Nicos Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 We are in the process of buying a longere in 61 which has a well.It has not been used for 20 yrs+ and would need the handpump checking over.I also want to get the water quality checked to see if it can be used for drinking aswell as for watering the plants.Anyone know who to contact for both these jobs??Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Could I suggest your SIAEP (can't remember what it stands for precisely but the last two letters are eau potable) - the people who send you your water bill. I'm sure they can point you in the correct direction in your locale. Ours are very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 For water analysis, just fill a clean plastic bottle (1 to 1.5 liter) and take it to the nearest medical lab. They will analyse it to check if it is 'conform' for about €40. They won't tell you if it's "potable" but they will list any pathogens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracteurtom Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Go to the Chemists, ask for a Well Water Test, sorry, I cannot remember the french but something along the line of "analyse de l'eau du puit". They will provide you with a sealed sterile bottle. Fill with well water and return to Chemists. Takes about 4 days and costs around 40€ and they will tell you if its potable or not, listing all the key tests, nitrites, nitrates, etc. Suggest you run plenty of water off first (maybe many weeks worth?????), and try to fill the bottle quickly from the centre of the water flow - avoiding contact with the pump body. Do NOT use a normal bottle to get the sample to the Chemists as all that will do is cross contaminate the well water with the water that the bottle was washed in. If all you want to do is water the garden, then why bother, just check its clear (not absolutely necessary?) and that it smells OK?????? save yourself 40€. I say this because, the analysis is only good for the water tested, not the water thats pulled up tomorrow or 12 months later. If you drink the water, you will need to have tests regularly and its expensive. By my calcs 40€ is approx 40 m3 of water from the mains, quite alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 [quote user="pcwhizz"] Do NOT use a normal bottle to get the sample to the Chemists as all that will do is cross contaminate the well water with the water that the bottle was washed in.[/quote]That is completely at odds with what the lab told me when I rang them to aks that very question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracteurtom Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 [quote user="Clair"][quote user="pcwhizz"] Do NOT use a normal bottle to get the sample to the Chemists as all that will do is cross contaminate the well water with the water that the bottle was washed in.[/quote]That is completely at odds with what the lab told me when I rang them to aks that very question![/quote]Well (pun intended) thats the Lab for you vs the Chemists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicos Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 OK - so you have put me off wanting to drink the stuff!!!Would still like to water plants with it, so I'll get it checked outthat there aren't any major toxins which would be absorbed by veg.Thanks for your advice on that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob T Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I have an elecric pump in my well and use the water for watering the garden, washing the car and via a large water butt for flushing the toilet. It makes me smile when I think that I am doing my little bit for the environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Creuse Bear Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 In similar situation. Advice given so far: Chemist does 2 tests: first to check basic water quality - ordinary bottle 1.5L - takes about 2 weeks, second is only done if first is OK and is for human drinking quality - sterile bottle- don't know how long it takes.Talked about it with neighbour who also suggested we empty well first as unused for 20 years. His idea was to call the fire brigade to do it, either for a fee or even as part of one of their training exercises. Another neighbour, who happens to be a part time fireman thought this would be quite possible and is going to talk it over with his chef. Which is as far as we have got. Hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 We just use our well water for watering the veg plot, using a pump. The hassle of regular checks for potability outweigh the passing novelty factor of drinking water direct from the ground! NB Even good surface pumps only draw from a maximum of 7 metres depth (approx.). Any deeper and you need a submersible pump. Possibly one capable of dealing with eau chargé (i.e.with muck in it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 [quote user="Bing Creuse Bear"]Talked about it with neighbour who also suggested we empty well first as unused for 20 years. [/quote]Surely the concept of a well is that it goes down into the water table and, as such, it is not possible to "empty" it without reducing the water table level. [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I don't know if it's possible to entirely empty a well, Steve, but I know that if we leave the pump on for an hour (that's a heck of a lot of water pumped) then the level drops a couple of metres (out of a total water depth of 5 metres). It gradually refills overnight. So I suppose if we had a bigger pump then we could, theoretically, empty it temporarily. Not that I want to try. [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Creuse Bear Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Mea culpa - I should have qualified my posting more clearly. Neighbour suggested we should pump out some of the water which had probably been stagnating at the bottom of the well for 20 years to allow 'fresh' (I use the term loosely) water to replenish the well so that the water test would be a fair investigation of the quality of the water in the water table. There, hope that is clear (relatively, of course, and not referring to the water!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 [quote user="powerdesal"][quote user="Bing Creuse Bear"]Talked about it with neighbour who also suggested we empty well first as unused for 20 years. [/quote]Surely the concept of a well is that it goes down into the water table and, as such, it is not possible to "empty" it without reducing the water table level. [8-)][/quote]When we were looking at having our well sanitised (eau non-potable) the plan was to empty it first and then clean it, and let it fill, empty it again several times. The water table isn't a lake, it takes a while to fill the well.Incidentally, we used an old mineral water bottle (at the pharmacist's suggestion) and the analyse d'eau cost the equivalent of €20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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