The well on the site is the optimal solution to the problem of water supply in the absence of connection to central communications. This is an independent source of a valuable resource, which, however, requires a special approach to maintenance. How to purify water from a well? There are a lot of cleaning options, and the choice should be made based on the specific operating conditions of the system and the requirements for water quality. But first, it’s worth figuring out why water from a well in principle needs to be cleaned.
Why do we need groundwater filtration?
The need for water treatment is always determined by the poor composition of the produced fluid. Ordinary tap water often sins with the presence of harmful impurities, but the well on the site is not at all a standard in terms of compliance with sanitary and environmental requirements. To understand how water is purified from the well and what means are used, it is necessary to determine the list of undesirable elements in its composition. These include the following:
- Iron. By itself, this element is not harmful, but its high concentration is hazardous to health. According to the norms, an acceptable level of iron in the aquatic environment is 0.3 mg / l. An unpleasant taste, unclear and dark color of water will testify to the excess of this indicator. Upon contact with air, such a liquid turns orange due to oxidation.
- Hydrogen sulfide. This component can be identified by the characteristic smell of rotten eggs. You can not use such a liquid, since it is toxic. In addition, hydrogen sulfide negatively affects metal pipes, contributing to the development of corrosion.
- High salinity. In other words, excess salinity, the level of which should be within 1000 mg / l. You can learn about exceeding the permissible value by the brackish taste of the liquid.
- Excess stiffness. This state of water indicates that the concentration of magnesium and calcium is beyond the permissible value. Such liquid can cause harm to both plumbing equipment and the health of consumers. How to clean water from manganese from a well? If the concentration does not exceed 7 mEq / l, universal liquid aeration agents can be used. But the most effective and specialized method for removing manganese from a liquid is demanganization with potassium permanganate. The introduction of this element contributes to the oxidation of manganese, which makes it insoluble. All that remains is to filter out the magnesium oxides that have become foreign.
- Nitrates. In this case, the normal content is 45 mg / L. In essence, these are mechanical and organic impurities, most of which are eliminated in the primary stages of filtration.
- Viruses and bacteria. In principle, the presence of giardia, coliphages, coliform and other types of bacteria is not allowed. For this, water is disinfected and disinfected regularly.
Stages of filtering water from a well
High-quality and healthy drinking water can be obtained only with complex treatment, which includes several stages of liquid treatment:
- First, a water analysis is done in the laboratory. To do this, a well inspection is ordered from a specialized company. By the way, organizations involved in drilling often include in projects and chemical analysis of water. The result should also show the concentration of harmful elements, the presence of impurities and inclusions hazardous to the body. It is advisable to order an extended analysis, which will also show the mineralization of water, hydrogen saturation, level of hardness, organoleptic properties, etc.
- The initial stage of direct cleaning, involving the removal of the coarse fraction. First of all, mechanical components like sand, scale, fibrous elements and other particles are excluded. If you do not perform this operation, then in the next stages of deep filtration you can spoil the equipment just because of contamination with harsh impurities. How to clean water from sand from a well? For this, filters with polypropylene cartridges are used that trap insoluble suspended particles of different fractions.
- Hydrogen sulfide, iron, manganese and other harmful elements are eliminated.
- Water condition is being modified - in particular, its softening.
- The stage of fine cleaning, during which such properties of the liquid as smell, taste and color change. Air conditioning may be performed.
- The final stage involves the disinfection of water, improving its microbiological qualities and the level of sanitary safety.
Reverse osmosis method
Special installations with filters that help remove harmful elements. Modifications of cleaning agents vary, but more often semi-permeable membranes are used. How to purify water from a well using reverse osmosis? The reverse osmosis plant itself creates the conditions for the transfer of solvent molecules through a filter from a highly concentrated mixture to a less concentrated solution. The activating force is provided by the pressure of osmosis.
To maintain stable circulation, an electric motor with pumping equipment is used - the higher its power, the higher the filtration rate and its depth.
In modern plants of this type, not only water molecules, but also all kinds of gas mixtures are subjected to osmotic processing. It can be carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, etc. But is it possible to use such equipment in a private house and do the installation with maintenance yourself? We clean water from the well without the help of specialists - to start the operation of the reverse osmosis unit, it is enough to connect it to the pumping lines and make basic settings for the operating parameters.
Technically, putting the installation into operation is similar to installing pumping equipment, therefore, for the ordinary owner of a private house, the plot will not cause any particular problems. The only drawback of such equipment is that it takes up a lot of space. It is advisable to initially organize a separate utility room for its installation.
The use of iron removers
Today, the use of reagentless installations for filtering artesian water is relevant. How to clean water from iron from a well using this equipment? The installation is also connected to the main channel for pumping water from the well, and then cleaning is carried out in two stages:
- The liquid is saturated and the impurities are oxidized due to oxygen as a result of drawing in the air flows by the ejector or compressor unit - it depends on the configuration.
- Oxidation of iron and other harmful impurities through granules of active loading. Contact with chemically active filling contributes to the formation of an iron precipitate, which is subsequently removed by coarse filters.
