades in treatment and delivery systems.[/quote]

Yes, the filtering cascade. However, before you can start filtering you have to let settle the very first iron oxydation. Otherwise - as I remarked before - the first sand is totally impassable. And it looks so: (my first try on advice of experienced water experts):

[Klondyke]

Not succeeded with the picture, trying again:




Here another example how my neighbour had made it - did not believe my reasoning - so the water does not mind the sand on the top

[thaimeme]

Personally I would stick it through a filter anyway just to be on the safe side.

Yep, as would I.

[Klondyke]

This configuration you will find everywhere in villages with ironized water. The water cannot penetrate the sedimented iron at the first sand. Finally it goes over the edge of the upper tank and if lucky, the water finds its way into the tanks underneath, where the new iron will settle down.

However, nobody cares that the sand in the top tank has no longer any meaning, the water is taken from the two lower tanks - the intake a bit higher than the bottom, hence the outgoing water is finally clean. With or without any sand.

[Klondyke]

And once the water is used only for the house demand, nobody will be bothered by the iron content that is already not visible.

However, as I had not let the iron to settle properly at the first intake, once I added a bit of chlorine, the result of my first swimming water was overwhelming:

[Klondyke]

When something like this happens (even not so black as here) in every swimming forum you will get a kind advice, exchange the water and nvere use a well water. How easy. This 50,000 L had taken me 3 weeks to fill in.

Luckily, I was advised to help myself with the very wonderful crystal material - SaanSom (Alum). After 5 days letting few kg dissolved in the water the miracle had happened. All the iron is now laying at the bottom like feathers, awaiting sucking off.

[Klondyke]

Since that I had reshuffled my water supply system. Once the first intaken iron is settled (with a help of chlorin and SaanSom), only the clean water (and it is really clean after 3, 4, 5 days as shown on the picture above) the water flows first thru a pressure filter (possible to be backwashed) and further 3 gravitation sand filter in concrete tanks, and stored in a reservoir some 6 cbm.

From there it is taken by pressure pump again thru a last pressure vessel with sand for the demand of house and swimming pool.

Originally I let the whole system be continuously filled in. Assuming that the new ironized water filled in slowly to the settle tank will not really much contaminate the larger water amount. However, it was wrong, the first filter had been always very dirty by the rusty water, needed to be very often backwashed, hence again a lot water lost.

Now, I am really waiting when the whole batch of the first water has been cleared down without any disturbance by a new rusty water addition. With this I am getting clear water into the first filter and so the all system is very clean.

[Klondyke]

And so also maintaining the swimming pool water has been now very easy, having every day a clear water.

[Klondyke]

I have a large scale map of groundwater resources in Lampang province if you want to have a look on what might be available at depth. How far out of Lampang town are you? The city water is now drinking quality after undergoing upgrades in treatment and delivery systems.

@Guava,
yes, I would be happy to see something about it - hopefully, at last I will be now allowed to post a PM to get in touch.

I am not so far out of Lampang, however, not connected to the city water. In fact, they are now nearing in the Moo Baan, but still crying about the budget.

Actually, after 8 years in this location at the end of the village, near the river, when I had done so much in vain, I am no longer keen to be connected. At the end of the day I am now fully independent from any other water system, being lucky with what I have achieved.

[Klondyke]

Here a diagram of my water supply system