How to make a simple analysis of water from wells with their own hands

wells at the site a lot more comfort when staying in a private home.You can not worry about water outages in the centralized plumbing, save on utility bills and drink "their" pure water.That's just clean it?

Undoubtedly, the pipe that you build on the site of the well to the house will be much cleaner and safer pipe urban or village water supply system.But the composition of the water in the aquifer is often a mystery.It may contain impurities of natural, but not too useful substances - arsenic, iron, traces of leaked wastewater from farms and industrial enterprises located within walking distance.Partly to protect yourself and your family is to install cleaning filters (for water purification, see here).

for their correct selection is necessary to know the composition of water.Unfortunately, a complete analysis can be carried out only in specially equipped laboratories, best at SES your city or region.If such a possibility is not, some data are available independently.

take samples

First of all, it is necessary to select the water sample properly.This will require a transparent container with a capacity of 1-1.5 liters.Suitable plastic bottles of water (in any case not from the sweet juice or beer!).The water in the well or well, you need to pump.On average, the need to drain 2-2.5 liters of water for every 10 meters of borehole depth.The water is then drawn into the bottle.

Eye On

only available in the home or field techniques - sensory.First, check the water carefully.

• brown with a red tint color and abundant precipitate, sometimes in the form of flakes, means that the water contains iron oxide.
• water appears clean, but when shaken becomes brown-brownish, the same color appears on heating.These are signs of dissolved iron.The presence of iron in the water is especially true for sandy soils.
• Tan, sometimes with a reddish tinge, the color in the absence of sediment indicate impurities, organic iron compounds.Gray water
• color and black marks on the vessel occur due to a large amount of manganese therein.
• milky white shade, disappearing on standing, may be indicative of dissolved gases, such as methane.

The taste and smell of

Smell the water sample.

• sharp smell of rotten eggs is caused by hydrogen sulfide.It can be a product of vital activity of bacteria colonies.
• smells musty, damp earth, fish indicate the presence of water-soluble organic compounds.Brown or yellow confirm this assumption.
• chemical odors, such as plastic, petroleum, gouaches (the smell of phenol), show that the water in your area contaminated by industrial effluents.This is a bad option, since no reason to get rid of or qualitatively clean water will not work.

If water has no foreign odors or impurities, try a small sip.

• slightly salty taste is due to the high concentration of mineral salts NaCl, Na2SO4, MgSO4.
• said metallic aftertaste that water still is iron, albeit in small quantities, and its acidity is increased.
• alkaline taste - a sign of high-alkali indicator of water in your well.

Try to wash your hands with soap and water typed.If it does not foam, and the skin was dry and tightened, something on your site, hard water with a high content of magnesium and calcium salts.This often suffer from wells drilled on clay soils and limestone.

tests for home use

Companies that sell equipment for water purification and filters offer tests for the analysis of water in the home.The most important of them - the test for pH (pH value), Gh (stiffness), iron, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia.They are not cheap and are not always available in remote areas.

In a pinch, you can use the tests for water for aquariums, the benefit they are sold in almost every pet store and are inexpensive.Determining the quality of the water by means of tests, remember that different measures may vary depending on the number of missing water, the time of year and even day.

Independent analysis of water in any case can not be considered sufficient.At the first opportunity should be given to the water from the well to a full laboratory testing, a minimum of 15 indicators.In addition to chemical analysis, it is necessary to do and bacteriological examination.It is more expensive and takes longer, but you can be sure about their family's health.