Of course, using a massive plant only for the targeted removal of one group of contaminants is irrational. Therefore, the question arises of how to purify water from a well from iron and other harmful impurities like potassium and manganese? The list of target elements for removal from water will depend on the material in the load - an oxidizing sorbent. Experts recommend the use of fillers with a natural base - such as Ecoferox, MS and AS, etc. They additionally remove aluminum, strontium, fluorine with phenol, oil products and hydrogen sulfide.
Water softeners
Not all natural sources provide hard water with a high concentration of salts. In particular, this does not apply to springs and rivers. However, artesian wells are more likely to need softening. This is due to the increased solubility of lime, which in diluted form increases the content of calcium, magnesium and other salts. How to clean lime water from a well? An integrated approach is recommended, in which mechanical filtration by membranes, reverse osmosis, and sedimentation are used. For example, certain configurations of reverse osmosis plants, in principle, do not allow lime deposits to stagnate and, when cleaned, remove unnecessary salts effectively. In this case, activated carbon should be used as adsorbent.
As for the technique of sedimentation, in domestic conditions it can be used with the help of coagulants that pull salts to the bottom. By the way, the question of how to clean clay from water from a well is also solved by combining sedimentation methods and mechanical filtration. Only in order to get rid of clay impurities, an additional operation of filtering with pores of the charge of filling, the size of which is smaller than the removed particles, will be required.
Using UV Filters
To eliminate microorganisms, the technology of transmission through ultraviolet light is used. There are special lamps that are sent to the target fluid, which helps to improve its biological condition. Again, the equipment uses active materials - reagents. In combination with them, UV rays eliminate the pathogenic flora, while maintaining the structure of the fluid and a set of positive bacteria. Also for humans, the effect of such lamps is quite safe.
The problem of using UV radiation is that treated water is quickly restored, that is, the positive effect is temporary. For comparison, if you clean the water from the well with a filter with an ion-exchange cartridge, then the liquid will retain its purified state until the first contact with the contaminated medium. This effect is caused by the complete elimination of the smallest impurities, which in themselves may not be dangerous, but at the same time act as a favorable environment for the development of bacteria. Ultraviolet does not work with them.
How to clean water from hydrogen sulfide from a well?
The simplest solution to the problem of high hydrogen sulfide content in domestic water supply is a carbon filter. Equipment and the technical organization of the cleaning process as a whole do not play a special role - the main thing is that activated carbon should act as an active sorbent. In its manufacture, a wood base and walnut shells are used - it is the properties of these materials that provide effective final cleaning of hydrogen sulfide, organic impurities and heavy metals.
If you need to comprehensively clean the water from the well and from other groups of contaminants, you should integrate the filter into the reverse osmosis system. This combination will expand the range of positive effects of biological treatment, making the taste of water more pleasant. Charcoal filter users themselves note their speed. On average, we can talk about a speed of 10 m 3 / h with a system pressure of about 10 bar.
How to purify water from nitrates from a well?
In this case, the processes of hydrogen cationization and hydroxide anionization will help. The combination of the two methods will ensure safe and traceless removal of nitrates. At the first stage, the use of strongly acidic hydrogen-cation exchange filters, which introduce hydrogen into the liquid medium, is envisaged. Next, an anion exchange filter is connected that directly traps nitrates.
But keep in mind that this filtering method has serious drawbacks. Firstly, like all ion-exchange cleaning agents, it involves only unidirectional water circulation with passage through the filter. Secondly, effective cleaning requires a large number of reagents, the maintenance of which will also require the connection of technical water channels for washing. Therefore, the question naturally arises of how to purify water from a well from nitrate salts in a simpler structural system? You can use the already mentioned reverse osmosis method, but the depth of filtration will be much less. Usually reverse osmosis plants are used to combat nitrates when their content exceeds 40 g / l.
Water disinfection and disinfection
In part, the use of UV rays allows you to get rid of some pathogens, which made the technique of light exposure popular. Just as a replacement for the traditional method of chlorination, which is recommended to be abandoned because of its harmful effect on the body. Nevertheless, if signs of infection have already been detected in the well itself, then it will not be possible to do without aggressive chemical influence. It is necessary to use chlorine-containing preparations designed specifically for the treatment of wells and boreholes supplying the house with drinking water. With our own hands, we clean the water from the well from bacteria as follows:
- The volume of the water-containing structure (well, well) is determined .
- A solution is prepared with active chlorine at a concentration of 0.075 g per 1 liter of water.
- A complete pumping of water.
- The surfaces of the structure are cleaned with a prepared disinfectant solution, which is then poured into the cavity.
- Water is being poured.
- After 6 hours, samples are taken, and if signs of infection are detected, the procedure is repeated.
Conclusion
Often, pollution and a high content of certain undesirable elements in the composition of the water from the well are caused not by natural factors, but by the external operating conditions of the source. This applies, in particular, to situations with an increased concentration of large mechanical impurities, clay and rust. For example, how to clean rusty water from a well? The surest way is to eliminate the cause of the occurrence of iron, due to which the products of corrosive decomposition remain in the water. Perhaps these are the remains of metal pipelines, or iron oxide released from the rocks due to a lack of oxygen. The same applies to the presence of clay particles in the water, which could be in it due to improperly performed well casing. That is, in each case, the first thing to do is to identify the cause of the poor-quality water composition, and then select the optimal means of restoring its optimal biological properties.