Hi all, I am hoping for a bit of advice regarding a borehole issue I have.

 

At our home the water in our 10 m deep borehole is sufficient for volume and has only once in the past ever had a problem with running dry during a particularly prolonged dry spell a few years ago. Water volume and reliability is not the problem I am having. Water quality is the issue. The water stains things yellow and tends to build up some sort of tartar like plaque on the inside of fixtures and pipes. Also the direct pump discharge into our tank is quite silty as the tank needs annual clean outs despite having its outflow point about 60 cm above its base.

 

So what is my question you ask......well I want to know is... Would I be better off trying to drill a deep well to hit a deeper, cleaner aquifer or should I be looking into some sort of water treatment. To the best of my knowledge no one in the area has a deep well and I don't know anyone who has a treatment/filter setup. There is a reverse osmosis plant in town with a very elaborate filter system but I don't have any idea who installed it.

 

Thanks in advance!

Yikes!  That sure does sound like contamination of some kind.  Find some place that does testing to decide if you want to filter.  Otherwise, a deeper bore seems in order.

If you are thinking of a deeper well you need to establish how deep the aquifer is - - as going deeper may not be of any benefit. 

How deep is the aquifer, only local knowledge or the appropriate government dept can tell you. 

Alternately pump to a separate large holding tank with sand filtration and possible chemical dosing. 

4 hours ago, Gruntled said:

At our home the water in our 10 m deep borehole is sufficient for volume and has only once in the past ever had a problem with running dry during a particularly prolonged dry spell a few years ago. Water volume and reliability is not the problem I am having. Water quality is the issue.

As you are drawing from surface water any contamination, fertiliser, oil runoff from the road, animal excrement both kinds, human ditto etc. are all possible culprits. 

Get an analysis done so you know what you are dealing with. Iron is the most likely culprit for the yellow staining, calcium/magnesium for the plaque.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Get an analysis done so you know what you are dealing with. Iron is the most likely culprit for the yellow staining, calcium/magnesium for the plaque.

 

I wonder if it's the tropical equivalent of yellow snow?

 

Get a bid for drilling another well and pump the contractor for all the information he'll give you.  They know the local situation and you'll learn a lot even if you decide not to drill.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Getting the water tested seems a logical first step. Probably will go the treatment route since I have never seen deep water wells in our area as are common back in the west. All the wells in our area tap into surface groundwater. No idea if there is a subsurface aquifer or how deep it would be or of what quality.

Wells are normally shallow as they serve the purpose to a point, are cheap to drill and equip. the typical Thai mai pben rai effect. 

Treatment is an option but at what overall cost as upkeep? 

 

A trip to your local municipal office might shed some light on the ground water availability - a properly installed functioning well should give you a lot less drama.