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Well Water System

The Invisible but Vital Resource

115 million people in the United States alone rely on groundwater for drinking water. 43 million people rely on groundwater from private wells. 1 of every 5 groundwater samples from parts of aquifers used for drinking water contained a contaminant from geologic or manmade sources at a level exceeding a potential human-health concern.

The quality and safety of water from domestic wells are not regulated by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act for more than 43 million people—about 15 percent of the U.S. population that rely on domestic (private) wells as their source of drinking water.  Instead, individual homeowners are responsible for maintaining their domestic well systems and for monitoring water quality.

These wells are the sole source of drinking water and water for other household needs for most people in many rural areas. Health risks associated with contaminants in domestic well water include gastrointestinal illness related to bacteria and other pathogens and exposure to elevated concentrations of nitrate, arsenic, radon, lead, and organic compounds. Typically, the water supplied by domestic wells is not routinely tested. As a result, people using domestic- supply wells could be drinking water with elevated concentrations of some contaminants.

In a study of 2,100 domestic wells, water pumped from about one in five wells contained one or more contaminants at a concentration greater than a human-health benchmark for drinking water. Supporting information and summary data for the study can be found here.

  • The contaminants most often found at these elevated concentrations were inorganic chemicals, such as metals, radionuclides, and nitrate; all of these but nitrate are derived primarily from natural sources.
  • Man-made organic compounds, such as pesticides and solvents, were detected in more than half (60 percent) of the domestic wells sampled, but concentrations were seldom greater than human-health benchmarks (less than 1 percent of wells).
  • About half of the wells had at least one “nuisance” contaminant—a compound that impairs taste, odor, or other aesthetic considerations—at a level or concentration outside the range of values recommended by the S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Microbial contaminants (for example, bacteria) were detected in about one-third of the approximately 400 wells that had their water analyzed for those
  • Contaminants found in domestic wells usually co-occurred with other contaminants as mixtures, rather than alone, which is a potential concern because the total toxicity of a mixture can be greater than that of any single contaminant.

Elevated concentrations of arsenic and manganese—elements with a geologic source—limit drinking water availability in aquifers worldwide. Exposure to arsenic is linked to increased risk of cancer and other adverse health outcomes. Manganese is an essential element for human health, but exposure of infants and children to elevated concentrations of manganese in drinking water can harm brain development, causing problems with memory, attention, and motor skills and affecting learning and behavior.

AquaGEOLabs - Well Water Purification System

AGL, has developed a low cost, effective, and efficient well water treatment system, which is capable of removing all well water contaminants. This treatment process, AQUA-1, is a stand-alone treatment system, which can be operated from either a standard electric supply, 110V, single phase, 60 Hz, or 12VDC from solar cells, batteries, generator, etc. The AQUA-1 Well Water treatment system uses the following treatment steps to treat well water at the point of use:

  1. Prefiltration using a self-cleaning sediment filter;
  2. Nanofiltration to remove all divalent salts; including iron, manganese, arsenic, magnesium, etc.;
  3. Proprietary Desalination mechanism to remove salinity; and
  4. Disinfection using UV and surface

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requires 3 to 5 gallons per minute for older wells and a rate of 5 gallons per minute for new wells to pass inspection. The Water Well Board suggests that the minimum water supply capacity for use inside a home should be at least 600 gallons within a two-hour period, or about 5 gallons per minute for 2 hours. Typical showerheads flow

2.5 to 5 gpm, toilet 5 gpm, dishwasher 3 gpm. Depending on the size of your house and family your water flow rate requirements may range from 15 – 40 gpm. A whole house filter system with a flow rate less than 10 gpm is unacceptable for maintaining uninterrupted, comfortable water pressure during peak use.

AGL’s well water treatment system is designed for a maximum water flowrate of 15 gpm, and an average water flowrate of 10 gpm. This provides sufficient water supply for a household, even at times of high demand. A 500 gallon intermediate storage tank is used to manage peak demand flowrates.