I'm going to add my story about well drilling, well water, and water filtering. I'll start by saying I'm no expert, but I have been forced to learn more about this topic than I ever wanted to know. I will also say this is an ongoing story because the problems are not solved. I'm providing this information to help others avoid making the same mistakes.
We built a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom country house in Roi Et Province, Phon Sai District, as a retirement home and started this project in 2023. My goal when starting the water project was to have a good supply of usable whole-house water, including safe drinking water. I did not want to fill tanks and buy bottled water. My first mistake was allocating 90% of my research to the filtration system and 10% to the well. In my defense, I left that part to my contractor and the drilling company that drills wells in this area, and they should certainly know their business, right?
My only request to the contractor and well drilling company was to provide me with a good source of water with a pump, and I would handle the rest above ground. I requested to go deeper for better water quality, but in this area, it doesn't seem to be the answer. I was told the deep water in this area has a heavy salt content so a shallow well is the only way to go.
I was out of the country working when the well was drilled. The house was still under construction, so the water was only being used for construction purposes at this point. I had designed a filtration system and had it shipped to the house. It consisted of a multi-stage filtration system designed to make the water usable before entering the house, and another 4-stage reverse osmosis system to provide drinking water at the faucets. The filtration system works as designed, passing all quality tests for minerals and bacteria. However, it only took a day or two to discover that we were pumping almost as much sand out of the well as we were water, which seriously clogged the filtration system and impeded the flow of water. I was able to quickly add a large particulate filtration tank to the system, which solved the immediate problem and provided a workable solution.
We still have not lived in our house for more than a few months in these past few years, but it's clear that everything about the well is wrong. We are pulling a large amount of sand through the pump, which is likely shortening the pump's life. The water level is already questionable, as when I backflush the system, I can tell we are actually running out of water, the pump is underpowered and clearly not designed for a house like ours, which will use far more water than a typical village house.
Conclusion: After conducting research, I have found ways to manage a sandy well at the wellhead through the use of casings and sand filters. The real challenge is finding a company that has the experience and resources to handle the job correctly, but it must be done; otherwise, the idea of being self-sufficient with our own source of water becomes increasingly problematic.