What Water Quality Tests Would You Do?

[SamSipEt]

The land that we (sorry the Boss) has purchased has no foreseeable access to mains water so we have sunk a well 4 meters down and it has a good supply of clear water that is about 2.5 meters in depth.

We popped into Chiang Mai University and discovered that they offer a bewildering array of tests .In a moment of enthusiasm I requested the following tests (shown with results).

pH 6.24

TH, 6.9 mg/L CaCO3

Fe, 0.13 mg/L

Mn, 0.27 mg/L

I’m not really sure why I did these tests but I nodded sagely as I ticked the various boxes on the form and my wife looked suitable impressed

I have no idea what I should really be checking for and, perhaps more importantly, how to interpret the results. We did try to get guidance from the staff at CMU but it wasn’t forthcoming all very polite and helpful but the tests they would do were, as always, up to you

Any guidance gratefully received.

[Totster]

Have a read through this site... it may be useful to you.

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/index.html

totster

[kurgen]

I do a very simple water test each morning.

If my water's clear I drink more beer and if it's dark yellow I drink less beer

[SamSipEt]

Have a read through this site... it may be useful to you.

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/index.html

totster

Thanks Totster - that was fast. I have to apologise for not reading it as quickly as it was posted - off for an early lunch or perhaps late breakfast depending upon your point of view. Followed by nap and then afternoon tea .... well it IS the weekend after all

[Totster]

.. and if it's dark yellow I drink less beer

thats a bit drastic...

totster

[SamSipEt]

I do a very simple water test each morning.

If my water's clear I drink more beer and if it's dark yellow I drink less beer

Given that my water is clear that must mean

[jayenram]

The land that we (sorry the Boss) has purchased has no foreseeable access to mains water so we have sunk a well 4 meters down and it has a good supply of clear water that is about 2.5 meters in depth.

4 metres depth doesn't sound sufficient to me. The depth of your 'casing' is the depth that the water is 'drawn' from and the deeper it is the more likely you are to get uncontaminated water. Obviously it depends upon where you are and the proximity to local sources of potential polution. 10 metres I would think should be the minimum.

[SamSipEt]

The land that we (sorry the Boss) has purchased has no foreseeable access to mains water so we have sunk a well 4 meters down and it has a good supply of clear water that is about 2.5 meters in depth.

4 metres depth doesn't sound sufficient to me. The depth of your 'casing' is the depth that the water is 'drawn' from and the deeper it is the more likely you are to get uncontaminated water. Obviously it depends upon where you are and the proximity to local sources of potential polution. 10 metres I would think should be the minimum.

I agree that 4 meters is rather shallow but the boys digging it by hand refused to go any deeper even wearing face masks and snorkels! They did a great job going (almost) straight down by hand in a matter of hours – the 1.2 meter diameter rings fit quite snugly into the hole they had dug.

Location? Very rural between the mountains and rice paddies (closer to the paddies) so the ground water should be coming from the mountains and there is no known industry for miles around. Of course there is they issue of pesticide and fertiliser but you can’t worry about everything.

[khunlungphudhu]

Location? Very rural between the mountains and rice paddies (closer to the paddies) so the ground water should be coming from the mountains and there is no known industry for miles around. Of course there is they issue of pesticide and fertiliser but you can’t worry about everything.

Considering the location, I feel I would be more concerned about the contaminates you mention than anything else IMHO.

The family farm at Doilo was purchased many years ago with the water quality very much in mind, and was, at that time, the sweetest I have ever drunk, however it has been totally unusable for the last ten years thanks to the nieghbour's love of pesticides etc.

[SamSipEt]

The family farm at Doilo was purchased many years ago with the water quality very much in mind, and was, at that time, the sweetest I have ever drunk, however it has been totally unusable for the last ten years thanks to the nieghbour's love of pesticides etc.

Thanks for the heads up on the potential problem - I'll get the water checked for these things now and perhaps every couple of years to check for trends. I problem known is almost solved before it begins!

[chownah]

I have no idea what I should really be checking for and, perhaps more importantly, how to interpret the results.

