Question For Watrbear And The Experts

[JohnG]

Waterbear and others, I posted this earlier, but thought I would try it again.

Howdy! We are owners of a new Sundance Cameo for about three weeks now. We are struggling with many of the same issues that I have been reading on this board, but I am bound and determined to figure it out. I think one thing I need to do right away is to buy a testor kit and stop relying on the test strips.

My question right now relates to the hardness of our well water. A local spa dealer tested my well (& spa) water for me a couple of days ago, and confirmed that my test strips are not conclusive, and that my well water is very hard - 320 PPM. Because we are on a shared water well system, and my wife wanted to irrigate a large vegetable garden, I spent the money to build a 1750 gallon rainwater collection system when we built the house for purposes of watering her garden. The system collects water off of the roof of the house into screen protected gutters. The water is stored in a totally enclosed concrete cistern. I have made provisions for sediment traps on all three gutter down legs, as well as the up-leg to the cistern (the water is pushed up into the tank by head pressure from the top of the collection pipes.) With all that said, I would like to ask if it would be easier for me to use the rainwater (filtered of course) when I fill my tub and adjust the chemical balance of the rainwater rather than use the well water and struggle with the water chemistry the way I am now.

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

JG

[New NW tub owner]

Waterbear and others, I posted this earlier, but thought I would try it again.

Howdy! We are owners of a new Sundance Cameo for about three weeks now. We are struggling with many of the same issues that I have been reading on this board, but I am bound and determined to figure it out. I think one thing I need to do right away is to buy a testor kit and stop relying on the test strips.

My question right now relates to the hardness of our well water. A local spa dealer tested my well (& spa) water for me a couple of days ago, and confirmed that my test strips are not conclusive, and that my well water is very hard - 320 PPM. Because we are on a shared water well system, and my wife wanted to irrigate a large vegetable garden, I spent the money to build a 1750 gallon rainwater collection system when we built the house for purposes of watering her garden. The system collects water off of the roof of the house into screen protected gutters. The water is stored in a totally enclosed concrete cistern. I have made provisions for sediment traps on all three gutter down legs, as well as the up-leg to the cistern (the water is pushed up into the tank by head pressure from the top of the collection pipes.) With all that said, I would like to ask if it would be easier for me to use the rainwater (filtered of course) when I fill my tub and adjust the chemical balance of the rainwater rather than use the well water and struggle with the water chemistry the way I am now.

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

JG

Using the rain water sounds like a great idea. The rain water will be very soft so you will have to add some calcium booster to it to bring its hardness up a little it but it will make better spa water than your well water. You'll also save some electricity by not having to pump 300 gallons of well water out of the ground and your well will be happier if you take a little less water out of it. Sounds like a win-win-win situation.

[waterbear]

Waterbear and others, I posted this earlier, but thought I would try it again.

Howdy! We are owners of a new Sundance Cameo for about three weeks now. We are struggling with many of the same issues that I have been reading on this board, but I am bound and determined to figure it out. I think one thing I need to do right away is to buy a testor kit and stop relying on the test strips.

My question right now relates to the hardness of our well water. A local spa dealer tested my well (& spa) water for me a couple of days ago, and confirmed that my test strips are not conclusive, and that my well water is very hard - 320 PPM. Because we are on a shared water well system, and my wife wanted to irrigate a large vegetable garden, I spent the money to build a 1750 gallon rainwater collection system when we built the house for purposes of watering her garden. The system collects water off of the roof of the house into screen protected gutters. The water is stored in a totally enclosed concrete cistern. I have made provisions for sediment traps on all three gutter down legs, as well as the up-leg to the cistern (the water is pushed up into the tank by head pressure from the top of the collection pipes.) With all that said, I would like to ask if it would be easier for me to use the rainwater (filtered of course) when I fill my tub and adjust the chemical balance of the rainwater rather than use the well water and struggle with the water chemistry the way I am now.

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

JG

The rainwater should work but be aware that rainwater these days tends to be acidic. Be sure to test the pH and rasie it immediately to avoid damage to the heat exchanger in your tub. Did your dealer test for calcium hardness or total hardness. Total hardness is always higher than cacium hardness. A calcium hardness up to 400 ppm is not really a problem at all. Just keep tabs on your pH and don't let it climb too high (try to keep it around 7.6 at the most) and you should not have a problem with scale deposits. If you decide to use the rainwater make sure the pH is at least 7.2 when it is put in the tub and adjust your calcium to around 125 ppm or higher

The rainwater should work but be aware that rainwater these days tends to be acidic. Be sure to test the pH and rasie it immediately to avoid damage to the heat exchanger in your tub. Did your dealer test for calcium hardness or total hardness. Total hardness is always higher than cacium hardness. A calcium hardness up to 400 ppm is not really a problem at all. Just keep tabs on your pH and don't let it climb too high (try to keep it around 7.6 at the most) and you should not have a problem with scale deposits. If you decide to use the rainwater make sure the pH is at least 7.2 when it is put in the tub and adjust your calcium to around 125 ppm or higher.

With well water my concern would not be the calcium levels but the presence of either iron or copper, which are very commen in well water. These metals can cause more problems then high calcium levels. Have your well water tested for them and if they are high then you would probably be better off using the rain water to fill the tub.