Guides

Total coliform means a path for contamination; E. coli means fecal contamination. Stop drinking it, shock chlorinate the well, and retest with a certified lab.

Low clear-water iron goes through a softener; 3–10 mg/L needs an oxidizing filter; above 10 mg/L needs chlorine or peroxide plus filtration. Fix low pH first.

Iron above 0.3 mg/L stains and tastes metallic but is not a health limit. The fix depends on its form, your mg/L level and pH; here is how to match them.

EPA's limit is 10 mg/L nitrate as nitrogen. Above it, use bottled water for infants, don't boil, and treat with reverse osmosis, anion exchange or distillation.

Softener water tastes salty when brine isn't rinsed out, from low pressure, a blocked drain line or injector, or too much salt. How much sodium is normal.

Rotten-egg smell only in hot water points to the water heater anode; in hot and cold, it is H2S in the well or sulfur bacteria. Fixes and filters by ppm.

Studies found efficient softeners (3,000–4,000 grains per lb of salt) did not harm septic tanks; wasteful ones sent more solids to the drainfield.

Published guides put an installed water softener at about $1,000–$3,000, with labor $500–$1,200. What moves the price, sourced line by line.

To fix a water softener, check bypass, salt and power first. Symptom-to-fix table and Fleck 5600SXT and Clack WS1 error codes from the manuals.

Size a softener from household size, hardness and iron. Daily grains × days between regenerations = capacity; the calculator shows the formula and sources.

A softener removes calcium and magnesium; a salt-free conditioner leaves them in and changes their form. Test standards, study results, well limits.

A water softener swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium. Here is how it works, the hardness levels that justify one and what to check on a well.

Replace a well pressure tank when water sprays from the air valve or the pump short-cycles. How to confirm it, swap it, and set the precharge.

A well pressure tank stores water under air pressure so the pump runs longer, fewer cycles. Size it to pump gpm; set air 2 psi below cut-in.

Well pump not working? Check the breaker, pressure switch, control box and tank first, then the well. Manufacturer steps, plus when to call a pro.

Published guides put well pump replacement at $900–$2,500 (This Old House). Depth, pump type, wire, pipe and tank decide where you land.

Depth to water picks the well pump. Shallow jets lift 25 ft at most; deeper water needs a submersible or deep-well jet. Size by peak gpm and head.

Test a private well every year for total coliform, nitrate, TDS and pH at a state-certified lab, and again after floods, repairs or a change in taste.

Choose a well water treatment system from your lab report: thresholds and the right technology for 11 common problems, plus installer and upkeep tips.

A whole house water filter on a well is a train of stages picked from a lab test: sediment, neutralizer, iron, softener, carbon, then UV.