My view is that there is absolutely no reason to test your water for something if you can not find the meaning of the results......I hope that this is an obvious truism.....if so, then first go looking for how to interpret results of water tests....then you will know which ones are important to test for and which are not...for instance...if you find that a high level of agent X is found then your "little proud guy" will wither and fall off...then its probably important to test for this one....on the other hand if a high level of agent Y only makes it difficult to clean your clothes and you always have your mother in law clean your clothes over at her house....then there probably is no reason to test for that one....but if its cheap to test for it you might as well.

[GuestHouse]

I haven't tested our water yet, but I plan to test for Biological Contamination, followed by Organic Chemicals (Agro Chemicals) and I'll also test for Non organics (metals) - The latter because I have a bore hole that goes pretty deap (60meters).

At 4 meters I'd be concerned over organics (sewage contamination, burried garbage and ground water running into the well).

Having gone to the trouble of a well, I'd have made a bit more effort and put a bore hole in.

[SamSipEt]

My view is that there is absolutely no reason to test your water for something if you can not find the meaning of the results......I hope that this is an obvious truism.....if so, then first go looking for how to interpret results of water tests....then you will know which ones are important to test for and which are not...for instance...if you find that a high level of agent X is found then your "little proud guy" will wither and fall off...then its probably important to test for this one....on the other hand if a high level of agent Y only makes it difficult to clean your clothes and you always have your mother in law clean your clothes over at her house....then there probably is no reason to test for that one....but if its cheap to test for it you might as well.

Ahhh … a different approach and I like the logic. Fits in with the pesticide residue comment from khunlungphudhu.

As to the “little proud guy” – who’s been talking?

Perhaps more importantly what can make it fall off (apart from knob rot)?

[mobile69]

We popped into Chiang Mai University and discovered that they offer a bewildering array of tests .In a moment of enthusiasm I requested the following tests (shown with results).

Where in CMU do they do the tests & what other things can you recall them testing for? Nitrates & pesticides would be good to test for I would think. Our borehole is 25m deep, in rice paddy area. Would like to set up a water filter to avoid having to stay home when the water truck people hope to come.

[Big Guy]

4m is nowhere near deep enough for a well,there may be plenty of water there at this time of the year but when you need it the most is approaching the end of the dry season when deliveries are hardest to get and the water table is at its lowest level.

I have had 2 differnt wells put down over the years,both done during the dry season.One is to 12.5m and one to 15m.They were both put down with the assistance of pumps to keep the water out whilst they were being dug.Water table here is at 6m at this time of year but goes down to about 3.5 m from the bottom in the dry season.Because of the head and shallowness of water at the bottom the pump was struggling to keep up with demands(deep well pump) . I would seriously look at getting your well deepened,unless you are lucky and struck a stream.

[chownah]

4m is nowhere near deep enough for a well,there may be plenty of water there at this time of the year but when you need it the most is approaching the end of the dry season when deliveries are hardest to get and the water table is at its lowest level.

I have had 2 differnt wells put down over the years,both done during the dry season.One is to 12.5m and one to 15m.They were both put down with the assistance of pumps to keep the water out whilst they were being dug.Water table here is at 6m at this time of year but goes down to about 3.5 m from the bottom in the dry season.Because of the head and shallowness of water at the bottom the pump was struggling to keep up with demands(deep well pump) . I would seriously look at getting your well deepened,unless you are lucky and struck a stream.

In some places 4 metres is enough...year round...dry season included. My neighbors have just such a well.

[geoffphuket]

4m is nowhere near deep enough for a well,there may be plenty of water there at this time of the year but when you need it the most is approaching the end of the dry season when deliveries are hardest to get and the water table is at its lowest level.

I have had 2 differnt wells put down over the years,both done during the dry season.One is to 12.5m and one to 15m.They were both put down with the assistance of pumps to keep the water out whilst they were being dug.Water table here is at 6m at this time of year but goes down to about 3.5 m from the bottom in the dry season.Because of the head and shallowness of water at the bottom the pump was struggling to keep up with demands(deep well pump) . I would seriously look at getting your well deepened,unless you are lucky and struck a stream.

