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Can I Use Well Water In My Pool?

Can I Use Well Water In My Pool?

You’ve just finished building your swimming pool and you can’t wait to fill it up and start using it!

If you have a well on your property, you might wonder if it’s a good idea to use the water from it to fill your pool.

It certainly makes sense to use this water that’s freely available, especially because it’s so convenient – it’s right on your property just waiting to be used!  

Is it safe to use water from your well to fill your pool?

It is safe – but you need to ensure that you treat it correctly so that your pool won’t be damaged and so that you won’t be disappointed with murky, unhealthy-looking water when you want to achieve sparkling, crystal water.

So, while you can certainly go ahead and use well water in your pool, you should bear in mind some important things.

It’s not just the safety of the water that needs some thought but also other issues. Let’s take a look at them in detail.

Contents

What’s Your Well’s Flow Rate?

Water Well Flow

You might not think that your well water’s flow rate is important, but it does play a crucial role in how effectively you’ll be able to fill your swimming pool.

The flow rate of your well refers to how many gallons of water it can produce every hour and how quickly the water flows back into the well.

A high flow rate would be approximately 500 or 600 gallons of water, as Pool Calculator reports, but anything less than about 100 gallons could result in the water running dry, so you need to consider your well’s flow rate before you use it to fill your pool.

Consider What Chemicals Are In The Well Water

You might think that your well water is safe because the well has been drilled deeply into the ground.

On the one hand, this does make it less likely to be contaminated with harmful bacteria, but on the other hand well water can contain contaminants that can be harmful for your pool.

For example, if there’s too much calcium in your well water, this could result in the pool filters getting clogged and damaged!

Make Sure You Test Your Well Water

Based on the contaminants that can be in your well water, you need to ensure that you test it thoroughly to be sure that it’s safe.

If a test reveals that there are high levels of chemicals or contaminants, treating the water before you use it to fill your swimming pool is a good idea.

It’s worth it to prevent issues in your swimming pool, such as the damage we mentioned earlier.

In addition to the above, you also need to test your well water’s pH level as this needs to be balanced in order for your swimming pool to look clear and beautiful.

How can you test your well water?

Testing Well Water

If you use your well water for various purposes, you probably test it on a yearly basis anyway so you’ll know that you can have it tested professionally by checking out the Environmental Protection Agency website where you’ll be able to find certified labs that will be able to test your water for you.

You can also test your well water yourself, such as by making use of a DIY kit.

The Spruce has some great kits that are highly rated for testing well water, so using one of them will help you find out if you need to treat your well water with specific chemicals.

Make Sure You Fill Your Pool Slowly

While you might think that you should go ahead and fill your swimming pool with water from your well in one go, this is actually best not to do.

The reason is because your household water supply might not be able to deal with the extra demand of filling your pool, especially if your pool is large.

Bear in mind it can take up to 48 hours for a large swimming pool to get filled! That’s a lot of water in one go.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that if your well’s water supply is shared by other households who also use the groundwater, this could cause you to inhibit their water supply.

Based on these considerations, it’s a good idea to slowly fill your pool with well water over a few days.

What Are The Differences Between Tap Water And Well Water?

Well water usually contains minerals, so you might find your well water has higher magnesium and calcium than tap water.

Interestingly, well water isn’t regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which means you have to be responsible for testing your own water.

You should start by having your water tested for common contaminants by a certified lab.

If there are certain contaminants in your area, then these should also be tested for, and based on the results of the test you can treat them if need be to ensure the quality of your well’s water.

You might need to disinfect your well water if any of the following apply to you:

  • Water tests reveal that there is bacteria in the well
  • Flood or surface water has entered the well
  • You’ve drilled a new well on your property and it’s connected to your household’s plumbing system
  • You’ve repaired the well, such as by replacing a pump
  • You’re doing yearly maintenance on the well

You can disinfect your well water with household bleach. You’ll need approximately 10 liters of bleach to be put into the storage tank where you’ve pumped about 500 gallons of water.

You can learn more about the process by visiting the Manitoba website, which gives you lots of details about the process and what steps you should follow when disinfecting your well water.

Now, what about tap water and how it’s treated?

Unlike well water, tap water is municipal so that means it is regulated by the EPA.

The water is treated with fluoride, chlorine, and chloramines to kill bacteria and viruses that can make people sick when consumed.

But sometimes people want to treat this water to remove the chemicals! This is because those chemicals can have unwanted health effects.

For example, fluoride can cause a range of health problems, such as thyroid dysfunction and neurological issues.

This is why you might want to use a filter on your tap water to eliminate contaminants.

In the U.S., most people get a water quality report annually with their water bill that provides them with information about contaminants that have been found in their water, as EPA reports.

Once you know what contaminants are in your tap water, you can use filters to eliminate them.

How To Fill Your Swimming Pool With Well Water

Filling Pool With Well Water

So, now that you know everything to ensure you fill your swimming pool with well water safely, you’re probably raring to go so that you can fill your pool.

Here are the steps you should follow to get it done and enjoy your new pool.

  • Always make sure that your well equipment is in good condition before getting started!
  • Then, attach a garden hose to a faucet that’s close to the well pump.
  • Put the other end of your hose in your pool.
  • Turn on the water.
  • Monitor the pool as it fills with water. You also need to keep checking your well’s water level to prevent your well from running dry.
  • Always make sure you test your swimming pool water, such as to ensure it’s got the correct pH level, so that swimming in it will be enjoyable and not ridden with potential health issues or skin irritation.

Related Questions

Should you boil tap water?

Boiling tap water is microbiologically safe but make sure you boil the water for a full boil and let it boil for a minute.

Can you drill an existing well so that it’s deeper?

By drilling a six-inch diameter well 100 feet deeper into the ground, you could boost water storage by 147 gallons, as Penn State University reports.

However, this could affect the quality of the water because deeper wells draw water from groundwater that’s filled with pollutants.

Conclusion

If you own a well and you want to fill your swimming pool with water from it, there are ways in which you can do this, but make sure you’re not zapping your water supply – or that of your neighbor!

In this article, we’ve looked at important considerations you need to bear in mind when filling pool with well water so that you can achieve a stunning, sparkling pool.

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