Drinking well water?

[NikonMama]

This may sound like a stupid question, but keep in mind that up until now I have lived my entire life in the middle of a largish city, so I have no idea. 

Can you drink well water?  My husband and I are moving to an acreage out of state in about 2 months (our house just sold and we are closing mid march...we go this weekend to look for a house/property), and we will have well water.  I have no clue if it is safe to drink or not.  Do we need to plan to buy a water cooler?  I don't like bottled water as a general rule, but I will get one if we have to. 

Okay, now no throwing things at me!  lol 

[lonegirl]

Nothing like fresh cold artesian water....I grew up on well water.  I love the water at my parents.

[Annie Mac]

You can hire a testing company to come out and test your water. Depending on where you live, there may be heavy metals or arsenic or bacteria that can make you sick. If there is, then you just filter it appropriately. If it were me, and I was unsure about the well, I would definitely pay the few hundred bucks to get it done.

[Alyantavid]

There's nothing like well water.  Definitely get it tested, but it should be just as healthy as city water.  City water always tastes like chlorine to me.

[Eresh]

Underground water is generally just fine to drink since it has been filtered through the earth.  Nearby contaminants (sewage, fertilizers, salt water, chemical wastes) can of course negatively impact the underground water supply though.  You can have the potability of the well water tested by the local health inspector (and should include a contingency to this effect when purchasing land). 

Well water will frequently have minerals in it that you wouldn't have in city water that can affect its taste, smell, or appearance but doesn't make the water unhealthy to drink.

[Erinz]

We have well water and I highly suggest you have it tested. I implore you in fact. Spend the money on buying a complete test (ask at your local extention office, you can get some stuff tested for free if you're OK with the county coming up and taking water from your tap) for toxins, etc. I know a local case where the neighbor to a family was dumping batteries and other gross stuff and the entire family ended up dying -- so it's good to put that knowledge in your hat and keep it close. Test, and test regularly. Never assume, that's my advice.

[ollyoxenfree]

We use well water at our cottage. We test it regularly, at least once per year. A couple of years ago, we had a problem with bacterial growth. We boiled and used bottled until it was fixed. We installed a UV treatment system and that did the trick. 

[HeatherAtHome]

I prefer well water over city water. When we bought our house we had to have the water tested to have our mortgage approved. Someone referred us to a company, I went in to pick up a testing kit, followed the easy directions on how to get a sample, brought it back and they emailed the results later that week. Quick and easy. It is probably a good idea to get your water tested regularly. 

[Adaline'sMama]

I agree with PP, you need to get it tested. While it is delicious, and it never tastes like a swimming pool, there can be some problems with it. Id say 80% of the time, its fine. But you its best not to take the chance :).

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by Eresh 

Underground water is generally just fine to drink since it has been filtered through the earth.  Nearby contaminants (sewage, fertilizers, salt water, chemical wastes) can of course negatively impact the underground water supply though.  You can have the potability of the well water tested by the local health inspector (and should include a contingency to this effect when purchasing land). 

Well water will frequently have minerals in it that you wouldn't have in city water that can affect its taste, smell, or appearance but doesn't make the water unhealthy to drink.

 Agree.   I lived in the country and drank only well water until I went to college.  Some wells had horrible water.  The well water at our first house was so loaded with minerals, facuets needed to be replaced every year.  After we moved, the sulfur at the next house was overwhelming.   My grandparent's well water was so tasty and my mom would fill jugs for our drinking water each time we visited. 

We own a cottage in the middle of a state forest.  There are a handful of seasonal places and most of owners have had problems with the well water, which doesn't make much sense since theren't any farms, industry or even neighbors within miles and miles.  Our closest neighor is on the top of the mountain and their well has an unsafe level of bacteria.  

Well water doesn't scare me but I would get it tested just to be safe.
 

[BabyFireFly]

We have both a spring house that supplies our farm with water and a large well. We send samples to the local cooperative extension office twice a year. When you call them (or find the guidelines through their website) they will instruct you how to obtain a sample and also be able to instruct you on how often you should test your water based on the property. We do it twice per year due to the fact that we border a hay/cattle farm and our farm itself is a horse farm - possible large suppliers of potentially harmful additions to your well water. We do have high mineral content in our water due to the make up of the area, and may add a softener since it really causes issues with the plumbing. The water is great though!

[GardenStream]

I always had city water growing up so it was a bit of a change for me to go to well water. I had friends growing up with well water and it stained everything or was stinky most of the time. We are very lucky in that our well water is pretty good. We don't have any sulfur issues and iron is very low. We were having problems with calcium build up so we installed a softener 5 or 6 years ago.

I'm very happy with our water. Other than the lack of chlorine smell/taste, nobody would ever know we have well water.

[NikonMama]

During the inspection of the well they tested the water and found an unsafe level of bacteria.  We put in our contract that they had to fix that and get it to a safe level and retested before closing. 

[MrsJewelsRae]

We have well water here and while it is drinkable we don't really like the taste- it is very heavy water, lots of rust/iron.  We have a water softener and when we have salt in it, it tastes salty and slippery.  So we buy bottled water (the big ones that you put on top of a cooler/dispenser), but we cook with our well water, bathe in it, brush our teeth, and drink it if we need to. 

[~Boudicca~]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid 

There's nothing like well water.  Definitely get it tested, but it should be just as healthy as city water.  City water always tastes like chlorine to me.

[Ellien C]

I grew-up on well-water and I loved it. Ours was good without a lot of minerals. Pure, clear and soft, soft, soft. It made my hair so nice. I liked going back to my parents house to wash my hair in the nice soft water. They made my dad put in City water finally. For a few years he had the pipes but was still drawing from the well. I think the well finally gave out and he switched. It's not the same going home any more.

[hildare]

we have well water, and i've had it several places i've lived.  do like pp's suggested and do have it tested. 

you may also try to find out how well it works, how deep, flow rate, etc. in case you're doing a garden/agricultural uses.

we have super high iron content and have a whole house filter, keeps it from making horrid stains on the sinks & toilets.  the whole house filters are pretty nice. 

[treekidsandadog]

I hate city water.  Your local health department should be able to test it for free or low cost. 

[QueenEsther]

We have the whole house water filtration system that Dr. Jordan Ruben [auther of The Maker's Diet] recommends in the back of his book, and it is FABULOUS! I have had different well water, and the last house we lived in used a salt system, and I really didn't like the way that water tasted. I think that we paid about 5 grand for this water system, and it was worth every penny. We will be taking it with us when we move. We also had to install a sediment filter and UV light because there is bacteria in the well here. When the water goes through the system [and it is really bad, sulfar and iron out the max here!!], the water is THE best tasting water I have ever had in all my life! The system makes me a complete lover of well water!

[crazyms]

Personally I like well water a lot better than city water. Do get it tested though. In my area you can send a sample to the county health dept for testing and it's I think $10 for the test so very cheap for peace of mind and a good idea to test often just to be sure.