I was thinking along the same lines. It's much too shallow. 12-20m would be good. I guess a lesson here would be not to have a well dug during the monsoon season

[CGW]

Pretty simple answer though, isn't there, wait and see, if you have to go deeper, it's no major drama and will be a lot easier in the dry season -

[SamSipEt]

Where in CMU do they do the tests & what other things can you recall them testing for? Nitrates & pesticides would be good to test for I would think.

Sorry but a bit difficult to describe how to get there but if you go to main reception they can point you in the right direction and yes they do do nitrate tests if my memory serves me well. Not sure about pesticides but I will check it out in the next couple of weeks.

4m is nowhere near deep enough for a well,there may be plenty of water there at this time of the year but when you need it the most is approaching the end of the dry season when deliveries are hardest to get and the water table is at its lowest level.

I have had 2 differnt wells put down over the years,both done during the dry season.One is to 12.5m and one to 15m.They were both put down with the assistance of pumps to keep the water out whilst they were being dug.Water table here is at 6m at this time of year but goes down to about 3.5 m from the bottom in the dry season.Because of the head and shallowness of water at the bottom the pump was struggling to keep up with demands(deep well pump) . I would seriously look at getting your well deepened,unless you are lucky and struck a stream.

Ahh but the well was dug at the end of the dry season and had a couple of meters of water in it then. Now the water is just over 3 meters deep and rising.

No need for an expensive borehole my well including cement rings, lid etc cane in at about 5,000 baht

[chownah]

SamSipEt,

If you should find the need for another well (probably you won't...but who knows?) you might look for a local crew that drills wells by forcing water down a steel pipe which floats the dirt from the bore by water flow around the steel pipe. When the bore is deep enough they pull out the steel pipe (it is their drill pipe) and then insert a blue pvc liner usually 3 inch. The cost is competitive with a dug well. I have this style of well and around here it is considered to be more reliable at having water year round...but as I've pointed out previously my neighbor has a dug well 4 m deep and never runs out of water too. It really depends on exactly where you are as to what kind and depth of well is best. Since you had good water at the end of a dry seson it sounds like your set.

Chownah

[SamSipEt]

SamSipEt,

If you should find the need for another well (probably you won't...but who knows?) you might look for a local crew that drills wells by forcing water down a steel pipe which floats the dirt from the bore by water flow around the steel pipe. When the bore is deep enough they pull out the steel pipe (it is their drill pipe) and then insert a blue pvc liner usually 3 inch. The cost is competitive with a dug well. I have this style of well and around here it is considered to be more reliable at having water year round...but as I've pointed out previously my neighbor has a dug well 4 m deep and never runs out of water too. It really depends on exactly where you are as to what kind and depth of well is best. Since you had good water at the end of a dry seson it sounds like your set.

Chownah

Thanks for the info Chownah sounds like a viable alternative to a second well if it becomes necessary.

[mobile69]

SamSipEt,

If you should find the need for another well (probably you won't...but who knows?) you might look for a local crew that drills wells by forcing water down a steel pipe which floats the dirt from the bore by water flow around the steel pipe. When the bore is deep enough they pull out the steel pipe (it is their drill pipe) and then insert a blue pvc liner usually 3 inch. The cost is competitive with a dug well. I have this style of well and around here it is considered to be more reliable at having water year round...but as I've pointed out previously my neighbor has a dug well 4 m deep and never runs out of water too. It really depends on exactly where you are as to what kind and depth of well is best. Since you had good water at the end of a dry seson it sounds like your set.

Chownah

Thanks for the info Chownah sounds like a viable alternative to a second well if it becomes necessary.

I got a 4" borehole including 4"pvc pipe for 600bt per metre. Never had a problem with water supply. A 4" hole allows you to sink a submersible pump. Mine pumps water from 16m depth to top of water tower. No need for 2nd pump to pump water into the house.