By Chris Moss

Two years ago we had “drop pipes” installed on our well. Through them we lower a well tape and sounder every week to check the level of the water in the well. In the two years you can clearly see the water level drop throughout the summer until the winter rains arrive which take two or three weeks to percolate through the soil and into the water table. Then the readings start to go up until, you hope, they reach the same level or higher than the previous starting date.

At the time that we had those pipes installed, we had our well water examined and had the system checked.  Two years later we have just had our in-house equipment checked again and a water sample sent for evaluation. We take advantage of local well water companies’ special prices at this time of year for a complete system check and water testing. The in-house check was thorough. The technician opened up and checked all of the switches, power and lines feeding into the system. We had already changed the UV light and the Quartz crystal  sleeve. (The UV light lasts about a year, the glass sleeve covering about four or five if you clean them each year) We also change the filter every year.  These items are not contained in the ”special” price so we always buy ours directly from Van Island Water and have an extra light and filter on hand. UV lights will kill viruses, bacteria and microbes in the well water. UV systems will come with their own control units and instructions on the various readouts and flashing lights and alarms that each system will check for you.

Filters will stop larger particles (organic and inorganic) from entering your drinking water and can be bought with various filtering sizes from 20 microns to 1 micron filtration.

The technician tested the pressure in the pressure tank (an air bladder in the tank provides the water pressure needed to move the water through your pipes) then he tested to see the pressure at which the system would turn on the well pump to top up the pressure tank. He measured the voltage, and resistance values on the switches. Then he drained the tank, readjusted the air pressure and refilled the tank.  Our system was showing that more voltage was being used and resistance was higher than the factory labels on the equipment.  That could be a factor of the age of our system which is 20 years old. He readjusted the parameters so that the pump wouldn’t have to work so hard and gave us a complete walk through of all parts of the system and what to do if the water suddenly stops. If the power is on, your well pump could be trying to fill your pressure tank and just spinning in air which will burn it out quickly.  (Hint – turn off the power first before checking for a burnt out fuse.  )

From the kitchen tap he took two water samples after sanitizing the water outlet.  One bottle will test for mostly inorganic substances like iron, magnesium, a whole list of substances, and the other sample will be tested as drinking water looking for any harmful items like bacterias and E.coli in the water.

You should test your well water, or surface water licence water, every two years or so to make sure that it is safe to drink.