Well water to fill a tank

[tank stalker]

I was wondering we don't have city water where we live and I want to fill my 75 for the first time would it be ok to just fill it with our hose since we have well water?

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[MrX]

Like everything else in this hobby, "IT DEPENDS".

I filled my original 120G (since decommissioned) and my current RSM C-250 with water from my well. I knew from testing with a TDS meter that my Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) was at around 76 coming from the hose. In our house it goes WELL -> WHOLE HOUSE FILTER -> WATER SOFTENER -> RADON BUBBLER -> TAPS. We also have a pretty new house and well (~5 years old), and we had water quality tests done when we bought the house, so I was pretty confident it was fine. Never had any ill-effects that I could see from starting off this way.

After the initial fills I used RODI from my Typhoon Extreme III to do water changes.

As I said though, it depends. Can you test your TDS? Do you know the general quality of your water? Do you have a whole house filter in place?

 

[david42]

I don't know if I would risk that. I am on well water also. Mine tests at over 400 on the TDS. It will take a very long time of doing water changes to replace it with rodi water.

 

[reefer gladness]

Those of us with RO/DI units are generally switching out membranes/filters once TDS reaches 2-3 PPM (or less).

Why? Because we know that starting off with 0 TDS water eliminates the all unknown variables of what's in your untested drinking water. I wouldn't use unfiltered tap water from a municipal water supply or a well in a reef tank.

 

[DaveK]

Those of us with RO/DI units are generally switching out membranes/filters once TDS reaches 2-3 PPM (or less).

Why? Because we know that starting off with 0 TDS water eliminates the all unknown variables of what's in your untested drinking water. I wouldn't use unfiltered tap water from a municipal water supply or a well in a reef tank.

Not quite...

You should measure the TDS from the RO unit alone, and the TDS coming out of the DI unit.

If the water out of the RO part is under 4 ppm or so, your ok there, you need not change out the RO membrane. They can actually last quite a long time, often years. If it's much over that, you likely need a new membrane filter. Since they are expensive, to protect it, change the mechanical cartridge and the carbon cartridge.

You do want to change out the mechanical filter cartridge and the carbon cartridge every 6 months or so, but "the millage you get may vary". Obviously change them if the flow rate drops.

If the water out of the DI part is over 1, then you need to replace that cartridge, or it's media. Some can be refilled others can not. The cost isn't much different in most cases.

When you deal with RO/DI units the various filter cartridges are an ongoing expense, so you only want to change out what you need to.

 

[Steve L]

Some well water around the US is absolutely horrible for humans or animals in general. A hundred years ago in my area there were thousands of chicken farms, consequently the well water here is very high in nitrates and not suitable for drinking or aquariums. The city water comes from lakes north of here and is great.

If you live near a region where oil companies drill using fracking, who knows what kind of chemicals could be in there.