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"my sewer bill is determined by the amount of water I use from my well"...No way I would put up with that...I would have two outlets, one for metered residential use, thus going to the sewer treatment plant, and one for irrigation.
My town charges sewer fees for every gallon that goes thru their meter, my option to get around that to eliminate my irrigation water from the bill is to develop the old 200' well in the back yard. But the ROI is just not attainable.
To get back to the OP's question tho'...ground (well) water differs greatly across the country. My well in the Ozarks was filtered by 450' of limestone before it got to my faucets, it was pure to drink. I refused to allow the driller to dump in the required gallon of bleach when he completed the drill process.
My 30' well in the lower Colorado River Valley was horrible, and had to be treated via a $2000 conditioning system, and was just tolerable, and my wife still refused to drink it.
We use the ozone treatment + filtration. The water has a yellow tint due to iron oxidization. Not visible in a glass but visible in toilet. It is said to be safe to drink, but I try not to drink it. Occasionally I will cook with it.
If you are looking for a testing target I can give a sample.
How does that work? Does the city come read your private well water meter? Did the city install it?
If it is based on meter readings, how does your sewer bill account for water used for things like irrigation?
Wooster was in the forefront of automatic meter readings. My meter talks to the receiver at the sewage plant twice a day. This information is then transmitted to City Hall. They are even able to check the battery voltage of my transmitting unit.
I worked for Wooster as a water & wastewater laboratory technician until I retired in 2017. When my neighborhood was being hooked up to city sewage, they handed me a meter & transmitter. Since I was the house furthest from the receiver, they wanted to know how well it would communicate. The usual location for the transmitter is inside the house, but with aluminum siding & aluminum-faced basement insulation, that did not work. It took a couple of attempts, but trading in the transmitter for a long-range transmitter, and putting it on the other side of the A/C unit with a spacer behind it resulted in reliable communication.
Houses without city water are not required to have a water meter. They are charged at the rate of 400 gallons per day. Since I had purchased my own water meter years ago (inquiring minds want to know), I knew that I used 90-100 gallons a day, and would save money with a city meter. If you purchase a meter and then find out you use more than 400 gallons a day, too bad for you.
As a general rule, Wooster does not provide a discount for irrigation water that does not go back into the city sewer. As northeast Ohio is a humid climate with a lot of precipitation, irrigation and watering the lawn is basically a waste of water.
I installed the meter & transmitter myself. The city then came out and programmed the transmitter. Once I was hooked up to city sewer, I emailed the date & meter reading so they could start billing me. I was a special case; I assume the city workers installed the meter & transmitters for everyone else. I also purchased the meter horn and installed it myself, so I did not need a plumber.
" I also purchased the meter horn and installed it myself, so I did not need a plumber." I wanted to do that, but the town council (new mayor) voted against a long standing courtesy to discount for irrigation, and made a new statute requiring all water through their meter was billable for "sewage" usage. grrr
OP, you’ve asked some very broad questions. The short answer is that wells can commonly have issues with hard water, iron, iron-eating bacteria, coliforms, sulfur, radon, and arsenic, as well as other things. The treatment system is directed at the particular problem.
I can’t believe you're fishing for information here if you truly work in water treatment at a university lab. NH DES has a ton of detailed information about wells, drinking water quality, water testing, and treatment systems, and your state may have similar resources, not to mention a university library.
Brand-new 'member', first post.
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I have a deep well, best water I've ever had, and great for brewing ale due to the mineral content. Not so great for the fixtures and water heater.
Using a private well for irrigation (or other purposes) would require a backflow preventer, if not a completely separate water system, due to the risk of contamination of the city's water supply. Backflow preventers must be tested by a licensed inspector on a regular basis, annually in Wooster.
Parnassia
Glad to hear of no bacteria/chemical concerns. Curious if you have any issues w/RO? Seems like a thorough tech, but I've heard some ppl mention problems w/flow rate. You ever have that issue?
Last edited by BrewManDan; 04-28-2021 at 09:47 AM..
Reason: Forgot to quote/tag Parnassia for reply
My water usually tests positive for total coliform, but has always been negative for E. coli. Some years ago, they put my neighborhood on city sewer due to groundwater contamination problems. The neighbors were demanding a solution until they found out they would have to help pay for the solution.
I have hard water, with both dissolved and undissolved iron. It also has shale particles. I have a strainer before the water meter (my sewer bill is determined by the amount of water I use from my well). I have a 5 micron water filter prior to the water softener, which I change every other month. I use iron removing salt in the softener. Since completely soft water is aggressively corrosive, I have a bypass valve on the softener. The water is kept at about 45 ppm hardness.
The kitchen cold water, along with the outside faucets, are not softened. I can provide soft water to the garage faucet by changing a couple of valves when I wash the car. I changed the sacrificial anode on the hot water tank a few years ago. This tank is 11 years old. Previous tanks lasted 7 years, so I seem to be on the right track.
I worked as a laboratory technician in the water & wastewater industry for nearly 40 years.
You know, I was going to point out that this valve system for hard/soft water seemed sophisticated; makes sense that you're a professional!
Interesting you have positive coliform but negative E. coli. Ever concerned about treating for microbes?
OP, you’ve asked some very broad questions. The short answer is that wells can commonly have issues with hard water, iron, iron-eating bacteria, coliforms, sulfur, radon, and arsenic, as well as other things. The treatment system is directed at the particular problem.
I can’t believe you're fishing for information here if you truly work in water treatment at a university lab. NH DES has a ton of detailed information about wells, drinking water quality, water testing, and treatment systems, and your state may have similar resources, not to mention a university library.
Yep, very broad. Makes sense you would be skeptical given new status + open-ended questions. My point was to keep the discussion open-ended to get multiple perspectives w/o pegging to the specific treatment I work on. Helps me understand how much people give a darn (or dont!) about this particular water issue.
Academic + government resources are great for background, but don't really get to the human view. That's the point of posting here (+ elsewhere on interwebs).
If you care enough to verify my status, my email is dwil252@lsu.edu (Louisiana State University). Feel free to say hello!
I have a deep well, best water I've ever had, and great for brewing ale due to the mineral content. Not so great for the fixtures and water heater.
I addressed 'first post' issue w/reply to KCZ; understand the skepticism.
You ever consider installing a softener or filter for the minerals?
And uh, what kinda ale you generally brewing out there? I'm a malty porter/scotch ale guy myself
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Makes sense you would be skeptical given new status + open-ended questions. My point was to keep the discussion open-ended to get multiple perspectives w/o pegging to the specific treatment I work on. Helps me understand how much people give a darn (or dont!) about this particular water issue. 
